Sustainable techniques to improve the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort, reducing the energy consumption of public building in hot climates

Nowadays an increasing number of people spend a lot of their time in indoor spaces and the global market for Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) is increasing very quickly to improve the indoor air quality and the thermal comfort. The International Energy Agency assesses that almost the 20% of global energy consumption is addressed to mechanical air conditioning. The use of local resources and the rediscovery opportunities given by passive cooing and ventilation systems may suggest interesting ways to provide benefits for humans and to reduce environmental footprint. The paper focuses on the application of wind-catcher system in a modern public school in the city of Yazd (Iran), in a hot and arid climate zone. Opportunities and benefits are discussed to evaluate the efficiency of the redesign of the traditional wind-catcher and its integration in new modern buildings.