Proceedings of 3rd International Sustainable Buildings Symposium (ISBS 2017)

Protecting natural sources is an important responsibility for the whole world. Concrete is the most widespread construction material, as a result of its production, natural sources are running out, and also natural environment is being disturbed. In addition, building wastes brought about by the renovation activities for the structures that have expired. In order to maintain the ecological balance, using the available sources wisely and efficiently is crucial. In this study, known class and age of waste concrete is used as coarse and fine aggregates as production of concrete. There are two types of aggregates are used in concrete production as 0–4 and 4–22.4 sizes. These aggregates groups are replaced with normal aggregates as 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 100% ratios in concrete. Compressive strength of concrete specimens are determined as 28 and 90 days coring regime. According to the experimental results, it has been seen that recycled aggregates may be used in concrete production and that they may shed light in the production of sustainable concrete.

In recent years, population growth, consumption of natural resources as a result of industrialization and urbanization, environmental issues have increased rapidly and this increase has reached dangerous proportions. Therefore, Environmental concept has influenced the structure of the planning discipline, ecological approach to planning and sustainability has gained importance. In this area, using different methods have been made in the quest to produce fast and effective solutions. Game theory approach, which can be given as an example of such methods, is seen planning and structure design in the content of sustainability. In this paper, studies on the sustainability and game theory concepts in the literature have been investigated and evaluated, as a whole.

Today, importance of sustainable development increases the importance of studies on energy efficiency. Residential and industrial fields consume 70% of total energy consumption and constitute the largest portion of it. There is an energy saving potential of 30% in industry and 70% in homes by insulation. The production of low thermal conductivity lightweight insulation materials from domestic resources and diversification of these materials has gained importance. Expanded perlite aggregates which have different particle size were used as a main raw material. Perlite is a lightweight material due to their high open and closed micro pores. Expanded perlite aggregate has porous structure and has hygroscopic properties. In order to prevent these properties, hydrophobic polymer, and organic or mineral acids additives were used to coat the surface by spraying method. Perlite surfaces were coated and become hydrophobic after this process. In the second part of the study, perlite aggregates mixed with certain amount of sodium silicate solution (water glass) and shaped in the mold. The main objective of this study is to production of highly heat isolative construction materials from expanded perlite which is very abundant in Turkey. According to the study, productions of insulation products which have thermal conductivity constant lower than 0.060 W/mK were obtained by using coated expanded perlite.

In this study, we investigate the effect of the addition of poly vinyl alcohol (PVA), a polymer filler, which is known to promote the strength of unit mass, corrosion strength and the flexibility of the final product together with boric acid as a cross linking agent to concrete polymer composites by viscosity, setting time, compressive and bending strength tests in accordance with Turkish standards. The addition of PVA and boric acid caused 4% increase in 28 days’ compressive strength results. The bending strength on the other hand, the bending strength decreased by 45%. The samples were also investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. The experiments repeated with higher filler concentrations showed that porosity of the final concrete was significantly decreased resulting a much higher quality end product.

The establishment of sustainability credentials of emergent construction materials is very subjective, and most available tools such as BREEAM, CEQUAL, ARUP SpeAR among others are not fully quipped or equipped at all to deal with individual material systems. The main problem emanates from the challenges of the audit of each aspect of the material processing, and especially the quantification of the relevant transport, energy, environmental and other inputs into the composite product. Incorporation of materials with long and complex recycling processes further exacerbate the challenge. This paper reports on a simplified approach towards full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of seven clay-based brick products developed in UK and in Spain, based on known material data and estimated energy inputs in the manufacturing processes. In order to test the robustness of the proposed approach, results on UK-based bricks are compared with a parallel LCA on clay-based product developed in Spain. Finally, the clay-based products are compared with a typical Portland cement-based concrete block and fired clay brick. In the LCA, boundary conditions include fixed transport, thus attempting to factor only the (i) material ingredients, (ii) their known atmospheric emissions, and (iii) estimated energy inputs during processing. Results suggest that the most challenging aspect in the undertaking of LCA is the availability of reliable input data. Results also show that there are numerous parameters that can reliably and corroboratively facilitate the comparison of performance, besides carbon dioxide emissions.

The building sector happens to be a major player in climate change through energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the climate change impacts negatively buildings by reducing thermal comfort. To reach this comfort buildings need energy. This situation makes building sector among the most energy consuming sectors. Thus, the challenge is how to adapt buildings to climate change by being energy efficient, and by producing their own electricity. Environmental and energy issues have been a topic of growing concern in Morocco which is endowed with high potential for renewable energy resources, but not yet very well exploited in the building sector. Today the country realizes that and takes its first steps toward sustainable development through several initiatives and measures developed by the government. However, increasing environmental awareness among citizens can be crucial to adapting and reducing climate change, by encouraging people to change their perceptions and behavior. Therefore the educational system and its environment can be the most effective way to promote lasting ecological citizenship among college students. The present paper analyses the impact of the human and social dimensions of sustainable development and proposes a university campus architectural project. The main objective of the paper is to provide favorable conditions for studying and to encourage universities and educational systems to integrate sustainability into their teaching and especially into their functioning. This project aims to introduce construction techniques that ensure better thermal comfort and help lowering building energy consumption.

World’s population today, most of them living in cities, have been isolated from the natural environment, combat with the physical and mental health problems like the loss of productivity, chronic fatigue, depression etc. due to stress-related disorders. Moving from the estimation that 70% of the world’s population will be living in the cities in the coming years, re-establishing the human-nature relationship and presentation of the experience possibilities of nature as a therapy tool for urbanists can be expected to be significant. The concept of biophilia defined by social psychologist Erich Fromm in 1964 for the first time defends that there is an instinctive connection need between human and other living systems. In the case of rupture of this connection, occurrence of various physical and psychological drawbacks in human health has been proven by several scientific investigations. Biophilic architecture arising from the implementation of a psychological originated concept to the architecture, took place as an intense-studied area in the literature especially in 2000 and beyond. Biophilic design draws attention to the emotional aspect of the interaction need with the natural environment while sustainable design approaches physical and material-oriented to the natural processes required by people. Sustainable architecture focuses on reducing the environmental impact of the buildings and remains insufficient to re-establish the human-nature relationship. Biophilic design aims to fill his gap becoming the architectural design of life. In this study, biophilia phenomenon is examined approaching sustainability by putting the protection of the human and humans’ physical/psychological health in center. Main design principles of the biophilic architecture are discussed through current scientific studies and architectural projects.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an internationally accepted methodology for assessing the environmental impacts caused by the construction materials. The methodology described in the ISO 14040 standard series consists of goal and scope definition, Inventory Analysis (LCI), Impact Assessment (LCIA) and interpretation phases. While LCI is a phase where the inputs and outputs are calculated, LCIA aims at understanding and evaluating the magnitude and significance of the environmental impacts for a product system throughout the life cycle of the product. The LCA of the construction materials is different from other products because of a wide variety of materials, life cycle phases and the long service life. While the lack of environmental data and the implementation period of LCA restrict the use of the methodology; different goal and scopes, different limitations make difficult the comparisons of the studies. In this study, it was aimed to the promotion of the use of LCA. Brick is one of the common construction materials that cause several environmental impacts. Therefore, the recent studies on LCA of brick production were evaluated. The problems in the use of LCA for the construction materials were identified under the sub-headings; The problems encountered in the goal and scope definitionThe problems encountered in LCIThe problems encountered in LCIAFinally, it was shown which gaps need to be filled for the methodology in the upcoming years. It is thought that LCA should continue to be improved as an analysis methodology which is still in development.

“Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag” (GGBFS) is produced by the process for grinding “Granulated Blast Furnace Slag” (GBFS) that is a kind of by-product produced via blast furnace operated in steel works. Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) has been used in the construction industry for years as a replacement for Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). Ground granulated blast furnace slag also has a lower heat of hydration and, hence, generates less heat during concrete production and curing. GGBFS cement can be added to concrete in the concrete manufacturer’s batching plant, along with Portland cement, aggregates and water. The normal ratios of aggregates and water to cementitious material in the mix remain unchanged. GGBS is used as a direct replacement for Portland cement, on a one-to-one basis by weight. Replacement levels for GGBS vary from 30% to up to 85%. Typically, 40 to 50% is used in most instances. This study is the result of using 70% GGBFS instead of cement even if it is allowed to use maximum 25% of GGBFS instead of it. The use of GGBFS, which has an amorph structure and shows pozzolan characteristics when finely granulated, as a replacement material within the systems of cement or concrete positively effects the properties of fresh and hardening concrete.

Tall buildings, the indispensable elements of the cities evolved in order to respond to rapidly increasing population and urbanization from the beginning of the 20th century, are quickly emerging to the foreground with their unique designs in both load-bearing systems and energy and resource management. Their sensitivity to lateral loads due to wind and earthquakes has inadvertedly made an important contribution to the development of advanced construction technologies in tall structures. The main aim of the study is to discuss the load-bearing systems, which has an effect on the shaping of the function in architectural design, combined with the concept of sustainability, which holds a significant place in the discourse of modern day. In this context, the buildings of Norman Foster, who successfully combines his engineering and architectural identities in his work and synthesizing advanced load-bearing systems within sustainable design principles, have been examined. These buildings, examined via criteria such as construction system, material, structural form, lateral load resistance, the utility core, innovation, energy efficiency and effective use of water, are prime examples of 21st century tall building construction, safe and respectful to environment via the meeting between form and function. As a result, it is believed that this study will be an archival feature in discussing architectural design and structural design criteria together. It has been emphasized to develop architectural design solutions integrating technological, aesthetic and environmental sensitivities.

The aim of this paper is to study the impact of daylighting in educational buildings and consequently, maximize the daylighting performance in the Architectural Engineering Department, (M8 Building), of the University of Sharjah. The academic, psychological, and physiological effects of daylighting on students in addition to the effects of decreasing the artificial light consumption on the environment and economy were intensively researched. Then, for a practical implementation, classrooms in AE Department were studied in terms of daylighting. To maximize the daylight intake in the best possible way, four scenarios were prepared for simulation using Revit and Ecotect, which propose different possible ways to bring in natural light. Accordingly, the four scenarios in Ecotect were analyzed and the best one was chosen in terms of daylight intake. After that, the authors calculated and compared the energy consumed (due to artificial light) in each case and chose the one with the least energy consumption.

A sustainable education building prepares young people for a sustainable life during education with its day-to-day practices. Sustainable education buildings that add value to the students and the environment provide success in students’ exam results, increase in their attendance, decrease in operating costs, increase in educator performance and satisfaction, increase in building life, reduction in environmental impacts and change in habits. Therefore, a sustainable educational buildings should be planned, which shows students and society the effects of people on world, and encourages students to take part in a more sustainable way of life. In this context, the current situation was evaluated through in situ measurements and sound transmission loss value affecting the acoustic comfort conditions were calculated and evaluated for the acoustic comfort conditions of the architectural design studio and building elements between classroom and corridor at the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture.

Spaces that possess the acoustic comfort, which people require, can be provided by building structures that are suitable for work and living by solving acoustic problems, which will influence the performance of work by affecting the health and the comfort of the peoples in a negative way. Although it has been known for many years that the acoustic comfort conditions play an important role in the success of the students, this fact in general has been disregarded. Within this context, in this paper as of specific to educational buildings, an acoustic analysis study is conducted through Odeon (v 10.02) simulation program aimed for the acoustic comfort conditions of the classrooms located in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of Bozok University.

There is significant evidence that the world is warming up and the increasing temperatures will impact the built environment, particularly the energy requirement for airconditioning of the buildings. According to International Panel of Climate Change, during the end of 21st century, there would be steady increase in the global surface temperature [1]. The harsh and extreme climates in the UAE, puts forward various hurdles for different technologies to be used in order to reduce the energy consumption, and make the house more sustainable. In order to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings in the UAE, a villa is designed and modelled to become Zero Energy, located in Hatta, Dubai. In order to achieve the former objective, different insulation materials such as Polyisocyanurate, aerated and low density concrete, high efficient electrical equipment and air conditioning as well as low solar heat gain coefficient windows with a reflective coating were considered in this study. AutoCAD was initially used to sketch the plan of the villa and then further simulations were carried out on IES-VE (2015), to determine the electrical and cooling load of the house. Using the passive technologies, and keeping in mind the Thermal Comfort Index, per the ASHRAE standards, a reduction in cooling load of about 40% is observed when compared with a base case scenario. As the paper mainly focuses on drafting a villa which is off-grid, the energy demand of the house is provided by the PV system. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis was conducted by varying the orientation and cooling profiles of the house on IES to draft a range of results. Changing the orientation of the house by 90° gave about a 2.3% reduction in the cooling load. When the results were compared with literature and base case, it proved that the values obtained were lower than the ones in similar case studies.

The components of concrete infrastructure deteriorate due to some reasons in terms of sustainability. Due to these deterioration, the research on the production of high performance repair mortars has increased rapidly. In order to produce high performance repair mortars, two different nanomaterials and fly ash with replacement percentages of 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 and 55% respectively were added to concrete mix in this study. 50 mm cube samples are prepared with these mixtures for compressive strength in 1, 3 and 7 days. It is observed that the highest compressive strength of samples with nano aluminate and nano calcite is in 1 and 0.5% in 7 days respectively. When nano materials are compared with each other, the highest compressive strength of sample with nano calcite (0.5%) is 56.69 MPa in 7 days and the lowest compressive strength of sample with nano calcite (2%) is 19.23 MPa in 1 day.

While a structural engineer plays an important role in the design and construction of a building, initiatives such as the Paris Agreement are increasing the importance of the structural engineer interest in sustainability with it being pushed to the forefront of the design field as a major concern and priority. Given this, the structural engineer needs to initiate sustainable practices in their design outside of testing new materials, as this takes time to research and incorporate into codes, standards, and everyday practice. The additional cost to construct with a new building material is also a factor and may value engineer itself out of the design. What considerations can a structural engineer take while designing a structure to reduce the embodied carbon in a building without increasing the cost? Concrete contains more embodied carbon than other structural materials, and it is also used as a primary material for foundations. Analyzing different framing methods of the structure can greatly impact the amount of concrete needed for the foundation. By reducing the amount of substructure needed a structural engineer can decrease the amount of embodied carbon and cost. This study evaluates how three different framing methods, two conventionally framed (moment resisting and concentric braced) and one less conventional (diagrid), effect the amount of concrete needed in the foundation and the impact of this in the embodied carbon of the overall structure.

Permanence of Kastamonu Castle in Turkey which has been the witness of history emerges as the most important value. Historical places and structures are important expressions of community’s culture and identity. The structure can be provided to serve from the past to the future. In this study; characteristical features of Historical Kastamonu Castle, used materials and reasons of structural deterioration are analyzed for restoration suggestion. Historical Kastamonu Castle is important for long-lasting regional culture properties.

Global warming jeopardy increases day by day and being green at our era becomes a demand to protect our planet. This paper describes the financial and sustainable impact of electrical and solar water heater from a client point of view on the long-term in residential buildings in Al Ain, UAE. Costs play a vital role in selecting materials by the client. Therefore, current research aims to compare between two types of electrical and solar water heater. This comparison aims to expand the client’s prevision to select materials wisely based on its life cycle cost and environmental impact not only based on the initial cost. Electricity cost is always the highest cost at the life cycle cost of the building. Therefore, we focused in our comparison on the electricity consumption and cost during the life cycle of the water heater. Computing life cycle cost based on net present value assists project managers and clients to decide critically between alternatives. To understand client’s tendency in selecting materials, this paper applied qualitative and quantitative methods. Interviews with clients allow authors to illustrate the benefits of studying cost over a long-term. Results show that although solar water heater has higher capital cost, it shows a steady and very low increase comparing to electrical water heater.

Growing world population and rapid urbanization have increased the demand for mobility. The need for development of transportation technologies and infrastructural systems aimed at satisfying this increased demand is now non-negligible. As the number of private cars has increased after Industrial Revolution in spite of the unsufficient infrastructural capacity, the traffic problems are being confronted nowadays. As a solution to these problems, new roads are being built based on the “predict and provide” method which is part of today’s traditional approach to transportation. However, it was found that new roads revive the stagnant demand, which even further complicate the traffic problem. In this context, it is believed that any solution focusing only on increasing the capacity and mobility in order to address the transportation problems will not be neither economical nor permanent. With this understanding in mind, traditional transportation approaches are replaced with sustainable transportation approaches with a trend initiated especially by the developed countries. The purpose of the sustainable transportation approach is to make investments into systems which place importance on accessibility; develop healthy, safe, equalitarian, comfortable and environmentally-friendly vehicle and infrastructure technologies; integrate transportation modes; which properly manage infrastructural capacity, passenger demands and operational supply; and relocate freight transportation to logistics centers. This study presents the historical development of sustainable transportation approaches and explores its principles in terms of environment, society and economy with award-winning exemplary projects, and offers recommendations for solutions to current problems of transportation in Turkey.

Sustainability has become a very popular term in many disciplines and investors/researchers devote a considerable amount of time and money for related studies to define their policies as well as initiatives on this subject. Today CAD/CAM technologies propose a wide range of concepts and implementation that support the concept of sustainability. Recent studies show that, developing computational technologies and 3D printers have potential to change the way we built our environment. From this respect this paper evaluates the use 3D printers in construction through recently built pioneering examples from the sustainability point of view. Results indicate that the special features of the 3D printing process, such as faster and precise construction, reduced labour costs and construction waste etc. these technologies offer a revolutionary approach in terms of sustainability.

Today, scientific and technological developments directly affecting contemporary architecture. Nanotechnology, as one of the most riveting research areas, is the science designing and manipulating materials at atomic size. It has gradually established itself in the past two decades with novel and useful applications in all disciplines. This revolutionary technology has many potentials to change the way we design and produce. Recent researches indicate that nanomaterials used in built environments have many unique characteristics which can fix the current construction problems, and may change the requirement and organization of construction process as well. Conversely many researches urge that these technologies have demerits which may pose a risk to human health and the environment. In this context, this paper discusses and exemplifies pros and cons of nanomaterial usage in architecture.

21st century has become prominent with two main concepts in architecture; the first one is sustainability in architecture which has been seeking for a less environmental footprint in the ecosystem and the second one is digital technologies that drive a novel approach in all kinds of man made products including architecture. This paper discusses and exemplifies the term “performative architecture” as a melting point of these two concepts. It is aimed to show and discuss how cutting edge technologies help designers to design not only the building but also the design of design process in a sustainable way.

Environmental problems appear due to rapid population growth, uncontrolled urbanization, rapid exhaustion of natural sources, global warming and climate changes. With an aim to find solutions to these problems and to ensure that next generations can live on this planet, the concepts of sustainable architecture and sustainable buildings gained importance. Sustainable architecture is a contemporary and interdisciplinary approach to architecture that works in compliance with environmental systems. It builds on using energy and scanty sources consciously and economically. Sustainable construction design requires the integration of ecologic, economic and socio-cultural sustainability components into the design procedure in a balanced manner. Educational buildings that serve next generations are crucial in the context of sustainable design with their contributions to social awareness and the economy in the country. In this respect, first basic criteria that constitute the sustainability in education structure design, and samples of “sustainable education buildings” chosen from different climate regions around the world have been evaluated according to the defined criteria in the present study. The evaluations have indicated that parameters such as “environmental factors, climate features, land choice, material and construction technology used” are effective in sustainable education buildings designs. The results also underline the need for different designs in the light of the data gathered.

In this study, effect of different rates of hyper-plasticizer additives on the physical and mechanical properties of polypropylene fibre tempered concretes was investigated. The factors of slump and compaction, which are fresh concrete properties, were also examined. In the study, different types and rates of polypropylene fibres were used. Polypropylene fibres and hyper-plasticizer additives were used in three different rates in the mixture. As polypropylene fibre amount increased in the mixture, hyper-plasticizer additive amount also increased. Fresh concrete slump values were measured between 15 and 19 cm. Impaction factor value was between 0.89 and 0.99. In some mixtures, it was seen that the relation between the slump value and impaction value was disrupted. Abrasion and water absorption values, which were physical properties of the hardened concrete, were calculated. In abrasion tests, it was seen that concretes with C, D and E fibres were eroded less. Polypropylene fibre additive increased the water absorption value of concrete. Its effect on splitting-tensile strength, which was a hardened concrete property, was examined. In splitting-tensile strength experiment, 15 × 30 cm cylinder samples were used. It was seen that the polypropylene fibres increased the splitting-tensile resistance of the concrete at the rate of 80% compared to the polypropylene fibre additive free mixture. Also, deformation meters were placed on the sample in splitting-tensile resistance. Horizontal deformations of samples were measured at the moment of breaking. While horizontal deformation values increased in 7 day samples compared to propylene fibre additive-free mixture, they decreased in 28-day samples. 7 day horizontal deformation values of the samples were measured to be higher than the 28 day horizontal deformation values. This situation can be explained with brittleness of the concrete at the end of 28 days as it gains resistance.

Use of waste concrete in tempered cement production was examined in this study. Waste concretes were used in limestone-tempered cement production. In tempered cement production, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 28% milled waste concrete was added instead of the limestone. As waste concrete, pressure experiments were performed on those and 15 cm cube samples were used. Compressive strength of waste concretes was 65 MPa on average. At the end of the study, six (6) types of cement were produced, one being without waste concrete addition in total. Chemical, physical and mechanical properties of waste concrete tempered and waste concrete additive free concretes were examined. 2, 7 and 28 day pressure and Flexural strengths of the produced cements were tested. In compressive strength, it was seen that the waste concrete additive-free cement reached its compressive strength values. Waste concrete addition increased the Flexural strength of the cement. Waste concrete addition slightly decreased the water need of the cement. Not a large change was observed in the setting beginning and setting end values. 20 and 28% waste concrete additions instead of limestone decreased the volume expansion value of cement. It slightly decreased its specific weight value. No big changes were observed in its chemical properties. It was concluded that waste concrete can be used instead of limestone especially in mixed cement production. Thus, waste concrete can be put in use for cement production and ecological balance can be contributed, too. However, sortation should be made well in order to use waste concrete in cement production.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of radiation heat flux from lighting lamps in buildings on human thermal comfort. In order to obtain the thermal responses of human body exposed to radiation heat flux from lighting lamps, a mathematical model based on Gagge model with some modifications were developed and the effect of radiation heat flux from lighting lamps on human thermal comfort was examined under transient conditions. The human body was divided into 16 sedentary segments and the variation of sensible, latent heat losses, and skin wettedness were calculated under radiation effect in buildings.

Smart Cities are the names given to technological and environment friendly projects designed to get rid of factors such as bad urbanization, noise, environmental pollution that harm people and nature. Intelligent management of energy in smart cities; if energy efficiency not achieved in this period when the energy resources are gradually decreasing but energy demand is increasing; energy interruptions and high prices are inevitable. Sustainable energy sources such as the sun, hydropower, and wind integrated more and more in the production process, while losses and leaks minimized through information systems that control the network from one end to the other. Transportation intelligence: With the increasing number of vehicles in cities, not only the time lost in traffic, but also the increase in fuel consumption, the increase of carbon emissions and safe driving are the most important issues. In intelligent cities, information technology used to solve transportation, especially traffic. In addition, smart buildings: Today, buildings that consume about 40% of energy will reach 60% as urbanization continues. All living areas and buildings will be equipped with sensors to attract these rates to the lower level. It will be possible to take a number of inland measures such as energy use, security, insulation in the buildings and buildings. All of these intelligent city applications are using visual cues, smart signs and graphical representations. In this study, these demonstrations used in the smart cities examined and various solution proposals introduced.

In Turkey, in terms of final energy consumption, the building sector represents the second-largest energy consumer accounting for 36% of the total final energy consumption in 2008 and the building sector’s emissions are 32% of the total national energy-related CO₂ emissions. However, the building sector presents significant opportunities for energy and CO₂ savings, estimated at 30–50% of the current levels. The total population of Turkey increased from 56.5 million in 1990 to 72.5 million by the end of 2009. Along with the increase of the population, Turkey’s urbanization rate increased from 52.9% in 1990 to 75.5% by the end of 2009. Between 2000 and 2010, despite two economic crises in 2001 and 2008–2009, the building stock grew around 8.1%. Such rates of increase underline the importance of energy-saving measures in the building sector. In order to find a solution Promoting Energy Efficiency in Buildings Project is being executed by General Directorate of Renewable Energy (YEGM). UNDP is the implementing agency of the Project which is financially supported by Global Environment Facility (GEF). The Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, and Ministry of National Education are other partners. One of the most important output of this Project was Integrated Building Design Approach (IBDA) books which have been published with the help of 15 experts. These books are Adaptation Report, Project Development Process and Implementation Guide, Priorities and Objectives for Building Performance. This paper will give details about IBDA books and the focus on the methodology of “Project Development Process and Implementation Guide”.

Nowadays, declining energy resources in the world and enormous energy requirements in buildings sector enforced taking measures for sustainability. Office buildings have high energy consumption profiles. Significant amounts of energy consumption in office buildings are used by artificial lighting. Optimum use of daylight means great potential for the building’s energy performance. With the evolving technology, advanced facade systems and shading elements are used for accurate and climate based daylight design. Daylight calculations for the design of the correct facade element are important for thermal and visual comfort of buildings. In this study, facade alternatives were produced by using shading and reflection potential for different facade components like horizontal, vertical and grid elements for south oriented office module in Ankara. Daylight and glare control analyses were prepared by using Grasshopper plug in Rhino and DIVA software. Optimal facade design for office module will be determined in terms of daylight maximization and glare control.

Although composite materials have been used to solve technological problems in the material industry, they have been exactly taking attention since the 1960s. Composite materials have become increasingly common engineering materials and have become widely used in many applications such as automotive parts, sporting goods, aerospace parts, consumer products and marine and petroleum products. In this work, reducing the flammability characteristic of polymer-based composites which have the carbon-based matrix due to the presence of inorganic-based compounds added during composite production was examined. Also, preliminary findings of the experimental study on the flame resistance of composite containing sepiolite, aluminum hydroxide, antimony trioxide and zinc borate were presented. Results showed that using some additional materials in mixing design improve the flammability properties of composite materials.

In this study, effects of surface form (sand coated and helical ribbed surface) and fiber types (glass, carbon, aramid and basalt) on tensile strength and elastic modulus of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars were investigated. The results showed that FRP bars with helically wrapped surfaces have higher tensile strength and elastic modulus than those of FRP bars with sand coated surface.

The latent and looming risks resulting from the effects of climate change are currently considered as critical ecological challenges facing the world in the 21st century. The damages caused to fragile ecosystems by an augmented amount of resource extraction and infrastructural development in addition to the depleting ozone layer and a significant level of air pollution are also a cause for concern. This has prompted a need to design environmentally friendly buildings, including sustainable containers. The objective of this project is to draw attention to the significance of adopting innovative approaches and methodologies for sustainable containers designs. It further examines how the sustainable containers can be integrated for utility in different climatic zones to address the shortage of houses. The container’s response to the certain climatic zone is analyzed using Ecotect software from Autodesk. Findings suggest that the core objective of sustainable building design should be to reduce the total primary energy needs considerably through an application of renewable resources as well as through incidental heat gains that prompt the comfort system, in addition to a reduced utility of continuous energy importing to ensure comfort. When building fabric is utilized, there is a potential of minimizing artificial heating, lighting, cooling as well as alternative energy importing systems. Overall, shipping containers can be repurposed and converted into modern housing units, cafes, or workspaces as sustainable buildings because of their environmentally friendly nature and capacity to provide low-cost accommodation based on their nature of being reliable, accessible, flexible, and cost-effective. The containers can, therefore, be converted into architectural magnificence to resolve shortage of affordable housing, particularly in Lagos State, Nigeria.

Energy is a phenomenon that leads to conflicts, internal conflicts, and antagonism in all areas of life. Considering that we are dependent on foreign countries in the field of energy, the conservation of energy is getting more and more important day by day. A large portion of the energy consumed in Turkey is used to heat houses. It is very important to maintain the heat and keep it on the field as well as to heat the house. It is seen that the best and economical way of keeping the heat is thermal insulation in the apartments. In this study, five apartments in Erzincan which is in the 4th grade climate zone, have been heat insulated by using the mantle system according to TS 825. The annual energy requirement is calculated in the case of heat losses which occur in case of heat insulation and without heat insulation. As a result, it has been determined that the energy efficiency will increase if the apartments are heat insulated. It is also stated that the workmanship is important in heat insulation.

Concrete is a building material commonly used in the construction structures. There are many reasons why concrete is preferred. One of these reasons is fire resistance of concrete. Concrete is not a combustible material, but it behaves differently under high temperature. Aggregates constitute an important part of concrete volume. Differences in aggregate properties significantly affect the performance of the concrete during heating. Differences in these properties also cause cracks and breakages in parts of the concrete and significant losses in adherence. When we look at these effects, we have seen that high temperature creates a threatening environment for concrete. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the behavior of the concrete caused by the high temperature. In this study, we investigated the effect of high temperature on the compressive strength of concrete specimens prepared using different aggregate types. For this purpose, 10 × 10 × 10 cm and 15 × 15 × 15 cm cube samples were prepared by using CEM I 42,5 (N) type Portland Cement and two different types of aggregates (basaltic crushed stone, stream aggregate). The Concrete produced using basalt crushed stone is coded as “BCC” and the concrete produced using the stream aggregate is coded as “SAC”. These concrete specimens were tested at room temperature and high temperature (300, 600 and 900 °C) after 28 days. We used the remaining samples at room temperature as control samples. We tested the compressive strength on all concrete samples. We studied the relationship between the compressive strength results and the concrete mass size. As a result of this study, it was found that the compressive strength of BCC is higher than SAC. When the relationship between the strength values of the concrete with high temperature effect and the concrete sample size was examined, it was found that the temperature affected the center of the small concrete samples more quickly. The resulting data showed that the 10 × 10 × 10 cm size concretes have low compressive strength.

The maturity concept is a basic method to estimate the strength depending on time and temperature. Maturity index, which is a factor for determining the hardening, is used as a non-destructive inspection method for estimating the concrete strength. The method assures a relatively simple approach to make more reliable estimates of in situ strength during construction. However, in order to apply the maturity, during the construction some tests should be carried out to obtain the properties of concrete before initiating the production. Here within, the variation of maturity with different cements was examined. For this reason, two different cements were used. The specimens produced were cured in three different temperatures (0, 23 and 40 °C) for 1, 3, 7 and 28 days. The compression tests were applied on the specimens at the end of the curing time. Equations for the relationship between maturity and strength were developed for the cements used in the study.

Studies on building skin which promise to help minimizing the loss of energy while maximizing its gain are increasing day by day. Transparent surfaces as part of the building skin play an important role in determining the life and comfort of the buildings. One of the most important problem at the buildings have transparent façade systems with similar qualities on all façade surfaces as independent of location, direction and climatic data is overheating in the summer. Increasing energy loads due to the necessity of using cooling systems due to overheating are another problem to be solved. In order to make a positive contribution to energy performance, it is necessary to take architectural design decisions that take into account the problem of overheating.

This study was carried out to determine the effects of bleaching and varnishing process on the amount of CO₂ in Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris Lipsky) wood material. For this purpose, samples of Scotch pine wood prepared according to ASTM D 358 [1] contain 18% R1 = (NaOH + H₂O₂), R2 = (NaOH + Ca(OH)₂ + H₂O₂), R3 = (Na₂S₂O₅ + H₂C₂O₄), R4 = (NaSiO₃ + H₂O₂), R5 = (KMnO₄ + Na₂S₂O₅ + H₂O₂) solution groups, after bleaching with solution groups, water based (Sb), synthetic (Sn), polyurethane (Pu) and acrylic varnish (Av) were applied according to ASTM D 3023 [3] and compliance with ASTM E 160-50 guidelines in combustion tests. Gas measurements were made with the SIGMA 74,172 NSU flue gas device during the combustion process. As a result, the amount of CO₂ in the flame source combustion (ppm); The highest R1 (8.500), the lowest R3 (2.907), the highest R1 in the varnish level (5.314), the lowest Pu (2.853) Av (14.773) and lowest R2 + Sv (0.633) were obtained. The amount of CO₂ in without flame combustion temperature (ppm); the highest values were Sb (6.686), the lowest Pu (5.419), the highest R1 (9.367) and the lowest R3 (5.407) Sb (19.43) and lowest R3 + Sv (1.167). Baking combustion CO₂ content (ppm); the highest Pu (5.127) at the varnish level, the lowest at Sv (2.522), the bleaching materials at the level is highest at R1 (5.980), lowest at R4 (2.180), according to bleaching materials and the varnish type interaction is the highest R1 + P (15.29), also the lowest R5 Av + (0.7833) was obtained. Accordingly, the highest results in terms of the amount of CO₂ in the Scotch pine wood were found in the water-based varnish with the R1 solution.

This study was carried out to determine the carbon dioxide amount in the combustion of European oak wood (Quercus petreae liebl.) bleached and varnished. For this purpose, samples of European oak wood prepared according to ASTM D 358 contain 18% R1 = (NaOH + H₂O₂), R2 = (NaOH + Ca(OH)₂ + H₂O₂), R3 = (Na₂S₂O₅ + H₂C₂O₄), R4 = (NaSiO₃ + H₂O₂), R5 = (KMnO₄ + Na₂S₂O₅ + H₂O₂) solution groups, after bleaching with solution groups, water based (Sb), synthetic (Sn), polyurethane (Pu) and acrylic varnish (Av) were applied according to ASTM D 3023 and compliance with ASTM E 160-50 guidelines in combustion tests. Gas measurements were made with the Sigma 74172 NSU flue gas device during the combustion process. As a result, the amount of CO₂ in the flame source side (ppm); the highest R4 in the varnish level (3.469), the lowest Av (1.236), the highest R4 (3.763), the lowest R2 (1.127), the highest R4 + Sb (7.583), the lowest R5 + Sb (0.8333) was obtained. Amount of CO₂ in the without flame combustion temperature (ppm); the highest RV (r = 7.194), the lowest RV (3.469), the highest R1 (7.820), the lowest R2 (3.277), the highest R4 + Sv (12.73) in the lowest R3 + Pu (3.000) was found. CO₂ amount in the baking combustion (ppm); (7.356), the highest RV (3.540), the lowest RV (3.565), the lowest RV (3.565), the lowest RV (3.522), the lowest R4 + Sb (1.173) was obtained. CO₂ amount in the baking combustion (ppm); the highest R4 of the varnished oak wood (7.056), the lowest Av (3.522), the highest R1 (7.540), the lowest R2 (3.610), the highest R4 + Sv (9.667) in the lowest R4 + Sb (1.173) was obtained. According to this, it can be said that the solutions of R1 and R4 with synthetic varnish are not suitable for poisoning effect in fire risk areas.

The residential sector accounts for approximately 27 and 17% of the world energy consumption and its CO₂ emission, respectively. Thus, developing measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in this sector, which is highly associated with the rapidly increasing proportion of world’s urban population, is crucial to ensuring the sustainable development of the urban environment. However, the majority of the existing expertise on energy sustainability revolves around improving the thermal quality of the building envelop with lesser focus on the social and behavioural aspects of energy consumption. Given the importance of factors pertaining to the latter aspects, which are found to be responsible for 4–30% of the variation in residential energy consumption, this paper aims to address and explore for the first time the impact of the UK residents’ life-cycle evolution on their energy usage. To attain this, an official database encompassing around 5000 households observed over the course of 10 years was analysed with the help of specific statistical tests and procedures (e.g. logistic regression). First, logistic regression was employed to determine the socio-economic factors influencing households’ evolution from one state to another; consequently, future evolutionary models covering a 10-year window, were predicted. This was followed by analysing the effect of the predicted evolutionary models on the households’ gas and electricity usage patterns using point-biserial correlation. Finally, the findings suggest that households’ evolution have a significant effect on their energy consumption patterns. However, the magnitude and the direction of this effect is weak and mostly positive, respectively.

Certain features, having significant effect on the shape of the urban areas, could be divided to two, as: tangible and intangible. Tangible features are consisted of the physical elements, which forms the urban environment, as land use mix, density (might be based on population, residential, commercial etc.), urban design characteristics etc. On the other hand, intangible features are comprised of the socio-economic measures of the societies, as demographic, cultural, sociological, economical and historical structure of the related societies. Both tangible and intangible features have a significant role in shaping the physical urban environment and since the inner characteristics of these features cause different kinds of physical urban environment, the inner characteristics of the both tangible and intangible features might have substantial impact on the sustainable urban development. Accordingly, in this study, tangible features related with the urban form, as land use mix, density and urban design characteristics and the effect of these characteristics on the configuration of the physical urban environment in the context of sustainable urban development will be clarified. Pros and cons of the different aspects of land use mix, density and urban design characteristics and their effect on the urban form and the sustainable urban development will be discussed by considering the different variations. Therefore, it could be possible to compose a guide, which leads a way to sustainable urban communities.

Climate change is happening and happening fast. Cities like Dubai are growing hotter by the day. In Dubai, where temperatures soar to unbearably high levels, work environments, especially for the blue-collar worker, become particularly insufferable. As Gulf News in March ’15 quoted, “there is one car for every 2 residents.” The needs for reduction in carbon emissions and improvements in human habitability are the needs of the hour. The sustainable design principles that may be employed while designing and planning hot urban environments, which result in an increase in energy efficiency, need to be researched by academicians and practitioners alike. The aim of this research paper is not only to analyze methods and draw on the solutions that have been tried and tested in hot global cities that aid in making urban microclimates more conducive, but also devise new strategies that can prove successful in extremely hot conditions. Having bagged the Expo 2020 bid, the need is larger for the Venice of the Middle East, to both maintain its world-class status and achieve new heights in sustainable city infrastructure. This, in turn, will pave the way for planning future cities with hot climates. There’s an urgency in this climate chaotic world for a paradigm shift from pure climate mitigation towards climate adaptation. A place-based approach that harbours healthy symbiotic relationships between physical, social and environmental infrastructural elements is essential in making this city climate resilient.

Organized Industrial Zones (OIZ) are places for manufacturing of goods and provision of services, established and operated in accordance with the provisions of the Ministry of Science Industry and Technology of Turkey. The process input-outputs and their environmental impacts are ignored in conventional OIZ’s. However, global conditions of competition have changed today and manufacturers need to consider the economic, ecologic and energy factors, reuse of products and raw materials, recovery of waste and the efficient use of all resources. They have to focus on cleaner production (CP) for being competitive in market. As a case study, 10 Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) which are producing in different areas like rubber, metal working, galvanized coating, and casting were chosen. In each company, flow charts were analyzed, inputs and outputs were identified. Raw materials, chemicals, water and energy were taken as inputs. Since there was no continuous production in each company, all parameters were considered annually. All data was benchmarked with Eco-Invent database to make suggestions for clean production to each company. After cleaner production analysis, it was tried to reveal possible symbiotic relations between companies. After all analysis, data showed that energy efficiency based industrial symbiosis (IS) is more possible and efficient than waste-raw material exchange. Based on this, by creating a virtual eco industrial park, possible scenarios for the realization of industrial symbiosis were prepared. Examining the best practices of eco-industrial parks in the world, an eco-industrial virtual park was designed for OSTIM OIZ for sustainable environmental friendly production.

Slope stability is one of the important analysis not only human being and economic issues but also environmental and sustainability aspects as well. There are analysis softwares available to search factors of safety calculations as well as stabilization methods. Slide is one of the most comprehensive slope stability analysis software available, complete with finite element groundwater seepage analysis, rapid drawdown, sensitivity and probabilistic analysis, and support design. All types of soil and rock slopes, embankments, earth dams, and retaining walls can be analysed. In this study, effects of groundwater level is investigated in terms of stability analysis of embankments and earth fill barriers. Embankments and earth fill barriers are constructed on soft clay soil materials. Different scenarios and input parameters are used in the analysis. Embankment and earth fill barriers slope, shape and geometries are taken from according to Directorate General of Road Transport Regulation. Factors of safety are very variable due to changing groundwater locations.

Urban conservation has been a subject of academic and professional discourse for over three decades. In Fez medina, urban conservation is linked to urban redevelopment and thereby represents a significant component of urban design with respect to sustainability. The best practice and the constraints and difficulties of the Fez medina sustainable conservation are addressed in this paper, based on observation and a system dynamic approach to describe and analyze the urban heritage safeguarding process, its stages and components during the last thirty-five years. The overall rehabilitation strategy for this historical area is to alleviate the constraints through a sustainable conservation program, especially the historic housing stock, the social development, the historic monuments and the urban environment including the architecture heritage, which could not be launched without seeking adequate tools (institutional, financial and technical) for its implementation. ADER-Fez, the Agency for the Dedensification and Rehabilitation of Fez Medina, places stakeholder participation at the core of its implementation strategy, including social animation and social participation in housing rehabilitation, and sets a program of emergency intervention on historic monuments and buildings, housing units threatening collapse and on infrastructure and urban facilities, with two concerns: the safety of the human lives and the safeguarding of cultural heritage and traditional constructions of architectural quality adapted to the requirements of modern life.

Liquefaction is the one of the major problems in geotechnical engineering. Especially; deaths, structural damages and financial loss can occur after liquefaction. Therefore, liquefaction potential of the soils should be determined before the construction. In this study, silty sand soils were taken from the city of Eskisehir, Turkey. Reconstituted samples were tested by using laboratory scale shaking table test device. Liquefaction potential of the soil samples were determined and the test results were discussed.

The number of the people who are aware of the energy issue is increasing since the fossil fuel reserves of the earth are coming to an end, and this fossil fuel consumption threatens the natural balance of the earth and human health. Considering the fact that the majority of the energy is consumed for constructing buildings and in these buildings after the construction, it is important to take energy-based decisions regarding the designs during the planning process. This study aims to present the optimum building envelope solution strategies by using the solar parameters, which are the most effective environmental factors in Turkey, with up-to-date computer programs making the digital designing process possible in performative architecture. Various samples were analyzed to examine the roles of performative architecture in pre and post-design process, and the relationship between the building envelope and energy was determined. In addition, the importance of using computers during the disregarded design process was emphasized, and awareness was raised in this issue.

Eco-cities are desired as healthy human settlements in which self-sufficient, targeted to the deterioration of the balance between natural ecosystems and built environment. In the literature; the pre-conditions which is vary in aspects of environmental, social, economic, spatial and legal characteristics as eco-cities are defined. At present, many countries, including Turkey, have been attempting to establish eco-city projects succeed in different levels. In this process, Many issues are encountered as problematic factors. These factors can be categorized primarily as legal, administrative and project related procedures and process issues. The role of ‘actors’ and actor relations, economic and socio-cultural structures take part in this outlook at different levels. The purpose of this study is to examine the examples of eco-city projects. All such project attempts have varying problems about putting the theory into practice, determine the most effective tools and procedure. As the method of this study, the process of these eco-city projects have been examined with this factors. The methodology includes surveying such as contacting to concerned institutions to identify related problems. In addition; categorically chosen examples of eco-cities around the world have been studied for comparision. The same parameters and methodology have been followed in this comparative study. The comparative outlook helped to grasp the problematic ingredients of the process which determined in the projects’ success or failure, through this, whether the parameters in the projects have common characteristics or not, is investigated. Consequently; critical assessment through the findings, and suggestions to increase the success rate in the implementation of the eco-city projects.

Publicly known as 2/B (commonly used abbreviation for the provisions of the Article 2/B of the Forestry Law), the law numbered 6292, concerning the sales of the land which has lost its quality as a forest after it is excluded from the forest, has taken effect in 2012. Regulations regarding 2/B had been addressed in several regulations, especially in the constitutions of 1961 and 1982. It was first introduced in the Forestry Law numbered 6831 with a temporary article amended in 24.07.1965. However, the article in question was annulled by the decision of the Supreme Court in 1966. In 1970, a provision on the land which can be left out of the borders of the forest was amended to the Article 131 of the Constitution of 1961. Articles 169 and 170 of the Constitution of 1982 were also amended with provisions similar to the ones in the Constitution of 1961. In 1983, the “Law on Promoting for Forest Villager’s Development” numbered 2924 had taken effect. With the arrangement made in the Article 3 of the “Amendment to the Law on the Utilization of Real Properties Held by the Treasury and Value Added Tax” numbered 4706, it was defined how to apply the Law numbered 2924 on the land which is considered out of the borders of the forest pursuant to the Article 2/B of the Forestry Law numbered 6831 and how these lands will be assessed. However, this regulation was annulled by the Supreme Court decision in 2002. Following this decision of the Supreme Court, there was an inactivity regarding 2/B practices and relevant transactions were suspended. Finally, regulations on the land falling within the scope of 2/B were addressed with the Law numbered 6292. In this study, the Law numbered 6292 on “Supporting the Development of Forest Villagers and Utilization of Lands Taken Out of Forest Boundaries and Registered Under the Name of the Treasury and the Sale of Agricultural Lands Owned by the Treasury” which has taken effect in 2012 will be assessed in terms of the Constitution, Supreme Court’s previous decision on this subject, zoning law, the prices and their implications on the environment.

In this study, the social sustainability framework and the transformation processes realized in Kadıköy district of Istanbul were examined. Processes covering the general aspect of district have been discussed in detail in the context of social sustainability and related concepts of changing housing profile typology, the effects of street perception on identity, the effects of transformation on building quality on the quality of life and the change of the profile of urban residents in the neighborhood in terms of social sustainability.

Freshwater scarcity has been a considerable issue in the Gulf Region. The cities in the region including in the UAE depend mainly on seawater desalination. Their demand escalated about 15% annually regardless of seawater desalination direct cost of 1 US$/M3. Thus, calling all water conservation techniques to reducing indoor and outdoor water demands is inevitable. Using Hydrophobic Sand (HS) to reduce water seepage and increase the contact time between irrigation water and plants’ roots was seen as potential conservation technique. The HS is Normal Sand (NS) coated by a thin layer of hydrophobic organic silica compound called trimethylsilanol. However, concerns were raised about the leaching of harmful organic coating chemicals into the soil and groundwater. Assessing the potential risks of leaching additives is one of the objectives of this research. For some plants, requiring a certain range of soil permeability suggests a mixture of NS and HS. The permeability of mixtures of HS with abundant NS was examined to assess its validity and cost effectiveness when a certain permeability is required. Several elements leaching tests were conducted. The soil was classified and constant head permeability test was conducted for different configurations and mixtures of NS and HS. The leached elements, nutrients and organic silica were within the allowable limits set by the typical standards. Further experiments indicates that HS does not constitute an environmental hazard. Mixing different portions of NS and HS revealed unforeseen increase in the permeability. Instead, some layer configurations could reduce soil permeability.

Historically, with the developing technology, the use of different facade materials and forms, which are the signatures of the architects in the high-rise buildings, have begun to appear as indispensable design entrances. Facade designs, which have become symbols of power and prestige concepts, have become one of the design criteria that should be given special importance in terms of fire safety. For this reason, it has been evaluated that it will not be possible to provide guaranteed and useful solutions for fire safety in the next generation building designs, which are prepared according to the traditional design rules and methods and the codes and regulations currently in force will not suffice. For a new generation of high-rise buildings to assist in the selection of fire-safe façade, a new concept, called performance-based fire design, Participation in the design of the fire has begun to gain importance in making the best technological solution, material selection and façade design. Performance-based fire safety under the modern new building structures to have fire-resistant performance in the shell of the facade systems in Turkey and designed according to the effects of the fire are the goals of the study. In the study, firstly the fire propagation mechanism on the facades will be examined. In this direction, it is aimed to investigate the examples of the necessary precautions and design decisions to be taken according to the results obtained when the concept of performance based fire safety is applied to contemporary facades and to try to determine the relation between facade geometry and fire propagation paths. In this respect, the evaluation of the performance of contemporary facade systems will emphasize the importance of the use of computer programs in the early design stage and that the laws and regulations in force will not be enough for today’s contemporary facade systems to provide fire safety.

Wind energy turbines have drawn great interest especially for the last 2 decades. Today newly developed high-power wind energy generators require long blades and tall towers with large base diameter which exceeds the allowable width for highway transportation. The tower must also be divided through longitudinal and connected on site to overcome transportation problem. In this case welding difficulties, other technological aspects on site increase the cost of steel towers. However, concrete towers precast or cast on site, becomes a competitive alternative to current steel solutions for the wind energy towers, due to its lower cost and higher durability. As the generator on top produces a variable and continues vibration the dynamic properties of the towers becomes more important than any other structures due to resonance effect. In wind turbines, inexact calculation of natural frequencies or change of natural frequencies due to concrete cracking by time may harm the whole structure. So this makes post tensioning very important for wind energy towers. Post tensioning avoids tension strength which in turn prevents fatigue cracks in concrete elements which are exposed to tension strength. In this paper, the concept of a 100 m tall modular prefabricated posttensioned high-performance concrete 3.6 MW wind generator tower is presented. In the study the finite element model of the tower is prepared and under wind and rotor loads the structural analysis of the tower is presented.

The highways network is crucial to the economic and social development of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The increase in capital spend on highways projects across the UAE has emphasised the importance of optimising the long-term operational and maintenance spend. This paper presents a case study of the application of Markov chains in the optimisation of pavement maintenance decision-making. The theoretical model utilises a simplified staged-homogenous Markov chain to predict future pavement conditions at the network level by comparing the pavement condition with planned maintenance activities against pavement condition without maintenance activities using a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) as the basis of the calculation. Also estimated budget for maintenance work has been achieved.

Within the context of this study, the deformation behaviour of multi layered highway road embankment consist of asphalt concrete supported by the underlying base and subbase layer under repetitive wheel load were analysed using finite element methodology. Plane strain finite element analyses were carried out by using Plaxis software to calculate rutting behaviour of embankment. Asphalt concrete was modelled using linear elastic model whereas hardening soil model with small-strain stiffness (HSsmall) was used to examine deformation behaviour of base, subbase and subgrade layers due to its capability to model stress dependent stiffness, unloading-reloading behaviour and hysteric damping.

The Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry has witnessed a revolutionary journey throughout the past few decades in the UAE and more specifically in the Emirate of Dubai, despite the numerous advancements in the tools and technologies used for designing and constructing buildings; there has always been an ambition to increase the efficiency of this process and reduce the time and resources consumed to deliver project products. One of the fastest growing technologies in the global AEC industry is the Building Information Modelling (BIM); a technique that revolves around the idea of integrating different engineering disciplines into a single unit of collaboration. As with all new technologies, there is still a large number of limitations of the BIM application that might jeopardize the benefits and opportunities of implementing it. Aiming to find BIM risks and propose mitigation strategies for them; this research paper begins by providing a brief background about the Building Information Modelling application and its significance in the design and construction processes, after that it identifies the main organizational risks associated with the BIM application, it concludes the findings from the literature review into a conceptual framework that acts as a guideline for managing the BIM organizational risks, reducing their impact and enhancing the overall BIM process, the study then uses a research tool that consists of a questionnaire examining the feedback of architects from the industry about the importance of the BIM organizational risks and their prevention strategies suggested in the research, finally the results of this survey are analyzed in the SPSS software in order to reach useful conclusions and findings.

Neighborhoods centers are credible indicators of the vitality of urban communities. A vivid neighborhood center depicts a sustainable community that enjoys high social capital, social cohesion and economic thriving. United Arab Emirates has been concerned with achieving sustainability in its urban housing sector. The initiated Estidama (sustainability) Community Pearl Rating System is an obvious example towards this trend. Some new Estidama-rated community designs have been developed recently and some are under construction now. But on the other hand, unfortunately many existing local urban communities are claimed to be far from being sustainable. Many of these existing UAE neighborhoods have deteriorated centers where the retail shops are either closed or have a limited economic activity, green areas and children playgrounds are quite rare and so on. This status, of course, hinders realizing the very meaning of sustainable communities. This research has two main objectives. First, is investigating the reasons behind the obvious deterioration of the neighborhoods centers in Al Ain city as an example of the Emirati cities. Second, is proposing strategies for urban regeneration of Al Ain neighborhoods centers, which of course can be extended to all other UAE cities. This research adopts a qualitative/quantitative method suitable for the nature of investigations required to realize the research objectives. Al Salamat neighborhood in Al Ain city was selected as a representative case study and has been investigated utilizing various relevant research tools including field observations, document analysis and the DepthmapX spatial analysis tool of Space Syntax. The defined reasons of the deterioration of the urban neighborhoods centers of the investigated case study have been subsumed under four categories namely; neighborhood density, urban/architectural context, accessibility, safety and security. Accordingly, a strategic framework for urban regeneration of the centers of the existing urban neighborhoods in Al Ain, and other UAE cities, has been proposed.

Cities, which have become more populated crowded as the result of industrial revolution, had also brought many challenges. In the developed countries, these challenges are met with an environmentally prioritized approach; whereas the economic and social aspects are prioritized in the developing countries. The fact that natural sources are under threat of diminishing, caused the rising of “sustainability”. With sustainable urban transformation, transformation of cities is getting to handle under principles of sustainability. The 6306 numbered Law of Transformation of Areas under Disaster Risk which aims transformation of 6.5 million structures which have been carrying the risks of lives and property has legalized in 2012. This law aims to bring solutions to the problems deriving from irregular urbanization. Supercity projects were taken into agenda by Ministry of Environment and Urbanization in order to physical, social, cultural and spatial sustainability of building under risk. With this projects, the urban transformation and sustainability principles were analysed together. Supercity projects headline six major performance criteria such as land use and urban design, energy, water, transportation, materials and sources, social and economic sustainability. In areas where urban transformation is implemented with Supercity System, at minimum 44% less management costs, 44% less public expenses, 65% energy productivity, 65% water saving and 55% management productivity are objected. In this paper, Supercity Project pilot practice at Kocakır Eskişehir has been evaluated within conceptual framework determined by principles, strategies and methods subject to urban transformation approach.

As well known, local soil condition at a specific site affects the significant features of strong ground motion such as amplitude, frequency range and time duration. The effects of site condition depend on the properties of the motion characteristics, material properties, topography and geometry of the field. The bedrock slope at the basin sides also is one of the most important factors in the response analyzing of a specific site in geotechnical earthquake engineering applications. The reflection and refraction waves from the basin edges induce the wave transmission and two dimensional effects. In this case two dimensional site response analyses are required to estimate the behavior of the soil layers. So, local geotechnical site condition should be into account in the design of earthquake resistant building. The bedrock slope of the basin edges should be determined for suitable method in two dimensional dynamic response analyses. In this study, the result of a specific site response based on shear wave velocity profiles determined by microtremor array measurements are presented. The geotechnical properties of the soil layers were obtained from the previous subsurface explorations. Seismic bedrock depth and bedrock slope of the edge were defined by microtremor array measurements. Shear wave velocity value is from ten to hundred meters was obtained from passive surface wave method by employed Spatial Auto Correlation algorithm. Established variation of shear wave velocity with depth models were examined in terms of local site amplification. In order to verify consistency of obtained amplification numbers, empirical and measuremental results were compared for each site. As a conclusion, dynamic properties of local site conditions under earthquake excitation were described in terms of maximum amplification, resonance frequency and predominant period.

The development of the majority of the cities in Turkey from the point of urbanization were occurred without regard to the effects of the geological conditions of the region that were founded in the past. The settlement, transportation and industrialization greatly influence the natural environmental balance in a region. It is necessary to control the effects of such a development on the natural environment in order to prevent possible damage. For this reason, in addition to the social, cultural and economic conditions of the region, the geological and geotechnical conditions must be assessed very well. However, an urban development envisaged in such as principle may be a living city life with settlement, transportation and industrialization. It is an inevitable necessity and a responsibility at the same time to evaluate the geological structure of the ground, the geotechnical properties and the geological environmental conditions. The possible effects on the construction must be observed very well prior to the construction. The necessary precautions at the same time in the field of urban development are especially regarding the construction problems. In today’s urbanization, especially in the construction sector, the importance of geology can only be understand after the events such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, collapses and destruction, which are caused by geological reasons and property destruction caused by them. In this study, the place and importance of the effects of geological conditions in Turkey are investigated and the solutions tried to be proposed.

Cities transformed by their own socio-cultural, economic, political and technological processes from their existed period. An urban transformation project should be planned from a variety of angles such as physical, economic, social and environmental as well as legal, institutional, financial and partnerships to the implementation of the project, and transformation programs should be prepared. In urban transformation projects, it should aimed to develop strategies to restore economic viability in urban parts that have become physical and social depressions, thereby increasing urban welfare and quality of life should also be the other side of the concern. The construction sector is the locomotive sector of the economy all over the world, with the production and the employment provided by the dozens of sub-sectors attached to it. The Turkish construction sector has an important place in the development of the country. In recent years, urban transformation projects in our cities have progressed very rapidly. This process is taking place in Eskisehir after the 1999 earthquakes. However, there are many economic, social and legal problems in this process. In this study, the urban transformation applications in Eskisehir after the 1999 earthquake is evaluated and solution proposals are presented.

The steel industry, which is an indicator of the developed countries with its production, also brings the problem of waste together. This waste product, that differs depending on the production process and is called slag, is generally referred as solid waste. Many researchers to use for different purposes are examining this type of wastes, which are difficult to store and dispose. It is also investigated about the usability as a filling material in civil engineering. The possibility of using such materials as an alternative to soil stabilization solutions, especially in the areas close to the industries producing these wastes, in the filling of such structures as the roads, railways, airport runways comprise of the basis of the surveys. In this study, the impact of steel slag and fly ash, another waste product released because of combusting lignite coal with low energy at the power plants, on the bearing ratio after blending with kaolin grade clay at different rates was observed. Keeping the 5% clay rate stable in weight, steel slag and fly ash with varying rates were added to prepare the test samples, which were cured for 0, 7, 28 and 56 days under stable conditions and subjected to California Bearing Ratio tests. The results showed that when steel slag and fly ash are used with clay, there were significant increases in their bearing ratios compared to the reference clay sample. While the wet California Bearing Ratio (CBR) was around 15% for the normal clay sample, when it is blended only with steel slag the wet CBR increased up to 70%, and when blended with fly ash the wet CBR went up to 130%. The used materials had very weak and weak binding properties when used alone while their binding properties increased by gaining pozzolanic property within the mix.

The rate of build high-rise buildings has accelerated rapidly over the last few decades, due to rapid urbanization and significant improvements in the field of the high-rise construction and technology. Many challenges were faced by the engineers in the design and construction of such buildings. One of the major challenges was the foundation systems, which are required to ensure the stability of the buildings. The common type of foundation system which is used in case of high-rise buildings is piles foundation system. Furthermore, in the most standards and codes of practice such as British Standard, the piles specifications and recommendations are stated for short piles which has a maximum depth range between 18.0 and 20.0 m. As well as, the theoretical equations for pile design, charts and different soil factors and parameters are based on old studies of short piles behavior. In this research, a comparison was conducted between the theoretical pile compression capacity which is calculated from the theoretical equations and the practical pile compression capacity which is derived from the results of pile’s static load test. The study covered three different cases of bored piles constructed in U.A.E. especially in Dubai. The piles used in this research have a depth ranging from 30.0 to 65.0 m. This type of piles is classified in this research as long or deep piles. A finite element model of each participated pile modeled by using PLAXIS 2D software, to judge between the practical and theoretical piles capacities. It was found that the theoretical compression pile capacity is 60–70% of the practical pile capacity with the same specifications (pile diameter and pile depth). As a conclusion of the results, the estimated piles diameter and depth in the concept design stage can be improved based on the results of this research.

Soil liquefaction is seen where the water table is high and soil is cohesionless. Especially, it occurs when drainage is not possible or limited. Consequently effective stress decreases as result of increasing pore pressure during shearing. The significant majority of damage of buildings, roads, bridges and dams in earthquakes are due to soil liquefaction. Recently, the importance of soil behavior during the earthquakes has begun to be discussed. In particular, soil liquefaction can cause serious damages to earth—rockfill dams constructed in earthquake prone areas. In 1994-USA, 105 dams were affected within a 75 km radius from center of the Northridge earthquake of 6.7 magnitude. Some of these dams are earthfill and others are rockfill and not all of these dams were in danger of collapse. However, settlement cracks and/or slope movements have been observed. Others did not affected. Besides, many of these dams experienced the San Fernando Earthquake which has a magnitude of 6.5 occurred in the same area. In 1918, the Lower San Fernando Dam having a height of 42 m which was built using “hydraulic fill” technique was heavily damaged. In this study, Lower San Fernando Dam and earthquake loading is modelled using a finite difference program FLAC which contains Finn liquefaction model. At the end of the analysis, damage to the dam section, plastic shear deformations, distribution of pore pressure and deformations are compared with the real case.

It is necessary to develop a multidisciplinary approach in the sense of creating earthquake sensitive urban areas, though the decisions made by the urban planners are considered as prior. In its basis, urban planning process begins with the geological and geotechnical etudes and continues with planning and land use decision-making within the context of implementation plans. Then, design and construction processes follow those stages. In the period of whole procedure; urban planners, geological engineers, designers, architects, civil engineers and the other related professionals should be included in order to take a common approach. The contributions and the tasks of those disciplines to create earthquake resistant cities vary. In this study, a systematical theoretic perspective in the context of creating earthquake sensitive cities in a multidisciplinary way will be developed. Within this scope, the deficiencies and the necessity of the multidisciplinary collaboration in the implementation sense will be discussed.

This study explores architectural and interior design features of the residential housing projects built in the Eskişehir Tepebaşı region along the 1st and 2nd Ismet Inonu Avenues, and focuses on the rapid transition that these projects carried out within that area. Construction was not permitted in this area until 2007, due to its historical importance as the city’s former industrial area. With an emphasis on residential housing projects, construction commenced in 2009, and since then, the area has evolved into a popular residential and commercial center. Along with this popularity, the demand for these residential projects, as real estate, has also increased. The typology of these buildings features an atrium with either four or eight stories, hotel-style design and various advanced technologies of the day. The projects were conceived as highly exclusive residential houses offering residents special utilities such as professional facility management, access control systems, social areas, fitness, recreational facilities, parking lots and security services. The first residence project, Eldem Residence, was built in 2009. It was followed in 2011 by Aytepe Residences and the Akademia Suites projects, which were in turn followed by Başak, Two Towers and Atrium Park. The intensive urban renewal of the former industrial area has continued rapidly since then.

Along with the population growth and industrial revolution, migration from the countryside to the cities increased greatly and unplanned urbanization is brought out. This condition conclusions such as troubles faced for the use of resources, increasing environmental pollution, global warming. Unplanned growth of cities leads to serious destruction not only on the natural environment but also on the human nature. A successful sustainable urbanization is possible that both physical and social sustainability studies are accomplished in integration with each other. Cities have continually been destroying nature due to the lack of recycling technologies, unplanned settlement and desire for constructing houses to green areas, air pollution and unhealthy infrastructure. As a result of them sustainable urbanism focused on the term of eco-city. Eco-city is a city designing and application approach in which human, city and environment issues are handled in relation and interaction with each other. In eco-city design, some principles such as reducing the effect of cities on environment, the use of renewable energy sources, the lowest level of waste production and the use of renewable energy sources have been taken into consideration. The eco-city provides healthy abundance to its inhabitants without consuming renewable resources than it produces, without producing more waste than it can assimilate, and without being toxic to itself or neighboring ecosystems.

As 97% of the world’s water is salt water, only 3% of the remaining water is fresh water. Depending on population growth, freshwater resources are gradually decreasing due to its use for irrigation applications and energy needs and as drinking water. The most important structures for water storage, regular distribution and flood control are the dams. Dams contribute significantly to the areas where they are located in terms of socio-culture, economy and ecosystem. For this reason, it is very important to extend the lifetime of dam reservoirs in a project and it is even possible to provide sustainability with correct planning. In the reservoirs, the sediment is placed in two forms, as suspension load or bed load. Sediment can affect the performance of dam reservoirs. The lifetime of the dams is determined by the volume of sediment the dam receives during the operating period. The sustainability of the operation of the dam ceases when the dead storage, which is considered to be the sediment deposit, reaches to the limit. Sedimentation occurs not only in the dead storage, but also in the active (beneficial) storage. This situation also affects the performance of the dams and prevents the dams serving their purpose. In this study, different reservoir management strategies and measures that can be taken in sediment conservation for sustainable dam management are discussed.

Earthquake recossaince survey showed that liquefaction of soil caused severe damage to pile-supported structures, for example bridges and marine-wharf structures. Marine wharf structures provide logistic support to shipping, distribution, and other facilities for the transport of cargos via water. Thus, these structures must be less affected from seismic related hazards such as liquefaction, lateral spreading and settlement. Literature review showed that damage to pile supported wharfs often occured due to lateral movement of liquefiable soil which caused horizontal displacement of structures and also settlement. As a result, pile supported marine structures were badly damaged. In this study, a review of typical damages to marine and pile-supported wharf structures observed in the past earthquake is presented Based on the observed damages and current understanding of pile failure, criteria for design of pile-supported marine structures is presented.

Iraq suffers from large housing problems. It is estimated that there is a shortage of around one million dwellings, which is equal to one-fourth of the total housing stock in the country. As a part of the solutions, the country needs architectural designs that satisfy three main conditions: enable an increase of the housing production, be affordable and satisfy people’s residential requirements. The latter includes, for instance, providing suitable layouts, comfortable environment and the required level of privacy. Within this spectrum, this paper focuses on providing a thermally comfortable indoor environment. The importance of this aspect is raised by the high temperatures in Iraq, the unreliable electricity supply, reducing the running costs and the need to maintain the environment at comfort conditions. The paper explores the courtyard pattern as an approach to achieve a thermally comfortable indoor environment, and studies how courtyards might be adopted within multistory residential buildings in order to reduce the costs and support the housing production. It reports on an extensive literature review that investigates published scientific studies within the last ten years about the thermal efficiency of the courtyard pattern and its design features. To propose design solutions, the paper considered the investigation’s results and the main residential buildings criteria and standards. The research results define the courtyard pattern thermal efficiency and demonstrate the importance of adopting the courtyard pattern’s design features to provide a thermally comfortable indoor environment. It also proposes two architectural solutions for Iraq that include using courtyards in multistory residential buildings.

The California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test determines behaviour of road sub-base and granular layers for flexible pavement. In the conventional CBR test, compacted sample was waited in air for 24 h and in water for 4 days. In this study, the fresh and 28 days curing effects were examined and pH values were measured end of 28 days curing on the CBR percent of soils stabilized with F class fly-ash and cement. There are two main matrix material in this study. One of the matrices consists of Bilecik Clay and Lime and other consists of Bilecik Clay, Bentonite and Lime. In samples, fly-ash (Class-F) and cement were used as additives. Different mixtures which were obtained with various combinations of these materials were prepared and end of compaction were cured in various moulds depending on test. The mechanical strength test as wet CBR, triaxial and unconfined strength tests were performed on the mixtures and physical characteristics as CBR percent and chemical characteristic as pH values were measured.