Daylight and Thermal Performance of Office Buildings in Ankara Ece Durmaz1 and Simos Yannas2 Sustainable Environmental Design, Architectural Association Graduate School, London, UK, ecedurmaz.92@gmail.com 2 Sustainable Environmental Design, Architectural Association Graduate School, London, UK, simos@aaschool.ac.uk.com 1
Abstract: With little regulation over energy consumption and a climate of cold winters and warm summers, the lack of benchmarks and built exemplars is a serious barrier to the development of an environmentally responsible architecture in Ankara, Turkey. The paper focuses on office buildings and draws upon the findings of recently completed research based on computational studies, using Radiance for daylighting and Energy Plus for thermal simulations, to explore the potential of passive design strategies taking account of orientation, external obstructions, solar protection and operational schedules including ventilation strategies. Keywords: Thermal Performance, Daylight Performance, Ventilation Strategy, Office Building, Ankara
Introduction According to national statistics some 470 office buildings were given building permits in the Turkish capital of Ankara in 2015 (TurkStat, 2016). Considering that the building sector is one of the largest energy consumers, it is crucial to follow-up current and future trends in occupancy and appliance use and how these affect internal heat gains and energy demand. There has been little research in Turkey on this topic especially in response to climate change. Johnston et. al (2011) described two likely future scenarios; one, where developments in technology would reduce the loads represented by appliances and artificial lighting (energy conscious scenario), and another where more and larger appliances (multiple monitors, media walls, etc.) would cause a massive increase in energy use (techno explosion scenario). The present paper summarises recent research (Durmaz, 2016) that looked at both of these scenarios as well as drawing comparisons with historical weather data and current operation of office buildings in Ankara. Climate Ankara is located in the central Anatolia region at latitude of 39o56’N and longitude 32o52’ E. Owing to its inland location winter months are cold and snowy, summers are hot and dry. Peak daily maximum temperatures can rise to 33oC in summer with minima as low as -20oC in winter (Fig. 1). Predictions for the year 2050 suggest an average increase of some 2oC compared to recent historical data. Thus, future overheating problems should be considered while coping with the low winter temperatures. The high diurnal temperature fluctuations provide good potential for night-time cooling during summer. The adaptive thermal comfort band was calculated according to EN 15251 for Building Category II under present and future scenarios.