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Airing the economic case for natural ventilation
Ian Rogers of Gilberts puts the case for how ventilation can be carbon neutral as well as cost saving, for the benefit of schools’ bottom line and students’ air quality
T
he need for Britain to get back on track in the drive to be ‘net zero’ is putting major pressure on architects to design projects that are as sustainable as possible. We’re building airtight to address heat and therefore energy wastage, but we still have to allow air in and out of the building, and its occupants to breathe. There is almost as much pressure to deliver good indoor air quality (IAQ) because of its positive impact on health and wellbeing as there is on cutting carbon.
But is that a negative or a positive?
We believe it’s a positive; encouraging innovative thinking to achieve sustainable zero carbon commercial building services strategies. But we also live in the real world, and know that architects and manufacturers
ADF MAY 2024
need to work together to develop practical, cost-effective solutions towards that target. One clear trend is that of natural ventilation, and its latest derivations – being more widely used in taller buildings. It’s a logical step, when you think about
it. After all, how did we air multi-storey structures such as our iconic Houses of Parliament before electricity? Natural ventilation works by using only our planet’s energy (wind), and applying the physics that warm air rises, and air speed increases with height. And the UK’s temperate climate, where we rarely experience extremes of temperature, makes it ideally suited to greater use of natural ventilation. In schools, it is the preferred approach within Building Bulletin B101 guidance. Natural ventilation is good from the
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