Passive and Active Building Systems Capturing the Sun

Abstract

Current climate changes are increasing the temperature of the earth's surface and seas and altering precipitation patterns. This situation creates significant impacts such as rising sea levels, risk of erosion, desertification and possible increased strength of natural disasters of meteorological origin. One of the currently envisaged means to face the impacts of climate change is to reduce carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions, which are one of the most important causes of this change. Energy, which is necessary to meet the living needs of people, is used in many sectors from industry to transport. The construction sector has a significant share among these sectors in terms of energy consumption and most of this energy is met from depleting fossil fuels. As a response to ongoing climate change challenges and the goal of net zero CO2 emissions, the world is increasingly transitioning from fossil fuel-based energy sources to low-carbon societies through the application and utilisation of renewable energy sources. The use of fossil fuels is one of the main reasons for the increase in greenhouse gas emissions. For this reason, it is especially important to investigate the systems that will ensure that the energy required for the comfort needs of human beings is obtained not from fossil fuels but from renewable energy sources that are not likely to be depleted and to know the application methods. In this direction, in the future, the environmental impacts of the building sector should be reduced, human health should be protected and the principles for building practices should be changed in order to improve environmental equity and justice. Within the scope of this article, the methods of obtaining energy from solar energy, which is one of the most important and widely used renewable energy sources, with active and passive systems will be emphasised and inferences about these technologies will be made with examples from around the world. The study reveals to what extent solar energy can be utilised and underlines the opportunities that will move the formation of new building design criteria forward.