Evaluation of passive building design parameters for Izmir city

The housing sector is one of the largest sector responsible for energy consumption in the world and Turkey. Sustainability is an emerging issue as energy related problems arises throughout the world. The sustainable sources are both clean energy sources and mostly renewable. Therefore, especially in terms of economy, these new energy sources are important opportunity for countries dependent on other countries energy. Turkey is rich in sustainable resources and especially Izmir province has good potential in terms of solar, wind and geothermal energy which are the most important sustainable sources.
Besides alternative sources, reducing energy demand is extremely important for sustainability and energy safety is not limited to renewable energy sources. An important share for housing energy is related to heating and cooling of buildings. Also, it is possible to provide the sustainability through the design of houses. Thus, the aim of this study is to describe the effect of passive building design parameters on energy consumption. Within the scope, a building model was developed through the computer-aided building design software and energy consumption values of this model were calculated by changing its design parameters. The results of the analysis were evaluated and tried to find the optimum passive design solutions for residences in the province of Izmir.
As a result of the analysis, the proper orientation of the building model was found in a north-south axis. In this orientation, energy savings of up to 7% have been observed. In addition, analyses were performed to find the appropriate street width for 3, 6 and 12-storey apartment models. As a result of these analyses, energy savings of up to 6% were observed in proper street width.