A research on heating and cooling energy performance of a family health center type project according to different climate zones

Nowadays, energy consumption is increasing day by day and energy resources are diminishing according to consumption. Buildings account for a significant part of energy consumption in Turkey. Health buildings also occupy an important place among buildings due to their energy consumption. Family health centres are prominent among health facilities due to their large number and high occupancy rates. The main reason for the high energy consumption in these buildings is the implementation of typical projects. Energy consumption increases because climate-based energy efficient building design parameters are not considered in typical projects. Heating and cooling account for a large part of energy consumption in family health centres. For this reason, it is important to conduct studies to reduce heating and cooling energy expenditures. It is important to properly design the passive design parameters to reduce energy consumption in family health centres, minimise energy demand and increase energy efficiency. Proper design of these parameters will ensure comfort conditions for the occupants while reducing energy consumption. The building envelope plays an important role in energy consumption, as it establishes the relationship between the building and the external environment. For this reason, scenarios were developed combining different alternatives that reduce the energy loads of the building envelope and increase energy performance. For this purpose, an energy simulation model was applied to the Family Health Centre project using the DesignBuilder programme. This simulation was carried out from four points of view: the creation of energy-efficient alternatives for the building envelope, opaque and transparent components, transparency ratios and solar shading systems. The energy consumption of the alternatives developed as a result of the analysis was analysed according to the current situation and the lowest energy saving rates were determined. The energy saving rates resulting from the application of energy-efficient alternatives also vary significantly according to the different climatic regions of Turkey. It was found that 31.43% can be achieved in cold climate regions, 19.41% in moderate-humid climate regions, 20.30% in moderate-dry climate regions, 18.17% energy savings in hot-humid climate regions and 22.57% in hot-dry climate regions.