Digital Twin Evaluation of Environment and Health of Public Toilet Ventilation Design Based on Building Information Modeling

Poor indoor air quality reduces the comfort experienced in the environment and can also harm our physical health. Mechanical ventilation design plays an important role in improving the indoor environment and the safety of public toilets. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to evaluate public toilet ventilation design schemes through a digital twin to determine the most effective scheme for reducing indoor pollutant concentrations. In this study, we used Autodesk Revit to create a digital twin BIM of different ventilation systems. We simulated the diffusion of pollutants in these models using computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based methods, and we used DesignBuilder to simulate building energy consumption. From the perspective of architectural design, we determined measures important for reducing the concentration of air pollutants by increasing the number and volume of air exchanges and controlling the installation height of exhaust vents. The results show that the ventilation design of an all-air air conditioning system with an exhaust height of 400 mm can remarkably improve the indoor environmental health and ventilation efficiency of public toilets, while consuming 20.4% less energy and reducing carbon emissions by 30,681 kg CO2.

Automated summary

This study evaluates the ventilation design schemes of public toilets using a digital twin. By increasing the number and volume of air exchanges and controlling the installation height of exhaust vents, significant improvements in indoor environmental health and ventilation efficiency can be achieved.