A Comparative Evaluation of the Importance of Thermal Mass of Traditional Architecture in Hot and Dry Region in Turkey

This paper is a brief review of a more detailed field and theoretical survey to understand the role of climate in formation of the building envelope in hot and dry zone of Turkey. A detailed critical discussion of traditional patterns of architecture will be discussed in relation to the thermal comfort conditions in traditional houses in hot and dry regions. The potential for heat storage capacity of building envelope has been known and used in hot and dry regions for several thousand years. This study is based on evaluating the importance of thermal mass on different traditional architecture examples in hot and dry climate of Turkey. In hot and dry climatic zone in Turkey, in traditional architecture examples, to benefit the time lag of the building envelope, materials with greater thermal mass have been chosen. The high heat capacity of the opaque component provides a high time lag for the transmission of the outside temperature to the internal area. It is well known that, thermal mass of the envelope becomes more important issue than heat insulation, especially in the regions where the difference of day and night temperature is very high. Moreover, heat storage capacity of building envelope affects significantly heating energy demand of building especially when the heating system is working intermittently. In this study the importance of thermal mass of traditional architecture in hot and dry region in Turkey has been explained. Thermal behavior of different wall details was compared by measurements and calculations. The conclusion will guide to examine the traditional design opportunities in order to review and improve today's bioclimatic design strategies. Keywords: traditional architecture, climate responsive design, thermal performance, building envelope, design strategies in hot dry zone