Wind Catchers Remarkable Example of Iranian Green Architecture

It's almost impossible to read or watch the news today without seeing stories related to energy. At this time, questions about energy are taking on an increasingly more important major role in the national discussion. The most common question asked is: In a world where the subject of minimizing the use of energy becomes more critical, how can we as architects take advantage of our environment with no or minimal impact on it? How can we learn from the ancient and traditional architecture and use those methods in our design in order to minimize energy use? One answer is to use a passive systems utilizing natural ventilation to achieve energy reduction. This system can be found in both wealthy and less developed regions. There are many magnificent building styles from all over the world with new shapes, materials, arrangements, decorations, and concepts for heating, cooling and more. But unfortunately vernacular architecture, which is the product of the relationship between nature and culture, has been ignored over the last couple of centuries as modern methodologies took over. This is unfortunate since many of the old ways use natural methods and simple concepts.