Underground Spaces: a Step Towards Sustainable Development in Khuzestan Province, Iran

Reducing the consumption of fossil fuels using underground spaces has a significant impact on the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. In this study, the soil layers temperature and thermal comfort in these layers were investigated to make the underground spaces in Khuzestan province. The average summer temperature in the central of Province is about 38°C, which is far from the comfort of the temperature. The surface annual temperature fluctuation in the Province varies from 23.5 in the north of the province to 28.5 °C in the southeast. Investigating the temperature fluctuation in the soil layers shows that it decreases with increasing depth, so that at a depth of 10 meters, the temperature fluctuation is approximately zero and it is equal to the annual average temperature. Therefore to 10 m depth, temperature fluctuation decreases by increasing the depth. The use of underground spaces in the Province can be taken in coping with heat and extreme sunlight, reducing energy and controlling dust and has positive effect on economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.