How to Maximize Natural Ventilation for an Eco Friendly Home

In this article, we will learn how to maximize natural ventilation to make our homes eco friendly in the Philippines as presented by Paolo Bellosillo of BluHomes.
 
Air is free. However, it is outside our homes. It will enter our homes using natural ventilation. Natural ventilation is the process of supplying air into the home without using any mechanical equipment.

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BluHomes Maya are eco friendly homes in Amparo Caloocan certified by EDGE as a green building development. Click here to learn more:

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There are three ways to maximize natural ventilation to make your home eco friendly: size of window openings, placement of windows and size of rooms

1. Size of window opening

The bigger the window opening, the better natural ventilation. What is important here is the size of the opening, the part of the window that can be opened. These are the 4 common types of windows being used in the Philippines.
 
Fixed Windows are windows that cannot be opened and are used only for view. These windows do not promote natural ventilation in our homes.
 
Sliding Windows are windows wherein when you open one side, the other side gets closed. When you open the other side, the other side gets closed as well. These windows only have 50% opening and do not really promote natural ventilation.
 
What we need to maximize natural ventilation are Jalousie Windows and Casement Windows. There are windows that, when you open them, have 100% opening to promote natural air to come inside the home.
 
This is the reason why casement windows are used in BluHomes, to maximize natural ventilation inside the home and make it eco friendly.

2. Placement of windows

Another way to maximize natural ventilation for our homes is how the windows are positioned. These are the 2 common types of natural ventilation for homes:
 
Single-Sided Ventilation is where the windows are placed in only one side of the room. Natural air will still enter the room but you will need bigger window openings. Cross Ventilation is where the windows are placed across each other and is the best for natural ventilation.

3. Size of room

The third way to maximize natural ventilation in our homes is how big our rooms are. This includes not only the width and length of your room, but the ceiling height as well. The bigger the measurements, the better will air flow inside your home.
 
In BluHomes, aside from the spacious rooms, the ceiling height is 2.5 meters to promote natural ventilation inside the home. According to EDGE, a certification body that certified BluHomes Maya as a green building, if the size of the room is 10 square meters, the size of the window must be at least 20% of this or 2 square meters to support natural ventilation in the home. This is how BluHomes based the sizes of its window openings.
 
If natural ventilation is well-promoted in our homes, it will be naturally cooler inside. With naturally cooler homes, use of air conditioners is lessened, energy consumption is reduced, and in turn pollution and carbon dioxide emission are reduced, making the home eco friendly.
 
In BluHomes, we believe that we all have a moral obligation to protect our planet for our children and future generations. Our homes must be eco friendly.
 
Learn more about the eco friendly homes of BluHomes at www.bluhomes.ph/
 
Let's all love nature!