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Cyprus with its rich cultural heritage has been the showcase of ornamentation throughout history with a rich variety of materials, details, and narratives. Integrating ornamentation with its body architecture can be seen as one of the storytellers of these narratives through design elements. After the mid-1990s when casinos had been banned in Turkey, five-star casino hotels became one of the main investment areas in North Cyprus. Together with this new building type and new users' expectations with a new understanding of holidays, the 21st century brought the changing use of ornamentation in hotel interiors and, hence, decoration came to the fore more than before. Hotel lobbies welcoming the users to their second homes and introducing the hotels' identities have always been seen as the most important area of hotels by investors, designers, and hotel managers. Sometimes the reception areas were perceived as the living room of the hotel customers where they feel attached culturally, socially, or economically, and sometimes it could be a place where they can feel themselves as one of the characters of ancient history, a king or a queen for a while. Hence, hotel interiors, in general, and hotel lobbies, in particular, acted as a cultural representative, a social status symbol, and a political image of the story told. The aim of this paper is to examine five-star hotel lobbies within the framework of ornamentation through a reading model created with the concepts used by theoreticians. Together with the site visits and visual recordings, the analysis conducted in this paper is based on qualitative data incorporated by a rich theoretical background on ornamentation. The paper tries to highlight the representational value of ornamentation that can help to understand and interpret the spatial transformation of hotel interiors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buildings that have cultural and historical significance are very important elements of our living spaces and they must be protected by public authorities. However, the preservation of these buildings prevents their landowners from using their development rights and causes economic losses. If those losses are not compensated, it results in social injustice. Leaving this problem unsolved makes historic buildings a target for arson, facilitates the destruction of unregistered (unlisted) historic buildings for redevelopment with a higher density. The traditional methods, namely expropriation and property exchange, generally fail to compensate those development losses. However, the method of transfer of development rights (TDR) can be a good option for this task in Turkey as well. Although there have been some important legislative actions, an "implementing regulation" could not be enacted so far. In this study, we attempt to develop a step-by-step methodology for the implementation of a TDR program from the perspective of land management. The methodology introduced in this paper is also tested for its validity by interviewing 18 professionals from related sectors and all the interviewees agreed on them with minor suggestions. The results derived from this study could benefit not only property owners, but also overall preservation efforts in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product sustainability has moved beyond being an elective preference to becoming a certain necessity. However, earthquakes in different regions, particularly Türkiye–Syria, Afghanistan, and Morocco, have produced a substantial amount of construction waste and debris. In the context of green urban initiatives and environmental preservation, theeffective management and reduction of environmental impact (EI) are imperative. This urgency underscores the significance of the study's focus on a ten-story reinforced concrete (RC) dormitory building in Győr, Hungary, chosen as a case study. The research delves into the incorporation of three distinct concrete compositions through seismic design, aligning with the innovative approach of emphasizing recycled aggregate-based concrete to mitigate the EI. Utilizing AxisVM X7 and Revit software, the study meticulously created and analyzed a detailed building model, revealing a significant percentage (35%) and amount (1519.89 tons) of concrete waste that could be incorporated into construction. The results also showed a reduction in both total carbon emissions and the price of materials by falling 27.5% and 9.13%, respectively. We propose an eco-friendly way to effectively reuse debris from earthquakes, focusing on the case study of the 2023 Türkiye–Syria earthquake and encouraging resource efficiency while also addressing the construction waste problems that arise after an earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a disaster, ascertaining the operational state of extensive infrastructures and building clusters on a regional scale is critical for rapid decision-making and initial response. In this context, the use of remote sensing imagery has been acknowledged as a valuable adjunct to simulation model-based prediction methods. However, a key question arises: how to link these images to dependable assessment results, given their inherent limitations in incompleteness, suboptimal quality, and low resolution? This article comprehensively reviews the methods for post-disaster building damage recognition through remote sensing, with particular emphasis on a thorough discussion of the challenges encountered in building damage detection and the various approaches attempted based on the resultant findings. We delineate the process of the literature review, the research workflow, and the critical areas in the present study. The analysis result highlights the merits of image-based recognition methods, such as low cost, high efficiency, and extensive coverage. As a result, the evolution of building damage recognition methods using post-disaster remote sensing images is categorized into three critical stages: the visual inspection stage, the pure algorithm stage, and the data-driven algorithm stage. Crucial advances in algorithms pertinent to the present research topic are comprehensively reviewed, with details on their motivation, key innovation, and quantified effectiveness as assessed through test data. Finally, a case study is performed, involving seven state-of-the-art AI models, which are applied to sample sets of remote sensing images obtained from the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake in Japan and the 2023 Turkey earthquake. To facilitate a cohesive and thorough grasp of these algorithms in their implementation and practical application, we have deliberated on the analytical outcomes and accentuated the characteristics of each method through the practitioner's lens. Additionally, we propose recommendations for improvements to be considered in the advancement of advanced algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, the rise of urbanization, industrialization, population growth, food security, and the COVID-19 pandemic have led to an increased demand for indoor spaces with efficient air conditioning systems. As a result, there is a growing interest in creating more complex HVAC systems to improve indoor spaces. Building information modeling (BIM) offers numerous benefits to the HVAC industry, such as clash detection, budget and time reductions, and increased efficiency. However, its implementation is currently hindered by various challenges. This research aims to identify the major barriers to BIM implementation in the HVAC industry in Turkey, using a questionnaire survey of 224 domain experts working in 42 different companies across various fields of the HVAC industry. The study utilized several statistical analyses to categorize and prioritize the most critical barriers, including reliability tests, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) test, Bartlett's test, and ranking of factors (IRI). The results indicate that the "Deficiencies of Infrastructure and Lack of Qualified Personnel (DIP)" factor group constituted the most significant barrier, followed by "Lack of Documentation and Specifications (LDS)", "Deficiencies of Case Studies and Project Drawings (DCP)", and "Lack of Motivation and Resistance to BIM (LMR)". Moreover, our research revealed that 60% of the participants' companies allocate less than 40% of their budgets to technological infrastructure, which hinders the adoption of BIM. To promote BIM in the HVAC sector, we recommend enhancing personnel capacity building, improving skills and knowledge about BIM, promoting guidelines, and providing free access to documentation for practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the evolving landscape of the building sector, the digital sphere is reshaping consumer engagement and purchase behaviors, especially in the sustainability-focused niche of fitness facilities. Utilizing the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and elaboration likelihood model (ELM), this study examines the impact of social media influence (SMI) on purchasing intentions for sustainable fitness services (PISFS) through the mediating role of green building consumption perceptions (GBCPs) and the moderating effect of environmental awareness (EA). To examine the proposed relationships and achieve the objectives of the study, 672 valid responses were collected from professionals and customers in fitness services in Turkey and analyzed using Smart PLS 4. The results of the data analysis revealed that SMI positively impacts PISFS, SMI positively impacts GBCP, GBCP positively impacts PISFS, GBCP plays an effective mediation role between SMI and PISFS, the influence of social media on purchasing intentions for sustainable fitness services is further enhanced at high levels of environmental awareness, and the impact of social media on green building consumption perceptions is further strengthened at higher levels of environmental awareness. This study's insights call for the building sector, particularly in sustainable fitness facilities, to actively integrate social media strategies and environmental awareness into their marketing and design. Emphasizing green building attributes on digital platforms can significantly influence consumer choices, steering the industry toward a more environmentally conscious and digitally engaged future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the identification of collapsed buildings in satellite images after earthquakes through deep learning-based image segmentation models. The performance of four different architectures, namely U-Net, LinkNet, FPN, and PSPNet, was evaluated using various performance metrics, such as accuracy, precision, recall, F1 score, specificity, AUC, and IoU. The study used satellite images taken from the area located in the south and southeast of Türkiye covering the eleven provinces which are most affected by the Mw 7.7 Pazarcık (Kahramanmaraş) and Mw 7.6 Elbistan (Kahramanmaraş) earthquakes. The results indicated that FPN and U-Net were the best-performing models depending on the performance metric of interest. FPN achieved the highest accuracy and specificity scores, as well as the best precision score, while U-Net achieved the best recall and F1 score values, as well as the best AUC and IoU scores. The training and validation accuracy and loss curves were analyzed, and the results indicated that all four models achieved an accuracy value of over 96%. The FPN model outperformed the others in terms of accurately segmenting images while maintaining a low loss value. This study provides insights into the potential of deep learning-based image segmentation models in disaster management and can be useful for future research in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments face challenges in delivering essential public services due to their limited funds. This has led to an increasing reliance on the Public–Private Partnership (PPP) model, an alternative financing model involving a long-term collaboration between the private and public sectors to provide public services. Turkey, as a developing country facing financial limitations, has embraced the PPP model to address urgent public needs. Over the past decade, the Turkish Government has extensively utilized the PPP model, particularly in executing city hospital projects. However, investors have faced challenges in project execution due to various risk factors. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to explore the critical risk factors associated with PPP city hospital projects in Turkey. In this context, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify potential risks related to PPP city hospital projects. A questionnaire survey was implemented to assess the probability of occurrence and the severity of the impact of these risk factors. The collected data underwent analysis to determine the priority of these risk factors. The findings revealed that the top five most critical risk factors in PPP city hospital projects in Turkey are "foreign exchange rate fluctuations", "inflation rate volatility", "high finance costs", "fiscal issues", and "economic crises". Conversely, "unavailability of equipment" was identified as the least significant risk factor. The insights gained from this research can offer valuable guidance for prospective investors interested in participating in PPP city hospital projects in Turkey and other developing countries with similar conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthquake is among the most devastating natural disasters causing severe economical, environmental, and social destruction. Earthquake safety assessment and building hazard monitoring can highly contribute to urban sustainability through identification and insight into optimum materials and structures. While the vulnerability of structures mainly depends on the structural resistance, the safety assessment of buildings can be highly challenging. In this paper, we consider the Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) method, which is a qualitative procedure for estimating structural scores for buildings suitable for medium- to high-seismic cases. This paper presents an overview of the common RVS methods, i.e., FEMA P-154, IITK-GGSDMA, and EMPI. To examine the accuracy and validation, a practical comparison is performed between their assessment and observed damage of reinforced concrete buildings from a street survey in the Bingöl region, Turkey, after the 1 May 2003 earthquake. The results demonstrate that the application of RVS methods for preliminary damage estimation is a vital tool. Furthermore, the comparative analysis showed that FEMA P-154 creates an assessment that overestimates damage states and is not economically viable, while EMPI and IITK-GGSDMA provide more accurate and practical estimation, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their promising potential, the level of implementation of smart contracts is not at the desired level. To expedite the acceptance and deployment of smart contracts, the barriers to the implementation of smart contracts should be revealed. Past studies, however, do not provide a comprehensive theoretical basis due to several methodological drawbacks. Thus, this study aims to identify and assess the barriers to the implementation of smart contracts by considering the inherent characteristics of the construction industry. An in-depth literature review was initially conducted to extract all barriers proposed in the literature. Then, focus group discussion (FGD) sessions were conducted with the participation of the construction practitioners. In the FGD session, the results of the literature review were validated, and nine additional barriers were proposed. Finally, a total of 20 barriers under five categories was proposed for the smart contract adoption in the construction industry. Then, a questionnaire survey was conducted with the participation of 15 construction practitioners. Lastly, fuzzy VIKOR analysis was performed to assess the criticality of the implementation barriers. This study indicates that the construction companies should overcome not only technical barriers but also managerial barriers. Changes in the processes arisen due to smart contract implementation prevent the construction from implementing a smart contract, since the employees show resistance to these changes. Furthermore, the companies believe that they can lose their bargaining power with smart contracts, and they do not want to lose their power. Bottlenecks are considered the most critical barrier from a technological perspective, and companies are concerned about the problems resulting from them. Although this study provides insights into the barriers to smart contracts in the construction industry, all the respondents are from Turkey. Therefore, some of the findings of this study can be specific to the Turkish construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The loss of life due to large-scale structural damage has again demonstrated the importance of taking precautions before an earthquake. In this context, determining the risk priorities for the existing building stock and making the final decisions about the buildings is one of the basic measures to be taken before an earthquake. Within the scope of this study, the regional risk priorities have been determined for twenty different masonry buildings in Bitlis (Türkiye), located in the Lake Van Basin, which has a high earthquake risk. The Turkish Rapid Assessment Method was used for masonry structures in this study which was updated in 2019 using the necessary data obtained for each structure on site. In addition, information about the architectural characteristics and current structural conditions of traditional Bitlis houses is given in this study. Current seismic parameters are also obtained for the location of each building. All data in the article were obtained from field research, and this is one of the first studies in which the rapid assessment method was used. In this method, buildings with low scores have a higher risk priority, and building performance scores were obtained between 25 and 85. With this and similar studies, regional risk priorities can be determined, and the number of buildings subjected to detailed assessment can be reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many options and factors in the production phase of housing. In the marketing phase, houses are presented to the customer's taste. Therefore, it is clear that a customer-oriented approach is necessary to establish a supply–demand balance in housing production on the basis of quality. This study aimed to determine customers' housing demands in the construction sector. Within the scope of the study, 303 surveys were conducted in 30 different provinces of Turkey. The data obtained were analyzed by WEKA software with association rule extraction as the data mining method. The distribution of other attributes was determined according to two different class labels, namely the ownership status of the houses (tenant or homeowner) and customers' expectations of the houses. As a result of the study, it is clear that people living in Turkey prefer a south-facing facade when purchasing a house. In addition, it is seen that the property owners demand 4 + 1 independent units. It is remarkable that individuals who are tenants want the living room to be spacious. The results of the study also revealed that female individuals have higher expectations of housing than male individuals. At the same time, it is understood that people's expectations of housing differ according to the variables of age, education level, and the number of family members. The majority of the results in this study had a confidence value of 90% and above. This study was intended to serve as a guide for housing developers in Turkey to better understand and meet the demands of buildings' residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the optimum insulation thickness value using MATLAB Optimization Toolbox based on a mathematical model for sandwich walls that are formed with different insulation-building materials by different fuel types for a particular city located in the second climatic region of Turkey. In the second stage of study, using the BIM-based Revit simulation program, a building was designed with the same building-insulation materials under the same climate conditions. The six different wall performances were compared for the designed building. The study proposes a comprehensive approach by combining technical and economic factors in the sustainable design of buildings. The computational results indicate that using different energy alternatives has a significant impact on the air quality in residential areas. The lowest value is reached when natural gas is used. The energy cost savings change from 7.56 to 14.12 TRY/m2 for external walls. While payback periods vary between 2.15 and 3.76 years for external walls, the lowest period for all wall types is obtained for electricity, which has a high cost. The optimum insulation thickness for 10 years of lifetime varies between 0.02 and 0.16 m. This study reflects that the highest optimal insulating thickness is reached when electricity is utilized as the energy source for all wall types. According to the Revit analysis, the lowest energy consumption of 21,677 kWh during one year using natural gas was obtained for a building material of porous light brick and an insulation material of glass wool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many models have been developed to predict the energy consumption of various building types, including residential, office, institutional, educational, and commercial buildings. However, to date, no models have been designed specifically to predict poultry buildings' energy consumption. To address this information gap, this study integrated data-driven techniques, including artificial neural networks (ANN), support vector regressions (SVR), and random forest (RF), into a physical model to predict the energy consumption of poultry buildings in different climatic zones in Turkey. The following statistical indices were employed to evaluate the model's effectiveness: Root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and coefficient of determination (R2). The calculated and predicted values of the heating and cooling loads were also compared using visualization techniques. The results indicated that the RF model was the most accurate during the testing period according to the RMSE (0.695 and 6.514 kWh), MAPE (3.328 and 2.624%), and R2 (0.990 and 0.996) indices for heating and cooling loads, respectively. Overall, this model offers a simple decision-support tool to estimate the energy requirements of different buildings and weather conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many professionals from several disciplines need to cooperate in designing and constructing tall buildings since their design and construction require more complex systems and technologies in terms of structure, installation, facade, vertical circulation and fire systems compared to low-rise buildings. The architects who design tall buildings have to know the architectural and structural design considerations of tall buildings and their interrelations well. This study is expected to reveal the status of tall buildings completed in Turkey and help designers understand architectural forms, floor plans, core planning and structural systems of tall buildings. For this purpose, the factors affecting architectural and structural design were examined, and the relation between the architectural–structural system was revealed for tall buildings completed in Turkey. In order to study architectural and structural considerations, 230 constructed tall buildings in Turkey were selected and analyzed in detail. According to the results of the study, it is seen that the prismatic form is widely used as the building tower form in Turkey, the shear-frame system as the structural system, the residential function as the building function, the single symmetrical central core as the building core, and the rectangular plan as the building floor plan alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The successful completion of reinforced concrete (RC) building construction projects depends, in part, on selecting the appropriate formwork system (FWS) since it may significantly affect the project's cost, time, and quality performance factors. The selection of the FWS depends on a number of compromising and conflicting criteria, while several FWS alternatives may be available. Therefore, the FWS selection has mostly been treated as a multi-criteria-decision-making (MCDM) problem. Although various MCDM methods have been employed to address the FWS selection problem, none have considered the subjectivity and uncertainty arising from a group decision-making process. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap by proposing an integrated approach using recently developed MCDM methods with rough numbers. In the integrated approach, first, a decision-making team is formed to develop the decision hierarchy. Then, the rough analytic hierarchy process (R-AHP) is used to determine rough criteria weights, followed by the rough evaluation based on the distance from average solution (R-EDAS) method to rank the FWS alternatives. Finally, the results are compared using different rough MCDM methods to ensure the stability of the proposed approach. The proposed approach is applied to a real-life building construction project in Turkey to select the most appropriate FWS. The integrated approach was found to be effective, and it was recommended to be used for future FWS selection problems. The proposed integrated approach in this study may be used as a decision support tool for construction professionals and experts to select the FWS in building construction projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bitlis has hosted many civilizations and is located in Turkey's significant strategic transit corridor. Many historical structures belong to different cultures in the city. The structural analysis of five minarets mentioned in folk songs and the brand value of Bitlis city in terms of historical buildings is the subject of this study. These minarets are precious because they witness important events in Bitlis city. Non-destructive test methods determined the material properties of the Bitlis stone used in constructing minarets. Within the scope of the study, detailed information about each minaret was given, and on-site measurements determined its dimensions and current structural conditions. For each minaret, its seismic behavior has been selected by using the vertical and horizontal design spectrum in the recent earthquake code of Turkey. Historical masonry minarets were modeled using the finite element method. In addition to stress distribution in the minarets under different loading conditions, period and displacement results are also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective post-event emergency management contributes substantially to communities' earthquake resilience, and one of the most crucial actions following an earthquake is building damage assessment. On-site inspections are dangerous, expensive, and time-consuming. Remote sensing techniques have shown great potential in localizing the most damaged regions and thus guiding aid and rescue operations in recent earthquakes. Furthermore, to prevent post-earthquake casualties, heavily damaged, unsafe buildings must be identified immediately since in most earthquakes, strong aftershocks can cause such buildings to collapse. The potential of the response spectrum concept for being associated with satellite-based remote sensing data for post-earthquake structural damage estimation was investigated in this study. In this respect, a response spectra-based post-earthquake structural damage estimation method aided by satellite-based remote sensing data was proposed to classify the buildings after an earthquake by prioritizing them based on their expected damage levels, in order to speed up the damage assessment process of critical buildings that can cause casualties in a possible strong aftershock. A case study application was implemented in the Bayrakli region in Izmir, Turkey, the most affected area by the Samos earthquake, on 30 October 2020. The damage estimations made in this research were compared with the in situ damage assessment reports prepared by the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Environment and Urbanization experts. According to the accuracy assessment results, the sensitivity of the method is high (91%), and the necessary time spent by the in situ damage assessment teams to detect the critical buildings would have been significantly reduced for the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]