As answer to climate change and to new and growing demands of temperature and humidity comfort in housing, it follows the increasing of air conditioning technologies; this evolutional trend involves high energy consumption. The proposed work is oriented to analyze traditional and innovative techniques for cooling indoor and outdoor air by the use of water. In the Mediterranean traditional architecture the cooling techniques are mainly based on the principle of water evaporation, this purpose is achieved through the introduction of water into the environment, by means of various systems: stagnant water in lakes and basins, or water in motion with fountains, waterfalls, splashes, etc. Over the time, traditional buildings have been conditioned by these techniques for cooling through the use of water up to reach complex and sophisticated architectural designs. Starting from this heritage, innovative systems have been developed to reach higher performance to integrate building systems, both traditional as well as moderns, in order to ensure a significant reduction of energy consumption.