Achieving energy-saving solutions by studying stepped villages of East Azarbaijan, Iran.

• One of the most important issues in sustainable development is energy saving. Static methods of heating and cooling buildings are one of methods of saving fossil fuels. In discussing sustainable development and therefore sustainable architecture, the obvious fact is that every building must interact with its surrounding natural environment. The controversial and significant aspect of this fact is manner of interacting and type of considered measures. In this study, stepped villages of East Azarbaijan, Iran were studied and Passive solutions in heating and cooling buildings were analyzed. Finally, data obtained in the two tables, which show the passive cooling and heating procedure in regional villages are presented. In this article, a survey – analytical methodology is used. Finally, the overall result was that renewable energies such as solar and wind were used as methods of creating thermal comfort in villages of the studied area and minimal use of nonrenewable energies has been made. Moreover, the south orientation of villages plays an important role in benefiting from the sunlight. Also, villages are located on a sloped ground, as a result of which parts of buildings are dug into the ground and the thermal mass of the earth is utilized as a source of comfort for residents. At last, the method obtained from the vernacular architecture can be used as a model in today modern architecture that maximizes the use of fossil fuels.