International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Technology ISSN : 2277-1581 Volume No. 6, Issue No. 7, PP : 250-254 1 July 2017 DOI : 10.5958/2277-1581.2017.00031.6 Page 250 Ventilation in Termite Mound : New Solution for Follow in Architecture Hamid Abaeian, Ramin Madani, Armin Bahramian Department of Architecture, University of Isfahan Art, Isfahan, Iran Email: Abaeianhamid@yahoo.com, R.madani@aui.ac.ir , A.Bahramian@aui.ac.ir Abstract: The airflow in building environment is a strategy that could provide indoor thermal comfort conditions in warm and dry environment. Therefore, formation of ventilation inside buildings is essential. In the meantime, the nature has some structures, which have created much potential in the natural ventilation. Thus, this research aims to provide a mechanism for improving natural ventilation in the building to recognize the effective features in the termite mound, as a successful natural structure in hot and dry climate. In order to conduct this research, extensive examples of termite mounds were studied, which were located in the hot and dry climate. The research tool was the library studies carried out so far in the field of biology, which provide strategies to promote natural ventilation system in the building after recognizing the process of termite mound ventilation and its effective factors. The results indicate that wind, water, temperature differences, and the form of inner channels of the mound have an important role in natural ventilation. These factors require vertical ducts inside the building in order to streamline the air. However, other features such as the materials applied in the termite mound and placing in the ground reduce the heat dissipation inside mound building, but these features have no effect on the process of natural ventilation inside the mound. Keywords:Ventilation, Termite mound, Follow the living structures, Biomimicry, Air Exchanger I.Introduction Effective use of natural ventilation is a viablestrategyto achieve energy-efficient buildings,but thisstrategy is difficult to master because the air intake and discharge may be more or less than what is really needed [1]. Thus, providing adequate natural ventilation solutions for buildings requires further study on successful examples. Many of such examples can be found in the form of natural phenomena. Regardless of field of activity, nature has always been a reliable and rich source of inspiration for scientists and engineers. Every living being maintains a unique balance with its environment, and continues to reproduce and survive by exercising effective actionsin response for its needs; actions that have been developed and sometimes perfected through recurring tests of survival undergone by countless generations of the living being [2]. Termite mounds are stable natural structures found in desert areas andhave fascinatedresearchers for more than two centuries [3].One source of this fascination is the adaptability of termite mounds with their environment throughout different seasons, which is achieved withminimum energy consumption and only on account of good architectural design of structure. This study seeks to employ thefeatures of termite mound as a not able example of efficient natural ventilation [4] , which In the case of termite mound, is associated with two important needs of the inhabitants, namely thermal regulation and gas exchange in ahot climate [5, 6, 7]. Although some previous buildings have been successful in taking inspiration from the ventilation of termite mounds to reduce energy consumption, research shows a significant difference between the results of these buildings and those of termite mound structure [8]. Hence, further study of termite mounds can still contribute to understanding the process of ventilation within these mounds and adopting the desirable features in the architecture of human structures. The basic questions that are raised in this regard and this study seeks to answer are: How natural ventilation within the mound addresses the needs of termites? What is the role of channel morphology within the mound in thegas exchange process? What is the effect of outside wind and temperature on the quality of natural ventilation in the termite mound? Internal structures of termite mounds appear to have unique features that worth to be mimickedin natural ventilation of human architecture. To determine these features, we first briefly review the variety of termite mounds, and then provide an architectural analysis based on existing findings and observations. II. Material and Methodology Biomimicry is to take inspiration from natural structures to find new solutionsforhuman problems, including those in regard to architecture [9]. Following this approach could be difficult however, as it requires meticulous study of natural phenomena to deduce their governing principles [10]. So far, several varieties of termite mound have been identified.In terms of internal structure and mechanism of ventilation, mounds are divided into two categories: capped chimney mounds (operating based on thermosiphon flow) and open chimney mounds (operating based on induced flow) [11, 12, 13].In terms of general morphology, termite nests are divided into severalcategories: epigeal (above surface), subterranean and arboreal[14, 15].As a general assumption, termite nest need to be able to discharge the air polluted due to physiological and food processing activities of the colony [16, 17, 18].Likewise, natural ventilation is also necessary for discharging the heat generated due to colony metabolism [19, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23]. In the studies where the effect of natural ventilation mechanism on thermal regulation and gas exchange have been investigated by measuring the temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide within the termite mound, it has been found that outsidewind and temperature both have significant impacts on natural ventilation [6, 12].In another group of studies, where the internal structures