Ventilation strategies for Improved IAQ in the GCC

The best air is not necessarily more air. It is better-managed air.

For decades, building ventilation strategies have been driven by a simple assumption: more outside air equals better indoor air quality. In hot, dusty regions such as the GCC and wider MENA, that assumption is increasingly outdated - and costly. Ventilation strategies for improved IAQ exist and are relatively easy to apply.

Outside air in the region is often hot, humid, and laden with fine dust, pollutants, and seasonal bioaerosols. Introducing large volumes of this air into sealed, air-conditioned buildings significantly increases cooling loads, energy consumption, and HVAC system size. Yet despite this energy penalty, higher ventilation rates alone do not necessarily deliver healthier indoor environments.

The reality is that ventilation dilutes contaminants - it does not eliminate them. Airborne pathogens, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and fine particulates can persist indoors even when outside air volumes are increased, particularly in high-occupancy buildings.

Modern standards now recognise this limitation. ASHRAE 62.1’s Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP) allows indoor air quality to be achieved through performance-based contaminant control, rather than fixed volumes of outside air. When proven air purification technologies are integrated into HVAC systems, contaminant concentrations can be actively reduced - enabling safe reductions in outside air while maintaining or improving IAQ.

For the GCC, this represents a paradigm shift. Cleaner indoor air no longer requires more ventilation. Instead, it requires smarter design: purification, control, and optimisation. The result is healthier buildings with lower energy use, smaller HVAC systems, and reduced carbon impact - without compromising occupant well-being.

In hot-climate regions, Ventilation strategies for improved IAQ exist - and the best air is not necessarily more air. It is better-managed air.