Compact Residential Design and Ventilation Efficiency: Indoor Environmental Quality in Hot-Arid Zones, Ghadames, Libya

Abstract

This study examined the ventilation system of the old city of Ghadames, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in the hot and arid Libyan Sahara. Specifically, the study working mechanism of the ventilation system without using technical machines and the rules that helped generate airflow effectively. The study is an important step towards understanding how we may develop architectural patterns using natural ventilation to provide thermal comfort within building complexes in a hot and arid climate zone. The study was based on personal observations, thermal measurements, and maps. Two key findings resulted from this study which can simplify the spatial and urban integrity, and social corroboration are the most important keys that created air-flow processes in the inherited urban complex of old Ghadames.