Binalarda enerjinin önemli bir kısmı ısıtma ve soğutma için kullanılmaktadır. Avrupa direktifi (EPBD-Recast) bu enerji kullanımından kaynaklı olumsuz çevresel etkileri azaltmak amacıyla, daha yüksek ısı yalıtımı seviyelerini ve hafif binaları teşvik etmektedir. Hafif binaların en büyük dezavantajı ise düşük termal kütleleridir. Son yıllarda hafif binaların termal kütlelerini artırarak enerji tasarrufu sağlayan ve enerjiyi termal kütlede gizli ısı olarak depolayan faz değiştiren malzemeler (FDM), bir alternatif olarak büyük ilgi görmekte ve binaların enerji yüklerini azaltabileceği yönünde önemli görüşlere yer verilmektedir. Bu çalışmada amaç bina kabuğunda dış duvar konstrüksiyonlarında FDM kullanımı ile ne oranda enerji yüklerinde bir iyileştirme sağlanabileceğinin tespit edilmesidir. Bu bağlamda, bu çalışma iki aşamadan oluşturulmuştur. İlk aşamada literatür araştırması ile faz değiştiren malzemelerin binada kullanım yerleri, çeşitleri, birleştirme teknikleri ve kullanılan simülasyon programları başlıklarında veriler elde edilmiştir. İkinci aşamada literatür araştırmasında elde edilen veriler doğrultusunda FDM’nin referans duvar konstrüksiyonlarının iç yüzeyine hava boşluğu bırakılarak uygulanmasına karar verilmiştir. Bu amaçla 21 ve 23 0C’lik erime noktasına sahip BioPCM'ler, 24, 36, 48 ve 60 mm'lik kalınlıklarda kullanılarak 15, 25, 35 ve 45 mm'lik hava boşluklarına sahip duvar konstrüksiyonlarının iç yüzeyine uygulanmıştır. Oluşturulan duvar konstrüksiyonlarına ait senaryolar ılıman-nemli iklime sahip Trabzon ili iklim verileri kullanılarak Design Builder simülasyon programı ile varsayımsal olarak tasarlanmış tek katlı 150 m2 taban alanına sahip bir konutun dış duvar konstrüksiyonlarında kullanılmıştır. Senaryoların yıllık toplam ısıtma-soğutma enerji yükleri hesaplanmıştır. Çalışma sonucunda, FDM kullanımı ile geliştirilen havalandırmalı duvar konstrüksiyonlarının bina enerji yüklerinde %2 ile %6 arasında iyileştirme sağlayabileceği ve en önemlisi FDM’lerin her iklim koşulunda bina kabuğunda kullanıma uygun, düşük maliyetli ve sürdürülebilir bir malzeme olarak geliştirilmesinin büyük önem arz ettiği belirlenmiştir.

Selecting Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) credits in LEED-certified projects is essential for sustainable building management, often requiring specialised expertise and contextual sensitivity. However, existing studies provide limited analytical insight into why certain CDW credits succeed or fail across different project contexts, and no explainable AI–based framework has been proposed to support transparent credit decisioning. This gap underscores the need for a data-driven, interpretable approach to CDW credit evaluation. This study proposes an explainable artificial intelligence (XAI)-based model to support CDW credit selection and to identify the key factors influencing credit performance. A dataset of 407 LEED green building projects was analysed using twelve machine learning (ML) algorithms, with the top models identified through Bayesian optimisation. To handle class imbalance, the SMOTE was utilised. Results showed that MRc2 and MRc4 credits had high predictive performance, while MRc1.1 and MRc6 credits exhibited relatively lower success rates. Due to data limitations, MRc1.2 and MRc3 were excluded from analysis. The CatBoost model achieved the highest performance across MRc1.1, MRc2, MRc4, and MRc6, with F1 scores of 0.615, 0.944, 0.878, and 0.667, respectively. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis indicated that the Material Resources feature was the most influential predictor for all credits, contributing 20.6% to MRc1.1, 53.4% to MRc2, 36.5% to MRc4, and 22.6% to MRc6. In contrast, the impact of design firms on credit scores was negligible, suggesting that although CDW credits are determined in the design phase, these firms did not significantly influence the decision process. Higher certification levels improved the performance of MRc1.1 and MRc6, while their effect on MRc2 and MRc4 was limited. This study presents a transparent and interpretable XAI-based decision-support framework that reveals the key sustainability drivers of CDW credit performance and provides actionable guidance for LEED consultants, designers, and decision-makers.

In this study, it is aimed to determine the strategies that Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Architecture should follow within the scope of education, training, institutional structure, academic staff and physical - technical infrastructure main factors. In the study, strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of KTU / Faculty of Architecture were determined by SWOT analysis. The TOWS matrix was created using the data obtained by SWOT analysis. The eighteen-person sample group of Faculty Members of Architecture was determined in order to select the strategies determined through this matrix. This group was asked to answer a questionnaire that allows them to quantitatively compare the main factors of education, institutional structure, academic staff and physical - technical infrastructure, and the sub-factors that make up these factors, according to their degree of importance. The questionnaires answered by faculty members / staff were evaluated using the Fuzzy Set technique linked to the Analytical Hierarchy Process. As a result of the study, the planned development strategy of the education program is determined as the most suitable strategy according to the importance level of 0,297, increasing the national and international research and projects is the second priority, the expansion of the academic staff is the third, and the elimination of all the deficiencies in the physical environment is the fourth priority. Thanks to the strategies and significance levels determined at the end of the study, the steps to be taken for the future have been identified. Strategic planning has a crucial role to be able to walk with more confident steps to the future and to ensure that the institution improves according to its mission and vision. We realized a pilot study that demonstrates the importance of strategic planning. It is crucial that such strategic planning studies are carried out in all the architectural faculties in Turkey, and the differences among universities are identified and analysed. Thus, the differences among the institutions providing the same education can be determined to eliminate the deficiencies and the imbalances among the institutions can be removed.