Built environment & energy efficiency
Natural Ventilation
Using wind and thermal buoyancy — rather than fans — to move fresh air through buildings, cutting cooling energy while maintaining comfort.
Definition
Natural ventilation uses natural forces — wind pressure differences and thermal buoyancy (the stack effect) — to deliver fresh air into buildings through strategically placed openings such as windows, louvres and roof vents. Wind-driven flow exploits pressure differences across a facade; buoyancy-driven flow uses the tendency of warm indoor air to rise and escape through high openings, drawing cooler air in below.
References
wind- and buoyancy-driven mechanisms, night cooling
stack effect mechanics, design risks
Overview
What it means
Before mechanical systems, all buildings were ventilated this way. Properly designed passive systems are self-regulating and can include night cooling, where ventilation purges heat absorbed by the building's thermal mass. Poorly designed ones fail — airflow, noise, security and pollution must all be resolved.
How it is used
Passive and mixed-mode ventilation feature in green building design and energy codes; operable facades and atria are designed around stack and cross-ventilation principles.
Why it matters
Cooling is among the fastest-growing energy demands in buildings; natural ventilation offers comfort with little or no operational energy — passive design at its most direct.
Review
Public comments appear only after editor acceptance. Draft comments stay in the review queue.
Reviewers choose the definition or an overview paragraph, leave a comment or replacement, and attach evidence or a source link.
Editors compare reviewer cards side by side. AI may help find agreement, conflicts, unsupported claims and possible source issues.
Only an editor-accepted synthesis changes the public page. Reviewer identities are shown only with consent and an editorial decision to attribute them.
Submitted reviews stay private until an editor decides whether to accept and attribute them.
Contribute to this entry
Help improve this definition
Your contribution is private while it is checked. Nothing changes on this page unless an editor accepts it.
Loading verified endorsements… Endorsements are not votes and never determine publication.
Endorse this definition
Endorse the exact version shown here. This is not a vote, and publication remains an editorial decision.
Review board
Comment on a specific line. Each reviewer stays separate until an editor accepts a merged draft.
Each person comments on the definition or overview in their own draft card, with role, evidence and suggested wording kept together.
AI can compare comments against the current text, flag conflicting claims, surface missing evidence and identify where reviewers agree.
An editor merges compatible suggestions into a draft change, checks sources, records disagreements and decides what can be published.