Cornell University announced it will soon be releasing an easy-to-use planning tool to assist interior space designers and architects in designing an office environment that maximizes fresh air flow and reduces the risk of airborne pathogens.

The Cornell Environmental Systems Lab in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning is introducing a new indoor module for its existing Eddy3D software, a professional-level airflow and microclimate simulator that can help improve ventilation. The new tool, which will be released July 30, is based on computational fluid dynamics and features a simple user interface, a validated simulation engine and streamlined simulation setup for a fast analysis.

“As a designer or an architect, it’s very difficult to develop an intuition for airflow,” said Timur, Dogan, assistant professor in the Department of Architecture, who directs Environmental Systems Lab. “With this [tool], you are getting a good synchronization of airflow everywhere, so that you’re not mixing or transporting bad air from one location to another, or from one desk to another.”

Research supporting the new module will be presented at the International Building Performance Association conference this September in Belgium. A preprint of the research presentation work is available on ResearchGate.