Natural ventilation can involve opening windows or doors, or holding an event outside.Footnote 141 Opening windows or doors can offer a low-cost option with minimal energy requirements, and is particularly helpful in spaces without an HVAC system. Natural ventilation isn’t suitable to address outdoor air quality issues like pollen or wildfire smoke, and effectiveness can vary depending on the weather, wind direction, window and door opening size, and building orientation.Footnote 142 Outdoor events may require backup plans for poor weather or air quality.
Learn more:
- What to know about lüften, or “house burping” | TIME
- Transportation air quality | OSPE
- Western Canadian outdoor music festivals guide to wildfire smoke | Calgary Folk Music Festival & Alberta Capital Airshed
Footnotes (2)
- Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, Special Topics in Indoor Air Quality Report: Ventilation System Guidelines (Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, 2025), 5–7, https://ospe.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ventilation-REPORT.pdf. Back to text
- Iasmin Lourenço Niza et al., “Air Quality and Ventilation: Exploring Solutions for Healthy and Sustainable Urban Environments in Times of Climate Change,” Results in Engineering 24 (2024): 103157, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2024.103157. Back to text