Evaluation of Climate Conditions of Rural Settlements in Mahabad County Based on the Form Characteristics of the Building

A B S T R A C T
Climate and climatic factors, especially weather conditions, play a highly important role in human life and the formation of vernacular and rural settlements. This study aims to provide a proper field for designers and citizens of this area to improve conditions of vernacular rural settlements so that they can identify the existing state of climate conditions and take holistic measures and strategies that bring climate comfort through this assessment. This is applied research in terms of objective and is descriptive-analytical in terms of method. This research has been done based on data collection through library methods and field studies. One village has been at least chosen from each rural district to ensure research accuracy due to the broadness of the study area. In sum, 9 villages selected from 5 rural districts existing in Mahabad County were examined. The results of the assessments included 70 indigenous samples that were evaluated using the form characteristics of the building. Those villages that provided some specifications, including historical background, active population in the village, and buildings with vernacular structures and materials, were chosen. In the last step, the most aspects shared among building form characteristics in the vernacular settlement of this area can be summarized as follows: due to the high frequency of form characteristics of plan, indoor and outdoor openings and materials used in the wall of buildings had the highest common point and coordination among the 5 rural districts existing in Mahabad County.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Climate and climatic factors, especially weather conditions, play a vital role in human life and the formation of vernacular and rural settlements. Since the early years of architecture, vernacular architecture has attempted to achieve coordination and harmony between nature and buildings based on local knowledge and experiences. Climate comfort is one of the most substantial issues in the human community. Climate changes significantly affect humans' life and sense of comfort, so climate elements control the climate comfort or discomfort of humans. Among natural factors, weather or climate is an effective factor that impacts the shape of rural housing. The architecture and texture of villages have been formed based on some elements, such as wind, sunlight, temperature, precipitation, and humidity. On the other hand, the mentioned climate elements are determined based on the location's altitude and height above sea level. The effect of these elements on the residential environments is one of the applied topics recently attracting significant attention to matching residential buildings and environments with surrounding climate conditions. Considering the general goals of climatic design in each climate zone and formulation of these goals would lead to adaptability to climate conditions, energy saving, and architectural nature in each climate. This study examined the climate conditions in villages of Mahabad County, which has been chosen as a case study due to its historical background, and its climate has not been examined sufficiently. On the other hand, some residential areas have been widely changed over recent years, and climate changes have led to climate discomfort for some occupants living in vernacular settlements. Hence, this study reviews several cases of vernacular houses in villages of Mahabad County to describe the substrate and initial infrastructure to help residents and architects take significant strategies in designing vernacular buildings to achieve climate comfort in vernacular houses located in villages of Mahabad County.
 
Methodology
This is applied research in terms of objective and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. The data is collected through the library method and field study based on the information and references available in the books, papers, and associated organizations, including Municipality Organization and Cooperative Company of Rural Districts in Mahabad County. The statistical society of study comprises vernacular houses in villages in Mahabad County. An area of villages with vernacular potential located in Mahabad County is selected based on the purposive sampling method. Then, the samples are analyzed based on sample adequacy until theoretical saturation is reached. In this research, 70 samples of native houses in the villages of Mahabad that were non-randomly available for review were selected. Due to the large and broad area of the studied zone and to ensure the accuracy of the study, one village was at least chosen from each rural district. In sum, 9 selected villages were examined among 5 rural districts in Mahabad County.
 
Results and discussion
Assessment results comprise 70 vernacular samples evaluated using the form characteristics of buildings in the micro and macro scales. The selected villages had a historical background, active population, buildings with vernacular structural potential, and indigenous materials.  The case studies were examined in terms of the form characteristics, including building location, in-between spaces, plan form, openings, and materials. According to the observations, most buildings were located towards an east-west orientation; the in-between space was dense and wide (superficial continuity from the wall with adjacent building), with plan form with one or two open fronts and connected texture with compact and multilayer complex, external openings with most openness in south-facing front and internal openings with openness in west-facing front. The occupancy rate is 10-20%, and heavy walls have high heat capacity with light and insulated flat roofs.
 
 
Conclusion
This study was conducted to find climate comfort in vernacular settlements in villages of Mahabad County based on the form indicators of building. This study evaluates and examines the vernacular design patterns in the villages of Mahabad County. The results of this study provide the field for designers and residents of this area to improve the current climate conditions and adopt holistic measures and strategies to achieve climate comfort. In the last step, the most aspects shared among building form characteristics in the vernacular settlement of this area can be summarized as follows:
- Due to the high frequency of form characteristics of plan, internal and external openings and materials used in the wall of buildings had the highest common point and coordination among the 5 rural districts existing in Mahabad County.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.