Thesis Defense - Emine Şen (MSARCH)

Emine ŞEN - M.Sc. Architecture

Asst. Prof. Touraj ASHRAFIAN – Advisor

Date: 14.06.2021

Time: 13:30

Location: This meeting will be held ONLINE. Please send an e-mail to gizem.bakir@ozyegin.edu.tr in order to participate in this defense.

IMPACT OF INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ON OCCUPANT’S COMFORT & ENERGY USE IN A NEARLY ZERO ENERGY OFFICE BUILDING

Thesis Committee:

Asst. Prof. Dr. Touraj Ashrafian, Özyeğin University

Asst. Prof. Dr. Neşe Ganiç Sağlam, Özyeğin University

Asst. Prof. Merve Atmaca, Beykent University

Abstract:
Due to the transitions of technological systems and scientific data related to the building sector and environment under the developing world conditions, the challenges of air pollution and increased energy use have become the main concerns to be urgently and globally acted upon. By its extensive role in occupant’s health and energy use, the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) considerations in building design have become a priority with its various parameters to be examined in a holistic approach.IEQ is highly related to various chemical and physical factors including subsistence gases, ventilation rates, indoor air temperatures. The increment in time spent indoors with all kinds of work and entertainment activities culminates as more prolonged contact and contingence with the pollutants, pathogens subsistence in the air, also the continuous interactions with indoor air temperatures. While the poor conditions of IEQ are known to have acute and chronic effects on the occupant's health resulting in adverse outcomes such as Sick Building Syndrome (SBS), this emphasizes the importance of significant determinants of IEQ more profoundly as the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort, corresponding to the further issues of occupant behavior, building systems, and energy efficiency.The thesis aims to investigate the methods to improve IEQ levels in a nearly zero-energy office building, with enhanced fresh air intake and indoor temperatures to ensure healthy and livable conditions by examining the effects of different ventilation strategies, HVAC systems, and operations schedules on building energy efficiency and occupant comfort. An office building is used for the analysis and modeled to collect data by building simulation using DesignBuilder software to comply with these objectives. The thesis methodology is followed by the collected software data obtained from building modeling variations generated by different climatic conditions and HVAC systems. The comparisons on the variations are made to analyze the levels of indoor air quality parameters such as fresh air ventilation rate and indoor air temperatures, as well as the energy use of the building.

Bio:
Emine Şen was born in İstanbul, Turkey. She received her bachelor’s degree in Architecture with a full scholarship from Ozyegin University as a high-honor student in June 2019. In September 2019, she started her master’s degree in Architecture with a full scholarship at Ozyegin University. Meanwhile, she continued her undergraduate studies in Architecture at the University of Pécs for one semester, and she has graduated from the Business Administration program at Anadolu University in 2020. In her professional experience, she has been a teaching assistant in various undergraduate and graduate courses of Environmental Control and Design, Building Systems, Energy Efficiency In Urban And Building Scale since September 2020. Alongside her master's studies, she participated as a research student in continuing international and national participatory research projects of the Building Materials and Physics Laboratory at Ozyegin University. She has several internships and work experience in architectural and construction firms including Ronesans Holding, ÇEÇEN Engineering, and projects related to Gold LEED certification approval, TUBITAK competition, integrated and mixed-functional design. Her research interests cover the subjects of indoor environmental quality, integrated design tools, energy efficiency in buildings and urban design, nearly/net-zero energy buildings, and occupant comfort