Natural Ventilation Design

Natural ventilation is a sustainable, energy-efficient and clean technology that is well accepted by occupants. It can be used to provide fresh air for occupants as necessary, to maintain acceptable air quality levels and to cool buildings in cases where climatic conditions allow. The successful application of natural ventilation techniques and the effectiveness of natural ventilation are determined by the prevailing outdoor conditions and microclimate as well as by building design and building use. Therefore, natural ventilation performance depends greatly on the design process and needs to be designed together with the building. This paper introduces a natural ventilation design process. It also characterises different natural ventilation concepts and system solutions and illustrates, by an example, the potential of integrated natural ventilation design.