Browsing by Author "Gokcen Akkurt, Gulden"

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Citation - WoS: 36
Citation - Scopus: 42
Development of a Personalized Thermal Comfort Driven Controller for Hvac Systems
(Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd, 2021) Turhan, Cihan; Simani, Silvio; Akkurt, Gulden Gokcen; Gokcen Akkurt, Gulden
Increasing thermal comfort and reducing energy consumption are two main objectives of advanced HVAC control systems. In this study, a thermal comfort driven control (PTC-DC) algorithm was developed to improve HVAC control systems with no need of retrofitting HVAC system components. A case building located in Izmir Institute of Technology Campus-Izmir-Turkey was selected to test the developed system. First, wireless sensors were installed to the building and a mobile application was developed to monitor/ collect temperature, relative humidity and thermal comfort data of an occupant. Then, the PTC-DC algorithm was developed to meet the highest occupant thermal comfort as well as saving energy. The prototypes of the controller were tested on the case building from July 3rd, 2017 to November 1st, 2018 and compared with a conventional PID controller. The results showed that the developed control algorithm and conventional controller satisfy neutral thermal comfort for 92 % and 6 % of total measurement days, respectively. From energy consumption point of view, the PTC-DC decreased energy consumption by 13.2 % compared to the conventional controller. Consequently, the PTC-DC differs from other works in the literature that the prototype of PTC-DC can be easily deployed in real environments. Moreover, the PTC-DC is low-cost and user-friendly. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Citation - WoS: 24
Citation - Scopus: 27
The Influence of Meteorological Parameters on Pm₁₀: a Statistical Analysis of an Urban and Rural Environment in Izmir/Turkiye
(Mdpi, 2023) Birim, Necmiye Gulin; Turhan, Cihan; Atalay, Ali Serdar; Gokcen Akkurt, Gulden
Air pollution is a substantial menace, especially in industrialized urban zones, which affects the balance of the environment, life of vital organisms and human health. Besides the main causes of air pollution such as dense urbanization, poor quality fuels and vehicle emissions, physical environment characteristics play an important role on air quality. Therefore, it is vital to understand the relationship between the characteristics of the natural environment and air quality. This study examines the correlations between the PM10 pollutant data and meteorological parameters such as temperature (T-air), relative humidity (RH), and wind speed (WS) and direction (WD) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 project. Two different zones (Vilayetler Evi as an urban zone and Sasali Natural Life Park as a rural zone) of Izmir Province in Turkiye are used as a case study and the PM10 data is evaluated between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2021. A one-tailed t-test is used in order to statistically determine the relationships between the PM10 pollutant data and meteorological parameters. As a further study, practical significance of the parameters is investigated via the effect size method and the results show that the RH is found to be the most influencing parameter on the PM10 for both zones, while T-air is found to be statistically non-significant.
Citation - WoS: 16
Citation - Scopus: 20
An Integrated Decision-Making Framework for Mitigating the Impact of Urban Heat Islands on Energy Consumption and Thermal Comfort of Residential Buildings
(Mdpi, 2023) Turhan, Cihan; Atalay, Ali Serdar; Akkurt, Gulden Gokcen; Gokcen Akkurt, Gulden
Urban heat island (UHI) is a zone that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural zones as a result of human activities and rapid and dense urbanization. Excessive air temperature due to the UHI phenomenon affects the energy performance of buildings and human health and contributes to global warming. Knowing that most of the building energy is consumed by residential buildings, therefore, developing a framework to mitigate the impact of the UHI on residential building energy performance is vital. This study develops an integrated framework that combines hybrid micro-climate and building energy performance simulations and multi-criteria decision-making techniques. As a case study, an urban area is analyzed under the Urban GreenUP project funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Programme. Four different strategies to mitigate the UHI effect, including the current situation, changing the low-albedo materials with high-albedo ones, nature-based solutions, and changing building facade materials, are investigated with a micro-climatic simulation tool. Then, the output of the strategies, which is potential air temperature, is used in a dynamic building energy simulation software to obtain energy consumption and thermal comfort data of the residential buildings in the case area. Finally, a multi-criteria decision-making model, using real-life criteria, such as total energy consumption, thermal comfort, capital cost, lifetime and installation flexibility, is used to make a decision for decreasing the UHI effect on residential energy performance of buildings. The results showed that applying NBSs, such as green roofs and changing existing trees with high leaf area density ones, have the highest ranking among all mitigation strategies. The output of this study may help urban planners, architects, and engineers in the decision-making processes during the design phase of urban planning.
Citation - WoS: 5
Citation - Scopus: 4
Reconstructing Energy-Efficient Buildings After a Major Earthquake in Hatay, Türkiye
(Mdpi, 2024) Saleh, Yousif Abed Saleh; Akkurt, Gulden Gokcen; Turhan, Cihan; Gokcen Akkurt, Gulden
T & uuml;rkiye's earthquake zone, primarily located along the North Anatolian Fault, is one of the world's most seismically active regions, frequently experiencing devastating earthquakes, such as the one in Hatay in 2023. Therefore, reconstructing energy-efficient buildings after major earthquakes enhances disaster resilience and promotes energy efficiency through retrofitting, renovation, or demolition and reconstruction. To this end, this study proposes implementing energy-efficient design solutions in dwelling units to minimize energy consumption in new buildings in Hatay, Southern Turkiye, an area affected by the 2023 earthquake. This research focused on a five-story residential building in the district of Kurtlusar & imath;maz & imath;, incorporating small-scale Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) with thin-film photovoltaic (PV) panels, along with the application of a green wall surrounding the building. ANSYS Fluent v.R2 Software was used for a numerical investigation of the small-scale IceWind turbine, and DesignBuilder Software v.6.1.0.006 was employed to simulate the baseline model and three energy-efficient design strategies. The results demonstrated that small-scale VAWTs, PV panels, and the application of a green wall reduced overall energy use by 8.5%, 18%, and 4.1%, respectively. When all strategies were combined, total energy consumption was reduced by up to 28.5%. The results of this study could guide designers in constructing innovative energy-efficient buildings following extensive demolition such as during the 2023 earthquake in Hatay, T & uuml;rkiye.
Citation - WoS: 15
Citation - Scopus: 11
The Relation Between Thermal Comfort and Human-Body Exergy Consumption in a Temperate Climate Zone
(Elsevier Science Sa, 2019) Turhan, Cihan; Akkurt, Gulden Gokcen; Gokcen Akkurt, Gulden
Human body exergy balance calculation method gives minimum human body exergy consumption rates at thermal neutrality (TSV = 0) providing more information on human thermal responses than other methods. The literature is lacking the verification of this method in various climatic zones. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between thermal comfort and human body exergy consumption in a temperate climate zone. A small office building in Izmir Institute of Technology campus, Izmir/Turkey, was chosen as a case building and equipped with measurement devices. The occupant was subjected to a survey via a mobile application to obtain his Thermal Sensation Votes. Objective data were collected via sensors and used for predicting occupant thermal comfort and for exergy balance calculations. Under given conditions, the results show that Thermal Sensation Votes are generally zero at a T-i range of 21-23 degrees C and, are mostly lower than Predicted Mean Votes in summer while the opposite is observed in winter. Predicted Mean Votes at minimum Human Body Exergy Consumption rates were on slightly warm side while Thermal Sensation Votes are zero. It means that for given case, the HBexC rate calculation gave a better prediction of the environmental parameters for the best thermal comfort. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.