Lessons From Yazd

Abstract

In current times sustainability is a major priority in the building industry which contributes largely to country’s total energy consumption. Additionally, educational buildings make up a large part of building stocks around the world and these buildings are responsible for large part of energy consumption especially by heating, cooling, and ventilating these building. To reduce energy usage, we must look for preservation and sustainable new designs, especially for solutions relying on renewable and natural sources and passive systems. Besides, thermal comfort in educational buildings is important since it significantly impact student’s physical, mental health and productivity. Therefore, this research aims to investigate whether we can learn from the passive climate responsive architectural elements invented millennia ago, which form the traditional courtyard house typology of Yazd, for sustainable solutions regarding thermal comfort in educational buildings.
This thesis starts with introducing the features by examining the different elements that play an important role in providing comfortable indoor climates of the residents. To find out the usability of these architectural typology and its features and whether we can learn from it for current times, a case study analysis was conducted which investigated the adaptive reuse project of the faculty of Arts and Architecture in Yazd.
The results showed that it is evident this architecture and its knowledge has been of great importance for livability and will persist to be of great usefulness in times we seek for passive indoor climate solutions because climate will become more similarly to Yazd. To realize thermal comfort in educational indoor spaces innovative, adaptive, climate responsive, socio-cultural context and local material inspired solution should be implemented.