Res.Asst.Dr. Altay ARBAK, Asst.Prof.Dr. Buğrayhan BİÇKİCİ ARIKAN and Yusuf ŞAHİNKAYA, faculty members of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences of our university, started a research project to produce smart pergolas equipped with ecological sustainability features to be used in our campus areas. The project called “Smart Pergola Project” is supported by our University as a scientific research project. With the project, it was aimed to design a pergola that both harvests rain and generates electricity with solar panels and to use this design in the open spaces of the North Campus of our University.
The need for clean water resources and clean energy technologies is constantly increasing due to the global population growth, especially in the last few decades. In parallel, studies on the development of systems and products to solve this resource problem are also gaining importance. In the case of Turkey, it is seen that our country has been significantly affected by the recent global drought problem; the amount of clean water in our dams, rivers and lakes has decreased; and access to safe and clean water has become increasingly difficult in the face of increasing population. Therefore, both the establishment of a good water management mechanism and the development of practices that will ensure water use efficiency are of great importance. In terms of energy, energy consumption and electricity consumption are continuously increasing despite limited supply. This situation brings to the forefront the development of applications that will ensure energy efficiency and the development of technologies that use renewable and clean energy.
In this context, the smart pergola project developed by our academic staff aims to produce an ecological and self-sufficient system by integrating systems that both harvest rain and use renewable and clean energy using solar energy. With the Smart Pergola project, it was planned that the solar panels to be located on the pergola would illuminate the pergola’s surroundings and the students’ technological devices such as phones and computers would benefit from the clean energy technologies produced. The rainwater collected by the inverted umbrella system is intended to be used for the irrigation of green areas around the pergola and within the campus. With the tables inside the modern pergolas and the seating areas planned to be placed around them, it was aimed to expand the student areas on the campus.
The project is also of great importance in terms of Sustainable Campus goals and practices, which our University attaches great importance to. The project is also intended to draw attention to the issue of sustainability within the university and raise awareness.
The research and design phase for the project was carried out in 2022 and it is planned to be implemented in our campus areas in 2023.