I had a chance to visit Iolani Palace recently, and was amazed at how "before its time" its airflow design seemed to be. I asked our new intern, and guest blogger, Jesse Leung, to check it out. Here's what he found:

"Today we tend to think of 'green' technology as 'new' technology. But turns out, some of Hawaii’s 'old' technology is pretty green too. One such example is Hawaii’s own Iolani Palace, built in 1879. It used natural ventilation to keep the royalty cool in the tropical heat.
 
I had a chance to chat with Glenn Mason, owner of Mason Architects, who has worked on the restoration and upkeep of the palace since the late ’70s. According to Glenn, 'The key elements of natural ventilation are the number of window openings, cross ventilation, and height,' which are all present in the structure.  Banks of large “window-doors” that open to the lanai let massive amounts of air to flow through the building.  Deep overhangs shield those windows from the sun. Inside the palace large central halls, high ceilings and open stairways act as conduits for ventilation.  It’s, 'Nothing sophisticated,' says Mason, but these simple structural facets were way ahead of their time.
 
Nowadays in Hawaii, many new homes are being built with these old techniques for natural cooling in lieu of artificial air conditioning. It shows we can use lessons from the past to build our environmental future."

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