Planning energy efficiency in urban scale, it's interaction with urban form Milas case

Today 50% of world's population is living in the cities and this number is expected to rise 70% by 2050. There are social and economical drivers behind this rapid urbanization. Cities provide labor, education, security and social oppurtunities to people. While cities provide such oppurtunities to their residents they consume huge amounts of energy for transport, industrial and commercial activities, buildings and infrastructure, water distribution, and food production. It is estimated that 2/3 of global energy consumption and 70% of greenhouse gas emmissions take place in cities. Cities will contribute to efficient use of energy, deployment of renewable energy technologies and in success of climate change policies. For this reason, from small settlements to megacities, cities will play a role in reaching energy policy targets and there will be many changes in the way cities consume energy. In the study a general framework for energy efficeny in cities is given and evaluating the matter in city scale is emphasized. In order to reduce energy losses in cities energy efficiency measures should be considered in planning phase of urban settlements. Such actions can be more prevailing and effective than building scale interventions. But there are powerful barriers that prevent cities from recognizing and implementing their potentials. Strategies are needed to overcome those barriers such as integrated energy planning for neighbourhoods or energy master plans for whole cities. Decision-making processes, organization and implementation strategies have more importance for urban scale energy efficeny compared to technological solutions for individual buildings. For sustainable urbanization new urban scale models need to developed for the information level of urban energy policies and urban planning decisions. In the study a new analysis method for energy efficiency is proposed and tested for planning discipline. The thesis has three aims. First aim is to introduce building design and urban design parameters that effect energy efficiency in building and urban scale. Second aim is to evaluate the effect of building parameters on building energy demand in the planning phase of a new settlement area by using energy simulation method. Building parameters values which give the least energy demand can be added to the planning notes. The aim is to proffer suggestions to other disciplines which will take part in the architectural design, mechanical system design and construction of buildings in the planning area. Third aim is to investigate relationship between urban form and energy demand. Early planning phase design decisions may have a direct effect on energy performance of the settlement. These effects can not be evaluated with simple calculations. Building energy simulation can be a tool to assess the effects of alternative plan designs on building energy performance. Using building energy simulation tools as a urban design decision support tool is new approach which can give urban designers an opportunity to assess their plans from energy perspective. In the study energy models on building and urban scale, performance based design principles and urban building energy modeling are explained. Energy models in building scale are used in architectural design decisions and engineering calculations of heating, cooling, lighting systems of buildings. Urban scale energy models are focused on technology design, building design, urban climate, system design, policy assessment and transportation and land use. Technology design models calculate supply-side parameters of energy supply technologies. The design and performance of urban wind turbines, solar energy systems, fuel cells and waste-to-energy systems are subjects of technology design models. Urban climate models deal with heat island effects on buildings and calculate the temperatures and lighting conditions within buildings. System design models use optimization techniques to to determine the comyapıtions of capital equipment and operating patterns under certain constraints. Policy assessment models study policy decisions and their effect on energy performance of cities. Transportation and land use models are generally large complex econometric models which try capture the major dynamics of urban processes. These models focus on human activity and land use patterns. Building design models deal with building design and renovation, energy demand estimation, urban planning and policy. Energy model used in this study converts urban massing models into thermal shoebox models. The method groups facade segments by similarity of their local solar microclimate. A reference shoebox model consisting of a perimeter and a core region represent each group. The model simulates shoeboxes of each group and then extrapolates simulation results. The method estimates urban energy use in a feasible and timely manner. Building physics deal several different areas in building performance. Basic principles of heat transfer, air movement, thermal performance, control of moisture, ambient energy, acoustics, light, climate and biology are subjects of building physics. These physical events cause heating, cooling, lighting and plug loads during building operation. Buildings need to be designed to meet occupant's comfort need. We need to heat, cool, ventilate and control humidity in buildings to meet comfort levels. Energy efficient architectural design, advanced materials and passive technologies in buildings can reduce the energy demand and improve the environmental impact. Energy efficient building design and passive techniques are explained in the thesis. Urban form, physical structure of the city can effect urban climate. The form and physical structure of the city can be controlled by urban planning and design. It is possible to change urban climate through urban policies and design of cities. By policy and design it is possible to improve the comfort conditions of outdoor and indoor environments. Improvement of comfort conditions of occupants reduce the energy demand of the buildings for heating in winter and for cooling in summer. For better urban thermal conditions urban designers need to understand the relationship between urban morphology and the thermal performance of the city in different climates. The city site selection and the urban configuration design are two major climate related factors that effect urban climate and urban comfort. The analysis method in the thesis has two stages. In the first stage building parameters that effect building energy demand are taken into account and in the second stage planning parameters that effect building energy demand are considered. In order to calculate effects of building and planning parameters on building energy demand; EnergyPlus whole building energy simulation program and urban modeling interface umi are used for the analysis. EnergyPlus is the U.S. Departments of Energy's 3rd generation dynamic building energy simulation engine for modeling building, heating, cooling, lighting, ventilating and other energy flows. Umi is a CAD-based design environment for architects and urban planners interested in modeling the environmental performance of neighborhoods and cities with respect to operational and embodied energy use, walkability and daylighting potential. In the first stage a group of basic parameters that effect building energy demand are selected and relevant values are determined for the parameters. Milas development plan which has forms of traditional settlement of Milas, simulated for the selected parameter values. Simulation are results are evaluated to observe building parameters' effect on building energy demand. After the evaluation building parameter values that deliver best building energy performance are chosen for second stage of analysis. It is also proposed to annex simulation results to urban plan notes for consideration of other disciplines that will take part in the design and construction of development area. In the second stage planning parameters that effect building energy demand are selected. New plans are reproduced from traditional Milas plan by using new planning parameter values. Energy simulations are made for new plans in order to see the effect of new planning parameter values on building energy demand. Another indicator we calculated is sDA value of floor plans. We conducted urban daylight simulations on reproduced plans to find effect of planning parameters on daylight potential of floor plans. Simulation resuls evaluated and planning parameters that deliver best building energy performance and best urban daylight performance values are chosen to be added planning notes of the proposed plan. Urban daylight simulations also gave us insight about how to locate zones according to their daylight need in the architectural floor plans. Milas development areas different plans were designed. Beside traditional development plan that we simulated earlier, we choose two more plans for simulation. One plan has a grid system and the other plan has form of both grid system and traditional form. We used simulation results to compare heating, cooling and total energy demand of three development plans. There are significant changes in heating, cooling and total energy demand of three plans. Energy simulation in urban design phase informs us about our design decisions. Energy demand of urban plans can be an additional criteria for assessment of urban development plans.