Overview of Sustainable Design Criteria in High-Rise Building Facade Design

Abstract

Buildings are responsible for the high amount of global carbon emissions, structural wastes and energy consumption. The majority of buildings in Turkey are residential buildings and these residential buildings are responsible for the consumption of nearly half of the energy used by buildings as well as high amount of carbon emissions and structural wastes. Building facades are important elements of the buildings for sustainability since they are the elements that provide the distinction between the internal and external environment. It is known that a well- designed sustainable facade can lower the building’s negative impacts to environment significantly. Considering the construction of high-rise residential buildings have increased in the last decade in Turkey, the study focuses on sustainable high-rise residential building facade design. The purpose of the study is, systematically evaluating the facades of high-rise residential buildings built in Turkey in the last decade in terms of sustainability criteria and to raise awareness for designers. In order to evaluate in a systematic way, in the first step, high-rise building facade systems were classified and sustainable design criteria for these facades were identified such as; energy saving, providing natural ventilation, efficient use of water, preventing direct or indirect glare, providing alternatives for color, texture and finish details, being lightweight, easy to install, maintain and clean. In the second step, according to the classifications and sustainability criteria determined, 5 high-rise residential building facades built in the last decade in Istanbul, which have the same certificate (Gold) in the LEED assessment system were evaluated. In conclusion, it is considered that a new certification system that examines the building in parts and treats the facade as opaque and transparent surfaces may be useful in sustainable high-rise residential building facade design. In further studies, it is planned to work on a new sustainable building design evaluation system design that might contribute to prevent environmental pollution.