The examination of sustainable building construction principles and new approaches

In order to meet needs of the sustainability, there are standards developed by well-known organizations such as ISO, ASTM, ASHRAE. There are also softwares that help the designer in the initial design stage, and environmental assessment tools to estimate the destructive affects of buildings. In other words, the tools and standards developed for sustainability are thought to be very useful to implement sustainable building ideas.The purpose of this research is to explore the ideas and approaches developed towards sustainable building construction.In the first part of the thesis, we give the background information on the aim, scope and methods of sustainable buildings. The second part deals with the philosophy of sustainability and sustainable development, and gives historical information on both ideas. It also provides the in-depth analysis of the effects of construction industry on environment, economy, and society and their relationship. We present the strategies and principles in designing sustainable structures as well as the sustainable building examples in Turkey and around the world in the third part. The fourth part of the thesis surveys the approaches to sustainable building construction, and compares the advantages and disadvantages. We provide the results of the investigated works and propose new ideas for future use in the last part of the thesis.