A study on increasing energy efficiency in campus buildings: İnönü University

Universities which have various layers, structures and legislation just like cities, along with the social diversities that they host, are important areas for studies on sustainability and ecology. Increasing sustainability studies with the global climate crisis have led universities to become more innovative and more competitive environments over time. Thus, more studies have been conducted concerning what a ecological university is, and the competitive environment has paved the way for the development of a ranking criteria. As one of the ranking systems regulated in this sense, UI GreenMetric has managed to reach a large number of participants globally. The energy efficiency potential of İnonu University, which takes part in GreenMetric ranking and stands out with its eco-campus quality, is investigated in order to rise it to the level of reputable universities, to maintain its progress towards becoming an eco-campus and to protect national capital. For the study, the oldest and most repetitive structures of the campus (A-B, D-E and F-G block) have been selected as reference, and it is aimed to renew the existing buildings in order to increase their life span, as well as saving energy and increasing the quality of the indoor environment. The method adapted to increase the energy efficiency potential within the scope of this study is improving the reference buildings with passive recommended scenarios. The suggested scenarios, which are focused on improving the energy efficiency of these buildings were simulated using the DesignBuilder program. The energy consumption data obtained from the simulation by measuring the natural gas consumption data, were calibrated in accordance with the ASHRAE standards. These simulations are based on hypothetical parameters such as orientation and user density and applicable parameters such as wall main material type, wall thermal insulation type, wall thermal insulation location, roof thermal insulation type, glass type, window joinery type, roof light type, shading type, shading element protrusion length and window-to-wall ratio change. From the simulation results obtained, heating and cooling consumption, lighting energy consumption for shading elements and CO2 emissions were calculated. Ultimately, the scenario established with the most efficient parameters revealed the maximum energy efficiency potential of the building. The study shows that heating energy savings of 68.31% can be achieved in a year with roof, wall, window material changes and shading elements. This ratio is equivalent to approximately 153117.39 kg CO2 emission. As a result it was found out that the energy efficient improvements to be made at the campus buildings of İnönü University, have provided a significant potential for energy saving and this proved to be an important step for the environment, and especially for university ecology.