European AC and Ventilation

GMcD

The clay tile buried pipe system is just a variation on earth tubes. The warmed bouyant air in the vertical tube(s) in the house will "pull" the outdoor air in through the buried earth tubes, where the air will be cooled by the ambient lower ground temperature and provide low grade (low exergy) cooling to the space. Can work well in many climate zones.

D107

Saw a show on the green network

that featured a house in Holland. Two things were interesting:

1-They used a ventilation system ("Venta"?) that replenished air based on $200 carbon dioxide detectors reaching a certain level of CO2 in various rooms.

2-The owner prided himself on installing what he called an ancient AC system (used long ago in Europe and Arabia) that involves a terracotta pipe that apparently gets planted into the ground and winds around inside the house somehow, exiting as a stack (5"?) wide above the roof. Is this like geothermal and are both these systems used in the USA?

Thanks,

David