Natural Ventilation
This pattern is shaped by
Problem
When ventilation is entirely mechanical — sealed windows, ducted air, thermostat-controlled — the occupant has no relationship with the weather, no control over their own air, and no awareness of the seasons. The building becomes a submarine: habitable but disconnected.
Evidence and Discussion
Operable windows, cross-ventilation paths, stack-effect chimneys, and night-flush cooling strategies give occupants direct control over their air. The breeze through an open window is not just air exchange — it is sensory contact with the world outside. High-performance buildings can have both: a mechanical system for baseline ventilation and air quality, plus operable windows for the days when you want to feel the wind.
Therefore
design every occupied room with at least one operable window and a cross-ventilation path — an opening on the opposite side of the room (window, transom, or vent) that allows air to move through the space. Position openings to catch prevailing breezes. Provide stack-effect ventilation (high openings that draw warm air up and out) for still days. The mechanical ventilation system is the baseline; the operable windows are the connection to the living world.