In hot climates ventilation can be a useful means of cooling dwellings, if the outside air is cooler than that inside the dwelling. Often, in hot regions the outside air is so hot during the day that cooling by ventilation is of no benefit until the evening when the outside air cools. Ventilation can then be beneficial, and can be promoted by a sun-warmed cavity or 'solar chimney' added to a building on the sun ward side. The cavity may be of any material of high thermal capacity. Heat from the sun is stored within the walls and heats the air within.

Energy efficiency was the primary goal in the development of both the mechanical and electrical systems for the Norristown Area School District's Whitehall Elementary SchooI. This new facility is the first school in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to utilize ice thermal storage as the primary cooling medium. By applying innovative technology, the result is not only a building in which energy savings exceed those anticipated but which contributes to the children s education by providing a comfortable atmosphere for learning

The wind and buoyancy pressure driving forces for natural ventilation of buildings are very low, typically less than 10 Pa. Depending upon the prevailing climatic and thermal conditions, or even the location of a building on a site in relation to other surrounding buildings and landscape, the predominant pressure force incident on a purpose-provided natural ventilation opening can either be closer to the lower range of pressure differentials (< 2 Pa) or vary over a wider range of higher pressures (2 - 10 Pa).

Ventilation is one of the most important measures to dilute indoor air pollutants. In order to maintain a clean indoor air environment, not only the total ventilation rate of the building but also the distribution of outdoor air to each area must be taken into consideration. A performance evaluation of various ventilation systems, which have different air supply and exhaust equipment, has been made. This investigation was undertaken over a heating period, in a full-scale test house.