An approach to natural ventilation conditions in urban apartment block buildings in Greece based on their architectural and constructional characteristics.

The multi-storey blocks which constitute the main type of building in Greek urban environments, have certain common characteristics. Those characteristics include the overall building dimensions and geometry, internal room dimensions, the materials used both in building construction and insulation, the size and the arrangement of the openings on the facades, the arrangement of the balconies, the position and dimension of the staircase etc. Some of these characteristics through their intervention in natural ventilation processes, contribute both qualitatively and qualitatively to the air flow regime of indoor spaces. This means that given specific meteorological conditions, they influence the air change rates and the mixing properties of shifting air masses. The consequent effects of such influences are in some cases favourable and in other cases unfavourable with regard to the resulting ventilation conditions in indoor space. This paper aims to investigate these influences in order to provide a basis for the development of design guidelines for similar buildings.