itions: the Case of Mashhad's Cold and Arid Climate

Since the beginning of time¡ man has been affected by climate. The first humans built shelters and lived in caves to protect themselves from the weather elements. With the help of new climate technology¡ many developing countries¡ including Iran¡ have made use of climate responsive architecture to keep humans comfortable.
Architecture and climate are two human-made and natural systems that closely affect each other¡ in such a way that examination of the impact of climactic elements and their feedbacks on architecture is unavoidable. In general¡ factors such as sunshine and the resulting temperature¡ humidity and the level of precipitation and different winds interfere in climactic issues and put an impact on humans’ living environments. These elements can cause architectural limitations as well.
In this paper¡ the climate of Mashhad has been analyzed by means of climate diagrams and methods. To do so¡ the statistics of the Meteorological Organization in a period of 30 years (from 1984 to 2014) have been studied. Based on the results¡ Mashhad’s climate is cold and arid. The paper draws on thermal comfort indices such as¡ Mahoney¡ Olgyay¡ etc. to study Mashhad’s climatic conditions and consequently investigates proper solutions to achieve a higher compatibility of the climate and architecture and sustainable development in Mashhad. The results will contribute to the design¡ the buildings’ type of placement¡ selection of the type of building materials and architectural elements in constructing new buildings in this city.