Commercial buildings consume a sixth of all the energy used in the Western world, according to Nancy Stauffer of MIT's Laboratory for Energy and the Environment.

Getting rid of air conditioning could cut that consumption by as much as a third, she writes, so MIT researchers are improving computer-based tools to help architects design commercial buildings that cool occupants with natural breezes. Her article, "Comfortable buildings -- hold the air conditioning," appeared earlier this month.

Buildings can be designed to encourage airflow and reduce the need for air conditioning. Professor Leon R. Glicksman, director of MIT's Building Technology Program, says this approach improves air quality, ensures good ventilation and saves both energy and money.

Yet few commercial buildings now use natural ventilation. Glicksman says that architects worry this new approach won't work in the buildings they're designing, so he and his collaborators at MIT and Cambridge University in England are developing new computer tools and scale-model experiments that should help to alleviate those worries.

The MIT team is formulating a simple, user-friendly computer tool that will help architects design for natural ventilation. They plan to incorporate the tool into their "Design Advisor" web site.

Natural ventilation works hand in hand with daylighting, another potential energy-saving measure. For more on daylighting, read this case study.