Green Building / Settlement

Buildings that cause the least damage to the environment and provide service by using natural resources in the most efficient way during their usage period are called green buildings. When talking about green buildings, people usually think of modern buildings with a shallow perspective, true to its name, with plenty of trees and various plants, namely green spaces. However, green buildings are defined not only by the green area they have, but also by many different technical features. These can be briefly listed as follows;

• Use of recycled materials and recyclable materials in the construction of the building
• Not using building materials that will harm human health
• Meeting the building's energy needs with renewable and clean energy sources and minimizing the use of fossil fuels
• Having a high level of thermal insulation and thus minimizing the energy consumption due to heating-cooling
• In the same way, providing sound comfort for both the building occupants and the people around the building by making a quality acoustic insulation.
• By having a design that makes the most of sunlight, minimizing energy consumption from lighting and helping building occupants feel better psychologically by making the most of daylight possible.
• Ensuring the indoor air quality at the highest level with the least energy use for the building occupants by using ideal air conditioning and ventilation systems.
• Reducing the primary water use of the building with rainwater/grey water collection and treatment systems
• Increasing the level of recycling and achieving the zero waste target with the waste management system

With the rapid decrease of the world's resources and the increasing awareness of people, the interest in sustainable green buildings has reached high levels today. As a reflection of this, green building constructions have increased rapidly around the world and the need to rank these green buildings has arisen. LEED in the USA, BREEAM in the UK, CASBEE in Japan, DGNB in Germany, etc. green building rating systems were established. In our country, the Green Certificate for Buildings (YeS-TR) system was implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change with a legal regulation in 2021.