Residential urban block design in energy efficient planning: Microclimatic analysis of hypothetical residential urban blocks in the case of Ankara

Energy demand for residential areas in Turkey has been supplied mainly by the oil products a source having environmentally negative impacts and depending economically on foreign resources, while precautions for savings in energy use have been taken according to ?TS-825 Heat Insulation Regulations? based on the climatic conditions of regional differences determined by heating degree days throughout the country. When compared both ?TS-825 Heat Insulation Regulations? limited with the calculation of heating loads at the scale of dwelling unit with the findings of a number of theoretical studies on climate and energy at urban level, it can be assumed that beside heating, cooling loads of buildings and the microclimatic conditions that might have considerable effects on them at urban scale should be taken into account together for an effective saving in urban energy use. Therefore developing energy efficient planning and design principals at the scale of urban residential block through analyzing the microclimatic conditions of hypothetical urban residential blocks comprising energy efficient dwelling units for energy savings in residential areas where energy demand low at quality such as heating and cooling is relatively higher is the subject of this research. To this aim Ankara with a temperate-dry climate featuring both hot and cold climatic conditions together at the regional scale is determined as the case area. Weather Tool v2.00 for climate and passive design analysis, CASAnova 3.0 for building energy analysis, ECOTECT v5.50 for shadow and radiation and ENVI-met 3.0 for microclimatic analysis at the block scale, LEONARDO 3.5 for visual and GNUplot 3.0 for graphic representation are used in this research where the potentials of the use of simulation tools in an integrated manner beside the theoretical knowledge on urban microclimate and building energy is also considered for planning and design process for residential areas. In conclusion, an efficient energy saving in settlements can be achieved through taking the mutual interaction between the type of dwelling units and microclimatic conditions into consideration in urban housing block design.