The theme of this article is the green dimension of urban and architecture design in Yazd as an oasis in the middle of deserts in the centre of Iran where people were able to adapt to very hard climate condition through millenniums. Studying the residential tissues in this area shows that the architectural characteristics of the ancient and traditional parts of habitation complex - before been modernized- are according to the new paradigms of eco-architecture, sustainability and ecological city theories at a time when the global environment appears increasingly fragile.
Native architecture in the desert is the consequence of experience-based knowledge acquired through trial and error over time and often handed down through the generations in a long process of construction, the local climate representation, materials, sensibilities, and style of life. Traditions of vernacular architecture have many lessons for seeking sustainable forms. There is much to commend the common-sense approach to energy conservation and environmental protection practiced, however unknowingly, by many builders in the past. The aims of this study are to give an overview of Iranian vernacular architecture in the perspective of sustainability.