Increased health standards and the need to save energy in colder climates caused residential buildings to advance to the modern airtight and well-insulated dwellings we have today. In these dwellings ventilation has become a dominant factor, both from an indoor air quality and an energy conservation point of view. This situation asks for consciousness on the part of applied ventilation systems. The report presents a review on present and advanced systems for basic ventilation and notes possible trends. It focuses on residential ventilation systems for basic needs, regarding ventilation as a means of removing human generated pollutants to achieve acceptable indoor air quality. It does not consider ventilation as a means of reducing the effects of highly avoidable pollutants, nor does this report consider special ventilation appliances or alternative techniques such as filtration or air cleaning.