Cultural heritage buildings have values that provide a connection from past to present. The first stage of ensuring that these values are preserved and transferred to future generations is the documentation and diagnosis studies. The digital acquisition of the documentation data of historical buildings by digitizing, the creation of 2D drawings and 3D models with numerical data, provides an accurate analysis of the current situation of cultural heritage buildings and allows the evaluation of damage status of the building in the process after the documentation works. Although current studies in the literature mostly focus on the use of a certain method, device or software, it has been determined that there is no study that examines digital documentation methods in detail and systematically addresses the current technologies, programs and tools used in this process. Based on this gap in the literature, in this study, firstly, the documentation of cultural heritage and its importance are mentioned, the components of documentation are explained, and the methods, tools, applications and software programs that could be used in the documentation, recording and data processing of cultural heritage structures were systematically brought together. By comparing the data obtained as a result of this research study, in which the qualitative research method was used, with the documentation methods, it points out that digital documentation of cultural heritage structures allows for a more precise assessment by increasing the accuracy of data collection and analysis studies. The study also highlights the importance of the use of digital technologies, which makes it easier to store, share and manage the data at hand.

In this study, a thermal analysis of the building envelope of Atatürk University Faculty of Architecture and Design, located in Erzurum in the cold climate zone, was conducted. It is aimed to analyze the thermal efficiency of the educational building on the façade. Firstly, situation analyses were conducted using infrared thermography in the interior spaces and on the exterior. Secondly, a thermal analysis simulation was performed on façade designs used in the faculty. The configurations of indoor and outdoor spaces were obtained with the instantaneous field of view (IFOV) calculator using the Testo 872 thermal camera. Convection thermal loads were applied with the SolidWorks 2022 to simulate the designs. According to the analysis, optimum values were shown in classroom D-306 on glass surfaces, studio D-202 on external walls, studio E-301 on interior walls, studio E-201 on floors, and classroom E-301 on ceilings. According to the surface temperatures on façade sections, the D-202 studio has a 4.1% advantage over the closest performing D-305 and a 33.4% advantage over the farthest performing D-101. According to the simulation results, the glass surfaces used in the autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) wall had a 39.6% advantage in terms of U-value compared to the glass surfaces in the curtain wall.

Considering the rapid depletion of natural resources because of increasing comfort conditions in living spaces and increasing expectations from buildings due to developing technology and climate change, today it has become inevitable to develop effective policies to meet the energy demand of buildings and to create renewable and sustainable systems. In this context, new generation building design in architecture requires regulations that reduce energy consumption, protect natural resources while considering climatic conditions and carbon emissions. In this study, buildings with net-positive energy were evaluated with the comparative analysis method and inferences were made for new generation building designs. In the first step, the properties of buildings with net-positive energy are discussed. Then, it is aimed to evaluate the buildings in which the design principles determined for a positive energy building are applied according to these features. In this context, ten buildings, which can produce more energy than the energy they consume and whose designs were made by considering the energy criteria developed according to different climatic regions, were examined. It is aimed the outcomes of this study to raise awareness against building design concepts with net-positive energy and contribute to raise the number of buildings designed with energy concepts.

Considering today's technological developments, it can be said that academic interest in intelligent systems that provide data about human living spaces has increased significantly. In the energy sector, the growing availability of data from smart evaluation systems and advanced devices, combined with progress in energy modeling software, has notably enhanced the effectiveness of energy modeling and efficiency improvement efforts. Calibration of Building Energy Simulation (BES) models is crucial for ensuring the accuracy required for implementing and evaluating energy efficiency strategies. Organizations such as ASHRAE 14-2014, IPMVP and FEMP are developing model validation methods in this context. This study addresses methodological challenges and reduces uncertainties encountered during the calibration processes of BES models. The primary objective of the research is to contribute to optimizing energy efficiency strategies. Integrating systematic calibration approaches and uncertainty assessment methods is anticipated to enable more accurate energy performance analyses. Methodologically, the study presents an approach to resolve errors in validation measurements within calibration processes. On the empirical side, the applicability of the systematic calibration methodology was successfully tested using forty days of hourly recorded indoor temperature data and indoor temperature data obtained from the EnergyPlus program via DesignBuilder; and validated with N(MBE) and CV(RMSE) uncertainty indices.As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the total final energy consumption (heating, DHW, electricity) of the building in question was 128.31 kWh/m², and approximately 72% of this was heating energy. Calibration results indicated that N(MBE) was 1.68% and CV(RMSE) was 13.86%, both within the thresholds set by ASHRAE 14, FEMP and IPMVP. This result shows that in terms of applicability, the calibrated model can be a practical tool that can be successfully used in energy efficient retrofit proposal development and implementation research.

In order to ensure the sustainability of cultural, historical and architectural heritage, preserving and restoring historical buildings and transferring them to future generations is one of the important issues of today. Restoration decisions regarding the repairs of historical buildings are of great importance in this context. Developing correct intervention decisions requires the thorough analysis of the structure, the determination of the structural and material properties meticulously, and the use the most appropriate materials for repairing it. However, only physical and chemical analyses are not sufficient to determine material properties of historical buildings; therefore, archaeometric analyses are needed to determine them more appropriately. In this study, it is aimed to determine the components and characteristics of the filling mortars of Oshki (Öşvank) Church, one of the most magnificent structures of the Eastern Anatolia region, in order to preserve the masonry structure and guide the restoration studies in the light of archaeometric analyses. The raw material properties of the samples taken from the filling mortars of the church were determined by the physical, chemical and petrographic analyses. As a result of the analyses, the aggregate-binding properties of Oshki Church filler mortars were determined. It was revealed that the aggregate content was determined as petrographic, lime was used as a binder and all samples contained pozzolan whereas no cement was used in any of the samples, and the samples did not contain marble rice/powder and organic additives like oil, protein etc. It has also been observed that the aggregate in the mortar content is compatible with the geological formations of near surrounding of the church. In this context, this study emphasizes the importance of archaeometric analysis in restoration of historical buildings. Moreover, differing from other studies in the literature, this study proposes mortar recipe to be used in the restoration of the church, which can pioneer to future studies in the field of architectural restoration.