Ever heard the term “cross-ventilation” mentioned in a real estate ad or a story about a million-dollar architect-designed place, and thought it sounded like scientific mumbo jumbo?
That’s the trouble with architect-speak sometimes, or techno talk of any kind – what is a relatively simple concept can suddenly look awfully complicated.
But anyone who has ever gone camping will be able to tell you the basics of cross-ventilation – opening up opposite windows (or tent flaps) to allow the air to flow from one side to another.
It’s the same thing that you would do if you have to sit in your car on a hot day. One window is simply not enough, but one open on each side of the car does the trick.
Cameron Rosen, managing director of Australian Living, a Sydney construction company with a sustainable bent, says the first step in planning for cross-ventilation is working out where the breezes are on your own site.
There’s several ways to do this – the simple golfer’s trick of throwing some dry grass into the air when the breeze is blowing to see which direction it’s coming from; keeping a close eye on trees, flags, a weather vane or a windsock to see how it behaves; or lastly, taking a look at the observations on the Bureau of Meteorology’s website for an area near you.
Read more at: http://smh.domain.com.au/blogs/talking-property/simplifying-crossventilation-20120403-1wa33.html
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Green Real Estate Appraiser 