Sustainable Design of Natural Cooling Systems based on Traditional Architecture of Iran

Abstract

Today, the knowledge of building ecology focuses on the capacity of integrating environmental and climatic parameters into design and thus enhances space qualities. Architects in Iran, as an immense country with different climatic zones and regions, had to use sustainable design approaches in traditional Iranian architecture from a long time ago in order to respond extreme environmental to conditions. This study focuses one of the results of this approach, which are natural cooling systems of Iranian traditional architecture in hot-arid regions. Despite there are different natural cooling systems in traditional Iranian architecture, the wind catchers (badgir) are well known architectural symbols in hot dry and hot humid climatic regions of the country. A wind catcher provides natural ventilation in the house which regarded as an important element for creating healthy environment and reducing the energy consumption. In the first part of this study, the traditional wind catchers of Iran houses will be analysed according to their functional and structural features. In the second part, the modernized wind catchers will be examined with the case studies from the Islamic Arab World and Western World. The case studies represent the combination of know-how of traditional architecture and This paper demonstrates the value of wind-catchers and provides insight into the application of natural technology of our millennium ventilation systems as an alternative to the inappropriate modern cooling system in hot climate regions. It also aims to examine the theoretical status of wind catchers and to identify its specific nature, use and function in the context of architectural practice and discourse, in the past and our present world.