The aim of this paper was to study the natural ventilation by the stack effect in a reduced model of a building to obtain the night ventilation. A vessel, with double wall, built using glass and metal and filled with water worked as a chimney. It was installed in a building with reduced scale (scale 5:1). Due to the high specific heat of the water, after its heating, a difference of the air temperature in a great part of the night is produced in the inside of the chimney. This way, the natural ventilation of the internal environment is obtained.

Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is a platform developedin recent years to allow the systematic study of buildings once occupied, so that lessons may be learnt that will improve future design. The tools employed in POE include plan analysis, monitoring of Indoor Environmentand Air Quality (IEQ, IAQ) and thermal performance, and surveys including walk-through, observations,and user satisfaction questionnaires.

The paper describes a proposal for low-cost, low embodiedenergy, passively-cooled social housing in Limassol, Cyprus, using a simple universally available recycled prefabricationsystem. This system, using redundant shipping containers, has already been developed by the authors.The systems strategies, with regard to the choice of materials and their consequent transportation; its simpleconstruction method and very short time of erection and its provision for recycling and minimum waste, are inherently sustainable.

The concepts of design that must be attended, especially in developing countries, are social and cultural concerns, as well as questions of environmental comfort and sustainability.The aspects of building constructions economicand technological viability and function also have continual importance. Contemporary architecture and its urban setting have exerted specific pressures on the design process, and this in turn on formal educationof professionals. Design education has however on the whole not found appropriate models to attend to the complexity of all these questions.

This study examines, by means of energy simulation softwares, the thermal behaviour of a real heavy masonrybuilding designed with a full application of bioclimaticstrategies, located in Mediterranean climate; the results are then compared with the performances of a twin building, which differs for one single feature, that is thermal mass.

Energy savings inside buildings require a comprehensivedesign approach to balance bioclimatic strategies with the use of active systems.A climatic responsive building aims to mediate externalagents both to reduce climate loads and to create a healthy and comfortable indoor environment.The sensitive approach to comfort gives nowadays more chances to implement passive strategies and especially the use of natural ventilation.The residential settlement in Pieve di Cento is made with a general Masterplan designed according to sustainableprinciples.

This paper will synopsize the results of a research on energy-conscious architectural elements and principles used throughout the history. The selected case studies were classified into historical eras regardless of their climatic or cultural diversity and were investigated by the date of construction, ranging from prehistoric to the current vernacular buildings, and they were cross-referenced and compared to each other. The analysis of the cases demonstrates similarity and some contrast in elements and principles, differing in history and culture but being similar in climate.

The paper examines the energy performance of student residence buildings and investigates the possibility of applying environmental design principles and measures in order to improve their cooling energy performance and indoor environment.A detailed study for the student residence buildings of the Higher Technological Institute (ATEI) of Larissa was performed.

This paper presents a design education experience, where the concepts of bioclimatic architecture were applied in a studio environment of the Architecture Course of UNICAMPin Campinas, Brazil. At the first PALENC 2005 Conference the authors of this paper presented a teaching experience with results that indicated the need for new ways of bringing the feelings of comfort close to the studiodesign discussions.

The Millennium Development Goals, approved by 189 countries in September 2000, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, adopted in 2002 by the World Summiton Sustainable Development (WSSD), emphasize the urgent need for greater commitment to reduce inequalitiesand assist in the development of poor countries.The 21 Mediterranean countries and the European Communitydecided in line with the WSSD process, to prepare a Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD), and requested the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD) of the MediterraneanAction Plan (MAP) t