Energy efficient housing in hot-arid regions : a case study in Yazd

Developing housing typologies able to meet standards of comfort and optimal efficient settlements, reducing fossil fuel consumption and therefore carbon emissions is one of the pressing challenges of contemporary architecture, especially when taking into account adverse settings and harsh weather conditions. In a world where the scarcity of energy resources and the rising on the use of synthetic materials, the determination to make use of abundant local resources, and the pressing needs of habitat for the rapidly growing population, has risen the need to engage in a more serious and conscious discussion of the vernacular architecture and its lessons on sustainable ways to produce settlements. The project's aim is to increase the human comfort by harvesting the renewable sources of energy such as wind and sun and decrease the construction and maintenance impacts on the environment simultaneously. New solutions for energy efficient architectural design developed based on the location and vernacular architecture of the traditional city of Yazd. To revive traditional elements and modify them with our era, Modern sustainable strategies and technologies have been combined with traditional architectural elements of Yazd.