The need for buildings increases in Turkey with its increasing population, urbanization and industrialization and, as it happens, the sector faces the need to embrace opportunities to minimize the pressure on the environment with design approaches and materials used during construction.
It is a matter of fact that the construction industry does put considerable pressure on the environment in terms of resources used and pollution created both because of its outputs (public buildings, commercial buildings, dwelling, roads, power plants, etc.) and inputs (cement, iron-steel, land, etc.). It is therefore obvious to consider the sector as one of the major players and the one that has the greatest opportunity to make a substantial change in terms of considering environmental concerns in relation to outputs and during the production process of its inputs.
As a result of this awareness, Turkey is determined to increase economic, social and environmental benefits by making buildings resistant to every kind of risks and minimizing negative impacts of the construction sector on the environment through extending environmental friendly design and construction methods and the use of construction materials and technologies, which enable energy efficiency, waste minimization, recycling and savings especially in mass housing projects and encourage the usage of renewable energy resources. This a is highly achievable target because of Turkey’s richness in natural resources that enables an opportunity to use the potential of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal therefore ensuring at least one fourth of the building stock in 2010 are sustainable until 2023 is close at hand.
A++ has being called to intervene to study a new format of housing gathered in clusters to be executed on a land in Bodrum, the holiday city of the country.
The new development will house a number of highly efficient, low cost, nZEB buildings , utilizing the steel structures of a container but sized and finished so that the original form is perfectly disguised within the new architecture.
This choice aims to make intelligent use of a product that is widely available in the ports of Turkey. If we consider the port of Istanbul alone, there are millions of containers being shipped yearly and thousands left in junk yards as it become less expensive to buy a new container than ship it back to its location of origin.
Shipping containers are in many ways an ideal building material. They are designed to carry heavy loads and to be stacked in high columns. They are also designed to resist harsh environments, such as on ocean-going vessels or sprayed with road salt while transported on roads.
The idea behind the new sustainable homes is to build using containers but utilizing specially conceived strategies so that it is possible to take advantage of its modularity, transportability and strength without being constrained to its shape and size.
The newly designed villas will present themselves as conventional, high level design homes, while boasting the highest level of energy performance and comfort in a highly refined envelope with cost of construction that is comparable to those found in low standards conventional constructions.
The new design, or rather designs as more than one is being envisioned, will be characterized by one or two stories, where extended high performing glazed surfaces and large outdoor living areas will allow for an unobstructed view of the sea and the surrounding nature, and super insulated walls with a specially crafted stratigraphy designed around the climate of the region to provide the highest level of comfort in a high performance building.
The homes will range from 120 to 200 sq. meters and will house from three to four bedrooms in an carefully planned layout, designed by The Archistar Carlo Colombo, Partner of A++ and design director for interiors and product design for the firm, that takes into consideration the house orientation and the environment in which it has been inserted.
Special care is taken in the choice of the technological systems that the new homes will use to heat and cool the interiors as well as providing hot water for sanitary use. A specifically engineered unit, will be able to perform all tasks effortlessly along with providing mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and, with the addition of an electronic filter, purify the inner air from dust and bacteria as small as 1 micron.
Arrays of thin film photovoltaic panels are fitted on the roof of the homes providing for an energy balance of zero on an annual basis. The use of electronically controlled active systems will ensure a tailored control of energy load and optimize usage around the inhabitant’s comfort.
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