Top 10 Advantages of Natural Ventilation

1. Beautiful architecture

With automated natural ventilation no unsightly pipe-work and duct penetrations are necessary, saving much-needed design space. Natural ventilation does not require suspended ceilings, meaning that you can increase ceiling heights. Moreover, natural ventilation allows more transparency and daylight through windows and other openings in the building.

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2. Lower energy consumption

Natural ventilation and hybrid ventilation consume less energy when compared with mechanical ventilation systems. Even less energy is consumed by the use of hybrid ventilation.

3. 100% use of space

You can make full use of the entire building floor plate and height, as no space is required for large air handling units and equipment rooms. A mechanical ventilation system occupies up to 6.5% of a building’s floor area compared to only 0.2% for a natural ventilation system.

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4. Low carbon for Sustainable Building

Buildings account for approximately 30-40% of total energy consumption. Intelligent natural ventilation has very low energy consumption and thus very limited CO2 emissions. If you choose automated natural ventilation, you can save 24-71% on carbon emissions compared to mechanical ventilation.

5. High user satisfaction

WindowMaster’s indoor control solutions can divide your building into different zones to more easily address occupant comfort. Users have the option to override the automatic control, meaning that the system allows occupants to meet their indoor comfort needs. In air-conditioned buildings, only 50% of the occupants are satisfied, whereas in naturally ventilated buildings, 77% of the occupants are satisfied with indoor temperature.

Project References

City of Glasgow Colleges - an engaging and energizing building

City of Glasgow Colleges took a definitive commitment to the environment by embracing several sustainable design strategies such as automated natural ventilation. To reduce heat loads and maintain air quality, the atrium acts as a natural stack to drive cross ventilation through the building.
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HouseZero on Harvard University's campus raises the bar for energy efficiency

HouseZero of Harvard University was renovated to inspire others by how older, existing structures can be altered to become ultra-efficient facilities. The older indoor climate systems were fully replaced with a new indoor climate paradigm which relies on the addition of thermal mass and radiant surfaces.
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UCL Student Centre at Gordon Street - a BREEAM building with a holistic IAQ approach

The new Student Centre of the University College London is a flagship for sustainable development in the urban environment. UCL’s strategy was to focus on a “passive first” approach to the indoor climate to reduce energy use and thereby carbon emissions.
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MECD - fresh learning spaces in Manchester

MECD is Manchester University’s brand-new Engineering Campus. Intelligent actuator technology was key to providing the best indoor climate possible via fresh air ventilation. MotorLink® communication technology was chosen because it ensures seamless integration between the BMS and window automation.
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Intelligent automation at Augusta University Cancer Research Center

Augusta University Cancer Research Center chose WindowMaster actuators and MotorControllers as part of the building’s heat and smoke management strategy. The actuators and controllers are enabled with MotorLink® so that they can communicate directly with the building management systems about their position and status.
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6. Gentle refurbishment and retrofitting

Retrofitting with automated natural ventilation can bring energy-saving and healthy ventilation to historic or protected buildings without the need to break through walls and ceilings to make room for large ventilation units. Actuators can easily be installed when upgrading old windows to new ones.

7. Fast refurbishment

The refurbishment can be completed very quickly, which allows the building occupants to have minimal disruption if you choose natural ventilation rather than mechanical ventilation. This may also enable you to avoid relocation of the building users while renovation takes place.

8. A better bottom line

Fewer and less expensive components and construction work are some of the contributing factors that make automated natural ventilation the low-cost option for a better indoor climate. Building life cycles cost (capital cost, operating cost and maintenance) are around 5 times cheaper with natural ventilation compared to mechanical ventilation, and 2.5 times cheaper with hybrid/mixed mode ventilation. Furthermore, there is an estimated payback of as little as 1 year, and an average ROI of at least 120% for natural ventilation and mixed-mode systems, due to the energy, health, and productivity benefits.

Read: How your natural ventilation system can pay for itself

9. Minimal maintenance

There is little work to be done once the natural ventilation system is installed. With no filter replacement and no dirty ducts to be cleaned, time and resources can be spent on other things.

10. Healthy buildings and indoor climate

Studies show that occupants of buildings with natural ventilation have fewer building-related symptoms, such as headaches and eye irritation. Health expenses for occupants are also reduced by about 0.8 - 1.3% while also reducing respiratory illness, like asthma and allergies by up to 90%.