Ветроуловители: традиционные системы вентиляции и охлаждения зданий

Architectural element for creating a draft

A windcatcher, wind tower, or wind scoop ([[:fa:بادگیر) is a traditional architectural element, originated in Iran (Persia), used to create cross ventilation and passive cooling in buildings. Windcatchers come in various designs, depending on whether local prevailing winds are unidirectional, bidirectional, or multidirectional, on how they change with altitude, on the daily temperature cycle, on humidity, and on how much dust needs to be removed. Windcatchers rely on local weather and microclimate conditions, and not all techniques will work everywhere; local factors must be taken into account in design. Windcatchers vary dramatically in shape, including height, cross sectional area, and internal sub divisions and filters.). Higher air is also usually less dusty. (for an extreme example, see Tesla valve). Other elements are often used in combination with the windcatchers to cool and ventilate: courtyards, domes, walls, and fountains, for instance, as integral parts of an overall ventilation and heat management strategy.

The diurnal temperature cycle means that the night air is colder than the daytime air; in arid climates, much colder. This creates appreciable buoyancy forces. Buildings may be designed to spontaneously increase ventilation at night. Courtyards in hot climates fill with cold air at night. This cold air then flows from the courtyard into adjacent rooms. The courtyard air will become stably stratified, the hot air floating on top of the cold air with little mixing. (it is this depth which is used for many ground source heat pumps, often loosely referred to as "geothermal heat pumps" by laypeople). The thermal inertia of the soil evens out the daily and even annual temperature swings. In arid climates, the daily temperature swings are often extreme, with desert temperatures often dipping below freezing at night. Even the thermal inertia of thick masonry walls will keep a building warmer at night and cooler during the day; in hot arid climates, thick walls with high thermal mass (adobe, stone, brick) are common (though thinner walls with high resistance against heat transmission are more modernly sometimes used). and for adaptation to climate change because they facilitate cooling in a warmer climate. Windcatchers can reduce temperature inside the house by in comparison to the outdoor temperature. A window windcatcher can reduce the total energy use of a building by 23.3%.

[[File:Kensington Oval media centre. jpg|thumb|The Kensington Oval cricket ground in Barbados also uses a very wide aluminium windscoop. where it functions without the addition of mechanical devices in order to regulate temperature.