A good breeze

It might not be something you think much about, but a well-ventilated room is important for your health. “There’s a lot of studies that have been done over the last 20-30 years that say people who work or study in naturally ventilated buildings perform better,” says Ben Hughes, a Lecturer in Building Physics from the University of Leeds. Free-flowing air removes dust and dirt as well as reducing the amount of CO2 and excess moisture in your immediate atmosphere and makes for a much more pleasant environment. “As air passes over your skin it gives you a sensation of being comfortable,” says Ben.

But moving air also removes heat, so a well-ventilated building needs good heating – and that comes at a price. Most commercial buildings use mechanical heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to control the temperature and airflow in a room. But “depending on where in the world you are, between 40-60% of a building’s energy consumption is from the HVAC systems,” says Ben.

One way to tackle this intensive energy use is to design and build super-economical airtight houses. This is the idea behind the Passivhaus standard; a house that doesn’t need heating but relies instead on heat from the people living in the house and items such as the cooker and lights. 

So designers are now taking inspiration from the old way of ventilating houses and buildings, so-called natural ventilation.