Investigation of the footprints of ecological criteria in a historical minority mansion in Kayseri Talas

Societies have reflected their cultures and lifestyles through the environment they have shaped. This is also true for minority groups in society. Environmental problems arise due to the use of all resources for cheap and fast production without considering the result of technological developments. Changes in nature, which form the basis of many disaster scenarios, also require urgent measures to be taken in many areas. Efforts should be made to minimize the damage to the environment. In this context, as in many other fields, the number of studies on ecology and sustainability in the field of architecture is increasing day by day. Ecological building designs are the most important reflection of this. In this direction, the development of certification systems and the promotion of ecological structures come to the fore. The research looks at the concepts of ecology and sustainability from a different perspective and traces the ecological architecture through a residential building belonging to minorities that can be qualified as a historical cultural heritage and located in the Yukarı Talas locality of Talas district of Kayseri. In order to produce sustainable designs in places where life is lived, it is considered important to consider the way in which human beings shape the environment in which they live in the historical process, also in minority architecture. Within the scope of the study, the mansion in Talas, Kayseri, which was built in the 19th century and passed from an Armenian family to a Turkish family in the process, was evaluated within the scope of today's ecological architecture criteria and it was found that a significant part of these criteria was met in this building. The mansion is discussed in terms of ecology, energy, economy, indoor environmental quality, health and welfare, innovation, management, land use, transportation, renewable technology, water, environmental pollution, CO2 emission, material and waste criteria. In the study; It has been determined that there are ecological approaches to the historical minority mansion. With reference to the findings, suggestions have been developed to produce ecological, nature-friendly and energy efficient structures for today and the future.