Natural ventilation is simply providing ventilation and/or conditioning through means of natural airflow through building openings. The obvious benefit of this is energy savings from not using ventilation and air conditioning equipment such as fans, chillers and pumps. Building occupants are known to benefit from natural ventilation through increased energy, better moods and increased productivity. It is one of the simplest and inexpensive methods to provide occupants with refreshing outside air. It is not always as simple as just providing multiple operable windows in a building. Wind patterns specific to the site should be considered and can be utilized by locating fenestration to enhance natural airflow through the building. A common method is by locating operable windows at a high level such as in clerestories or openings in a thermal tower as well as at the occupant level. This serves to naturally cool a space effectively by exhausting warm air at the high level while pulling in fresh cooler air at the low level through buoyancy pressure differences.

Though care must be taken to avoid having a wind tunnel effect in areas of the building. This obviously provides an undesirable effect of an excessively windy environment, especially a problem if paperwork is carried out in the area. The type and placement of operable windows or dedicated air inlets and outlets is critical in directing air into and out of the building so they provide both ventilation and cooling of interior surfaces. Interior spaces should be arranged to ensure that dead-air pockets in occupied zones do not occur.