A study for the analysis of development legislation in terms of efficient use of solar energy in residential buildings and settlements

The increase in the world population and the consumption made the energy the most important concern for all governments around the world. The means to procure the energy is a significant matter of planning. The depletion of primary energy resources like oil, natural gas and coal, greenhouse gas emission due to their usage and the increase in the mean temperature all around the world and the global warming problem due to these emissions made exploring new approaches unavoidable. In this context, using the available energy more efficiently and the renewable energy resources has become more important. The urban areas that accommodates the majority of the world population and the residential areas that make up the major part of the building stock in these urban areas are the primary areas to take action concerning the energy efficiency due to the increase in population and energy needs as shown in the projections. The less energy we use to provide the comfort requirements of buildings, the more we increase the energy efficiency. Therefore, reducing the heating and cooling costs constitutes a major portion of energy efficiency. When energy efficiency and renewable energy sources are considered together, solar energy is the first source that comes to mind as a source of renewable energy for our country. In order to use solar energy efficiently in physical environmental design, development legislation emerges as one of the most important tools. Unlike developed countries, in Turkey, climate-sensitive legislation, in which climate data is assessed, is a very new concept and has not yet fully penetrated our legislations. To design an energy efficient environment, having a development legislation with a climate-sensitive approach that guides the actors in the management of this process is crucial. As for the all countries, energy is one of the most crucial topics of Turkey's agenda, and amongst all renewable energies, solar energy has the highest potential in our country. Therefore, tendency towards the usage of renewable energy and especially the solar energy that will be ensured by development legislation is crucial for reducing the foreign dependency in energy industry and having a healthier and less built environment. In this study, the development legislation of Turkey is analyzed in terms of efficient use of solar energy in residential buildings and settlements. In the evaluation, especially the slope and the orientation of the land, space between buildings and the heights of the buildings that constitute the design parameters in the settlement scale are analyzed in scope of the legislation. The energy efficiency of the buildings is compared using different building heights and distances between buildings, varying heating and cooling loads, CO2 emissions and solar radiation gains. Thus, it is aimed to emphasize why the design parameters studied should be included in the development legislation by showing how important it is in energy efficiency. A solar energy sensitive development legislation would be a great leap towards a more sustainable and energy efficient built environment. The study consists of 5 chapters. In the Introduction, which is the first chapter, the current population and energy situation of the world is depicted, and the problems are emphasized through built environment, energy design and planning concepts. In this context, the aim, extent and the methodology of the study are presented. In the second chapter, under the "Efficient Use of Solar Energy in Residential Buildings and Settlements" title, the place and importance of energy efficiency in urban planning and architecture disciplines are explored, and the energy efficient use of solar energy in residential buildings and settlements are examined. Also the effects of buildings on social, financial and natural environments are examined, and the use of solar energy in residential buildings and settlements to reduce their negative effects is emphasized. At the end of this chapter, the parameters that need to be determined correctly for an energy efficient design are explained by classifying them in relation to environment, climate, user, settlement and building. In the third chapter of the study, the relation between efficient use of solar energy and development legislation is examined. The general concepts of development legislation, which is an important determinant on construction requirements of cities and buildings that constitute an important percentage of those cities, are explained and their importance for energy efficient residential buildings and settlements are presented. Within this chapter, the building laws, regulations and physical plans from Turkey and the world are examined in terms of energy efficiency. The chapter is concluded with planning and design examples where the development legislation was used as an effective tool. In the fourth chapter of the study, the energy efficiency of development legislation was examined through selected case study areas, and the energy efficiency of these case study areas in relation with the discrepancies between the different elements of development legislation. Each of the selected settlement patterns are analyzed for four different configurations. The first one of these configurations is the current situation with regards to current implementation plan; the second configuration is based on whether they are located on a sloping ground or flat ground; third configuration is based on the building heights and the distance between buildings specified in the Istanbul development code; and the fourth configuration is based on density specified in the master development plan. The parameters that effect the energy efficiency at settlement scale are analyzed in scope of varying conditions in the development legislation. Especially, the construction requirements the "Draft Istanbul Development Code" in settlement scale has been analyzed in terms of efficient use of solar energy. In this context, in the 4th Chapter of this study, Article 10, where the provisions related to road widths and number of building floors are included, and Article 23, where the provisions related to garden spaces are included, of the "Provisions on Construction" section within the 4th Chapter of the "Draft Istanbul Development Code" were analyzed in comparison with the existing state of the settlement patterns. Also, the master plans and implementation plans of the textures of the settlements selected for this case study are used as reference for the density and the positions of building with regards to each other and the land they're on. The consistency between the master plans and the implementation plans of the settlement textures were compared, and the energy efficiency of these settlement textures regarding the building requirements and densities provided by these plans were compared. In the fifth – and the last - chapter of this study, the conclusions of the study are explained and discussed. The methodology of the study is consisting of four basic steps: In the first step, the value of parameters that are effective in solar energy efficient residential building and settlement design are determined. In the second step, the articles of Building Legislation that are related with these parameters are scanned and the articles on building form and distance between buildings, which are related to design parameters in settlement scale. In the third step, three different settlement textures in Basaksehir, which reflect the building trend in Istanbul with their different population and building densities, were selected as case study area in order to examine existing legislation in practice. And in the fourth - and the last – step, design parameters that are necessary to measure heating-cooling loads, solar gains from exterior windows and carbon dioxide emission were identified and these values were analyzed using Design Builder, a simulation software, which is an extensive interface of Energy Plus simulation engine. The reason for using a simulation program in place of on-site measurement in this study is that these analyzes are performed for 1 year and the availability of 10-year long climatic data is faster, more economical and more reliable than on-site measurement. In the Appendix Section, there are: • Map of climate regions of Turkey • Optimum building distances in terms of heating energy conservation for İstanbul • Istanbul Environmental Plan 1/100.000 (June 15th,2009) • An introduction to DesignBuilder • Datasheets of the case study