Preface

 To introduce and discuss future-oriented previsions, and to provide new expansions and horizons on sustainable buildings, International Sustainable Buildings Symposium (ISBS 2010) was first organized in May 2010 in Ankara, Turkey, as an output of a European Union Leonardo da Vinci Lifelong Learning Mobility Project (www.isbs.gazi.edu.tr). With the idea of making the symposium a regular organization, ISBS 2015 was organized in May 2015 in Ankara, Turkey (www.isbs2015.gazi.edu.tr) and ISBS 2017 in March 2017 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (www.isbs2017.gazi.edu.tr).

 The 4th International Sustainable Buildings Symposium (ISBS 2019) (www. isbs2019.gazi.edu.tr) was held on July 18–20, 2019 in the City of Dallas, Texas, USA, in cooperation with Texas Tech University, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Ankara University, and Gazi University and in collaboration with the American Institute of Architects Dallas Chapter (AIA Dallas), and the US Green Building Council North Texas Chapter (USGBC North Texas). The North Texas Sustainable Showcase (NTSS 2019), co-organized regularly by AIA Dallas and USGBC North Texas every year, hosted the ISBS 2019 special this year.

The participation of over 150 attendees from 20 different countries (Turkey, USA, UK, France, Japan, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Republic of Korea, Colombia, Nepal, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Cameroon, North Cyprus, Bangladesh, and Pakistan) was implemented in ISBS 2019 and NTSS 2019. The participant spectrum included, but was not limited to: academicians, presenters from profit and non-profit organizations, local and state authorities, consultants, and news agencies. In this context, the symposium brought together researchers, academic institutions, organizations, companies, municipalities, government bodies, non-governmental organizations, and other official and private institutional authorities operating in environmental technology and building sectors from the USA, Turkey, and the rest of the world. In addition, an exciting discussion and collaboration platform and forum in the fields of "sustainable building design," "sustainable building materials," "sustainable urban design," "sustainability in engineering sciences," and "environmental policies and practices," which are crosscutting and multidisciplinary issues that concern all humanity, were created.

 The symposium was held in parallel sessions for two full days. During the symposium, 111 presentations, including 68 face-to-face presentations, 40 video presentations, and 3 conference calls, were made with national and international participants. In one of the parallel sessions, a live broadcast connection was established with Turkey Tele1 TV. In another parallel session, the CEO of Global GreenTag Americas Daniel A. Huard held a workshop on a sustainability rating system "Well Building Standards." In addition, North Texas Sustainability Showcase (NTSS 2019) was held by AIA Dallas and the USGBC North Texas Chapter with keynote speakers and a mobile vehicle for the use of sustainable building materials.

 First time this year, the "ISBS 2019 Sustainability Award-Best Sustainable Practices Competition" was organized as part of the symposium program and is planned to

 be a tradition for all future ISBS symposiums. The jury consisted of sustainability experts from Texas Tech University, Texas A&M University-Commerce, American Institute of Architects-AIA Dallas Chapter, US Green Building Council-USGBC North Texas Chapter, Ankara University, and Gazi University. The first prize in 15 categories and three Special Jury Awards were presented.

 We hope that the ISBS 2019 event was worthwhile for the scientific world, and we extend our warm thanks to the contributing authors, keynote speakers, sponsors, supporters, the international and local organizing committees, the international scientific committee, and symposium secretariat for their participation and contributions.

*Symposium Chair Committee* 

**Arzuhan Burcu Gültekin**  Ankara University, Turkey

**Yılmaz Aruntaş**  Gazi University, Turkey

**Mukaddes Darwish**  Texas Tech University, USA

**Burçhan Aydın**  Texas A&M University-Commerce, USA
