Karsiyaka Municipality, which works to make the city more resistant to the climate crisis and its possible effects, is launching the ‘Green Building, Green Site’ application. With the said application, in addition to combating the climate crisis, various ecosystem-sensitive studies such as energy efficiency, water and waste management, reducing carbon emissions, emission-free transportation, increasing green areas, and transforming organic wastes into nature will be carried out.

INFORMATION MEETING WAS HELD

In order to introduce the project and convey the details to the building and site managers together with the citizens who want to participate, an information meeting titled ‘Green Building, How to Become a Green Site?’ was held at the Çarşı Cultural Center. Karşıyaka Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay also participated. Karşıyaka  Deputy Mayor Saadet Çağlın gave information about the application.

Çağlın stated that a working group consisting of experts in the field such as architects, engineers and city planners was established in the first place, and that as a result of the researches and studies, determinations were reached as a guide for the citizens. The summary of the data obtained was also turned into a brochure and distributed to the citizens at the information meeting. In this guide; There are applications that can be made in buildings and sites on energy efficiency, water and waste management, green infrastructure applications, transportation and waste management.

THE MUNICIPALITY WILL PROVIDE TECHNICAL CONSULTING SERVICE

Making a statement on the subject, Deputy Mayor Saadet Çağlın said: “In this guide, energy efficiency practices, use of renewable energy, protection of water resources, more effective and efficient use of depleted natural resources, protecting the ecosystem, transforming wastes at their source, and safe and green infrastructure. How can we create healthy, comfortable living spaces? For this purpose, we determined improvement suggestions under 11 titles and with the improvements made in voluntary applications, our buildings and sites will be green building and green site certificates. We will provide technical consultancy services with our expert teams to the building, site owners or tenants who will apply. In addition, we will ensure that they benefit from our municipal services for a limited time, free of charge or at a discount.”

Çağlın continued as follows: “Thanks to this guide, our municipality aims to guide the way in the establishment of healthy and safe living spaces for existing and newly built structures during the urban transformation process. As of 2022, we have 25 thousand 156 licensed buildings, nearly 120 site constructions, and 7 thousand 492 commercial enterprises within the borders of our district. 4,310 of the licensed buildings have been licensed after 2008 and do not have an energy identity document. We hope that our guide will be useful in the economic and environmental revisions of buildings, sites and businesses in our district or in the construction of new constructions.” After his speech, Çağlın made a presentation on the works that can be applied and the benefits it will provide.

“A DISASTER I HAVE NOT YET NOTIFIED OF ITS EFFECTS”

Emphasizing that the climate crisis and its effects and the problems it may cause are still not fully understood, Karşıyaka Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay said, “We are experiencing a real disaster right now. A disaster that people have not yet felt the effects of in all its details. There will be no water in various provinces of our country this summer because water resources have run out. Although we are one of the cities experiencing the mildest drought, there is a serious decrease in water resources in İzmir. Water affects agriculture, causing a decrease in agricultural production. Weather events also directly affect agriculture. Livestock is also declining. All this leads to various events. Our irrigation methods are wrong, we do not do agriculture in accordance with our natural conditions.

“CRISES ARE AT OUR DOORS”

Stating that the climate crisis will also lead to water, food, soil and energy crises, President Tugay said, “We are currently faced with 3 separate crises due to climate crisis, mainly due to the deterioration of the natural balance of the world due to the increase in the temperature of the world, faulty industrialization and faulty agricultural practices. . We can list these as water, food and energy crises; I added the land crisis to these. For the earth also dies; This is caused by faulty agricultural practices, urbanization and leaving the land to its own fate. Extreme heat, drought, erosion and human apathy are also causing the soil to die slowly. All these crises are at our doorstep, we do not have as long a term ahead of us as we thought. It is our responsibility to think about them and to think about them well and rightly; The whole society should be made aware,” he said.

“WE ALL HAVE RESPONSIBILITY”

Emphasizing that every individual has responsibilities to protect the world from the disasters it faces, Tugay used the following expressions: “After understanding these facts, we established the Climate Change Directorate and started to think and work on what we can do for this bad course. We have prepared an action plan, taken some measures, prepared reports and are following them. But after a certain point, we determined that the city, people and society also needed to participate. That’s why we decided to start the green site, green building work. In an environment where everyone helps each other, we will do our part with this practice and take measures against those crises. In order to understand what is right and what is wrong, we need to educate each other and listen to the experts on the subject. We can save money with very simple applications, as soon as we avoid unnecessary consumption, it is very likely that our energy expenditure will decrease up to 50 percent. Energy is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions, this way we can also reduce carbon emissions. Energy efficiency is the most important thing we should focus on and do first. As Karşıyaka Municipality, we carry out various studies in all of these areas, but since we know that it will not be possible only with the work of the municipality, we would like to talk to you, inform and encourage you about the contribution that our citizens can make to energy efficiency, the correct use of water, and food, both in production and consumption. We want to take this process together.” Chairman Tugay also emphasized that nature-based solutions should be applied.

At the end of the meeting, the questions of the participants were also answered. CHP Karşıyaka District President Rafet Yacan, members of the municipal council, building and site managers, headmen and citizens also attended the information meeting.

Source: (BYZHA) – Beyaz News Agency