Abstract
Ventilation in buildings is very important for many reasons including human comfort, energy conservation, thermal comfort, indoor ventilation, and environmental hazards. Energy consumption is projected to grow by 3.7% by 2030, according to the National Energy Plan 2030. So, it has become imperative to understand the architectural variables that influence buildings’ energy consumption and contribute to the reduction of the expected energy demand. Mostly due to rapid population growth, people have started moving to cities, resulting in the existing residential buildings to become congested. Wind catchers, courtyards, windows, atriums, and ducts are sources of natural ventilation. However, since people purchase already furnished homes, so they sometimes don’t bother to have those features in their homes. The reason can be cost saving by builders, land costs, and use of artificial ventilation. Historically, the city of Hyderabad in Pakistan is known as the city of oriels, wind catchers, and old buildings with courtyards, although it does not look the same all over. This study focuses on natural ventilation to conserve energy and encourage the concept of a friendly indoor environment. Most of the ventilation features in general and in the homes of Hyderabad are discussed briefly with the help of a questionnaire survey, case studies, and unstructured interviews.