Extreme urbanization during the last years has resulted in important economic, social, energy and environmental problems. Over-consumption of resources and environmental pollution are among the major problems in cities of the developed world, while poverty and lack of infrastructures comprise the main problems in the cities of the less developed world. Urbanization increases the energy consumption and production of pollutants. Important peak electricity problems have occurred during the last years in developed countries because of the extensive use of air conditioners. In parallel, poverty obliges almost 2 billion people to use biomass for fuel, resulting in substantial indoor pollution problems. Natural ventilation can be a significant solution to these problems by improving the environmental quality of urban buildings worldwide. Appropriate simple or sophisticated components of natural ventilation equally address the different nature of people’s requirements in the urban environment and contribute significantly to decreasing indoor pollution, improving indoor air quality, enhancing thermal comfort and reducing the use of mechanical cooling.
Nov 032010