Wind and Structures, Vol. 15, No. 1 (2012) 27-41 27 A proposed technique for determining aerodynamic pressures on residential homes Tuan-Chun Fu 1 , Aly Mousaad Aly 2 , Arindam Gan Chowdhury * 1 , Girma Bitsuamlak 1 , DongHun Yeo 3 and Emil Simiu 3 1 Department of Civil and Environ. Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33174, USA 2 Intl. Hurricane Research Center, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33174, USA 3 National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA (Received December 16, 2010, Revised April 21, 2011, Accepted May 25. 2011) Abstract. Wind loads on low-rise buildings in general and residential homes in particular can differ significantly depending upon the laboratory in which they were measured. The differences are due in large part to inadequate simulations of the low-frequency content of atmospheric velocity fluctuations in the laboratory and to the small scale of the models used for the measurements. The imperfect spatial coherence of the low frequency velocity fluctuations results in reductions of the overall wind effects with respect to the case of perfectly coherent flows. For large buildings those reductions are significant. However, for buildings with sufficiently small dimensions (e.g., residential homes) the reductions are relatively small. A technique is proposed for simulating the effect of low-frequency flow fluctuations on such buildings more effectively from the point of view of testing accuracy and repeatability than is currently the case. Experimental results are presented that validate the proposed technique. The technique eliminates a major cause of discrepancies among measurements conducted in different laboratories. In addition, the technique allows the use of considerably larger model scales than are possible in conventional testing. This makes it possible to model architectural details, and improves Reynolds number similarity. The technique is applicable to wind tunnels and large scale open jet facilities, and can help to standardize flow simulations for testing residential homes as well as significantly improving testing accuracy and repeatability. The work reported in this paper is a first step in developing the proposed technique. Additional tests are planned to further refine the technique and test the range of its applicability. Keywords: aerodynamics; atmospheric surface layer; building technology; low-rise structures; open jet facilities; residential buildings; wind engineering; wind tunnels. 1. Introduction High winds cause the largest losses due to natural disasters in the U.S. Annual losses due predominantly to high winds from hurricanes alone averaged on the order of $10 billion from 1990- 1995. Low-rise buildings such as single-family residences and small commercial structures, which constitute over 70% of the U.S. building stock, account for a majority of these losses. The reduction of these losses requires the development of appropriate design and retrofitting provisions for such buildings, which currently are limited due to aerodynamic measurement difficulties in the current * Corresponding author, Assistant professor, E-mail: chowdhur@fiu.edu