Amir Hossein Farahinia - PhD Candidate, Department of Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, IRAN
Mojtaba Ansari - Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, IRAN

Relying mostly upon their sense of creativity rather than advanced equipment, traditional builders faced the challenge of conquering harsh climatic condition to provide building interiors with comfort. By the time technology advancement brought about air-conditioning systems that facilitated moderating interior conditions regardless of how unpleasant outside conditions could be, most designers tended to be less sensitive to the issue as a vital architectural concern. Thus, modern constructions encouraged more energy consumption which in turn led to environmental and economic issues. Today, as the imperative of energy efficiency in terms of built environment urges to reconsider the way we build, lessons from past can be helpful in developing creative solutions. Long before mechanical systems came to existence, in hot arid regions of Iran -considerable area of the country- traditional builders had developed some efficient strategies to modify environmental conditions, most of which could be considered as passive cooling systems, today. This study, with a critical look into the background, is to discuss passive cooling strategies and methods in traditional Iranian architecture and their capability of functioning as zero-energy solutions for providing maintaining comfort conditions, and their potent contribution to development of optimized methods applicable to modern lifestyle. Developing such strategies of simple technology can be easily applied even in least developed areas, and also provide feasible solutions for construction in regions of similar climate.

carbon neutral, architecture, Iranian, traditional