The history of ventilation in buildings

The origins the word ventilation lie in the Latin word ventilatio, or ventulus meaning a breeze, and from ventus meaning wind. Ventilatus, was the past participle of ventilare which was interpreted as to brandish, toss in the air, fan, agitate or set in motion.

In early history the Roman hypocaust system, was a heated underfloor ventilation system in which heated air was distributed through a building via pipes and tile vents.

In the early 1630's, King Charles I decreed ceilings in England should be 10 feet (3 meters) and windows taller than their width to allow for natural ventilation as it was assumed poor indoor conditions were causing the nation's health problems.

By 1660 ventilation was being described as the process of replacing foul air in an enclosed place with fresh, pure air. By the 1740's it was commonly referred to as the act of supplying a room with fresh air. A blowing wheel system was installed in the Houses of Parliament in London.

In slang, ventilation had an adopted the meaning of shooting someone ie by making holes in them to ventilate them.

In the 1840's the system in Parliament had been upgraded to a heating and cooling ventilation system. By the early 1900's simple air conditioning systems started appearing and would soon become very commonplace. Whilst from 2000 onwards, with the increasingly awareness of energy conservation, alternative systems with advanced natural ventilation, mixed mode and heat recovery have become more and more commonplace.

See also: Advanced natural ventilation, ventilation and HVAC.

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