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Natural Ventilation Examples

Examples of successful naturally ventilated buildings are abundant in Europe, whereas such buildings in the United States are still relatively uncommon.   With the objective of assessing natural ventilation possibilities for buildings in the United States, Brian Dean (SM Building Technology ’01 MIT), conducted a tour of design strategies for natural ventilation in Europe.  Innovative strategies including shading within double skin facades, thermal mass using wavy ceilings, and design-inspired chimneys and stacks are pictured in figures 1-3.  Other key design principles, such as open floor plans and landscaping, are shown in figures 4-5.

Photo credits: Brian Dean.
(Dean BN. 2001. Natural Ventilation Possibilities for Buildings in the United States. Master of Science in Building Technology. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cambridge, MA.)
Figure 1. Shading and double-skin facade - Victoria Insurance, Dusseldorf Germany
Victoria Insurance uses shades placed between the outer and inner glass of the double-skin façade to catch and reflect solar radiation before it enters the conditioned space.  When the heat gain is not desired for interior thermal comfort, the heated air simply rises through the space within the double-skin façade and exits near the top.
Figure 2. Thermal mass - Building Research Establishment, Garston, Watford, England
The British Research Establishment’s Environmental Building uses a wavy ceiling to provide increased thermal mass surface area to moderate the internal temperature.  A white, wavy ceiling also reflects more light than a typical flat ceiling (Dean, 2001).