Wind towers - Old technology to solve a new problem

Wind towers (scoops situated on the roofs of buildings to catch the wind) have been in use for centuries in the Middle east and Pakistan, to provide ventilation and cooling with minimal mechanical plant. In Europe, the problem of cooling buildings has generally not been significant, but in recent years there has been a trend towards substantial increases in internal heat gains from IT equipment etc., and overheating in summer has become one of our major concerns. This has been dealt with by the use of air conditioning, but in many instances this could be avoided by making better use of natural ventilation through wind towers. This paper reviews the use of wind towers for cooling spaces, and reports on work currently being carried out, using wind tunnel tests on scale models, to examine the adaptation of these principles for use in modern office buildings, in order to avoid expensive air conditioning.