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Top1. Introduction
Buildings’ energy consumption has significantly increased recently. This is due to the growth of population, increased time spent indoors, more request for indoor environmental quality and for building functions, and finally global climate change (Cao et al., 2016). Energy efficient building is seen as a solution to energy scarcity and CO2 emissions. However, it is still not adopted totally in building design as a strategy, e.g. in Turkey. This necessitates the consideration of building design criteria as they strive towards protecting nature at the highest possible level and providing the most suitable environment for people within building (Gür, 2007).
The energy consumed by buildings in Turkey is 175 KWh/m2. While in European countries, the amount of energy used is around 100 KWh/m2 (Kazanasmaz et al., 2014). This is greatly due to the inefficient building design with hardly any consideration of the environmental impact and energy assessment (Mangan and Oral, 2016). It is necessary to ensure efficient energy use in Turkey because buildings are responsible for around half of the total energy consumption (Eskin & Türkmen, 2008). Design parameters should be studied, taking into consideration the environment that is a vital for developing a well-suited and energy efficient building design.
There are several design factors that can influence the building energy performance and can be managed properly for better energy efficiency. Enhancing the thermal performance of the envelope materials will lead to the less building energy consumption. The envelope materials work as a promising solution for both less energy consumption and better indoor environment (Han & Taylor, 2016). They can be enhanced by decreasing the thermal transmittances (U-value) combined with the passive energy actions (Cao et al., 2016). Appropriate shading design and selections are important to achieve energy efficiency and comfortable indoor environments. Proper design of overhangs shading systems will play a great role in reducing the unnecessary solar gains in buildings (Ali and Ahmed, 2012).
As cited by Cho et al. (2012), building location plays an important role in designing energy efficient buildings and it is usually considered in the design of new buildings. The building shape can also lead to energy efficiency. For instance, compact building shape will have minimum heat losses through its envelope materials and decreased exposure of weather conditions than complex building shape. This is due to the decreased surface area exposure (Bauer et al., 2009).
The ability that a building must naturally heat or light its internal spaces may significantly influence energy efficiency and reduces energy use. This is often measured by building orientation (Abanda and Byers, 2016). The application of renewable energy will not only lead to further modernization of the energy sector, but also achieve national economic and sustainable development goals (Inglesi-Lotz, 2013). Renewable energy can ensure the sustainability of electricity supply while reducing carbon dioxide emissions (Sulaiman et al., 2013).
Presently, the design and construction practices do not allow the timely and active application of energy efficient methods and technologies on buildings. (Cho et al., 2012, Arayici et al 2018). In this regard, building performance simulation enables designers to investigate various design alternatives and choose the most energy efficient alternatives (Aksamija, 2013). The use of BIM in building energy simulations has deeply enhanced the process of building energy analysis allowing for better decision making and appropriate prediction of building performance.