Alkenaidari, A A (2019) Moving toward energy efficient buildings: A growing economic challenge for Saudi Arabia. PhD thesis, University of Cincinnati, USA.
Abstract
Saudi Arabia has gone through a major transformation in architecture and lifestyle. The drastic shift in the country’s economy during the 1970s exposed all Saudis to the western culture and lifestyle which in turns changed almost all the architectural features that once were locally suitable. This transformation has created a conflict which generates architectural designs that are not in harmony with the surrounding nature and consequently not energy efficient. The country has been giving significant attention to energy conservation due to extensive energy consumption in the building sector. Residential buildings, in particular, occupy two-thirds of the total consumption of electricity. The increasing level of energy consumption burdens the national economy; therefore, the government omitted the energy subsidies to protect the national economy. While this mitigated the economic challenges, it created another problem for homeowners. Energy bills have drastically increased because most of the existing buildings lack of proper thermal insulation. Due to the high energy consumption associated with building use in the country, a study in this regard is needed now more than ever. The current situation of Saudi Arabia requires retrofitting the existing buildings to achieve high energy efficiency standards. The goal of this research is to provide energy efficient design guide and economical retrofitting strategies that would help the public as well as designers in the process of decision-making. The aim is to help decision makers with the most energy efficient and cost-effective alternative available. Additionally, this research aims to revive the traditional architecture which enhance the local identity and ultimately improve the energy efficiency of buildings. So, this dissertation focuses on retrofitting the existing residential buildings to meet the highest possible energy performance they could reach without neglecting other aspects such as cost viability and cultural values. This dissertation provides a comprehensive approach that integrates energy use, cost, and culture values. Each of these three lenses have significant and distinct contribution that leads to a successful sustainable building design practices in Saudi Arabia. The proposed methodology in this research hopes to solve the growing economic challenges Saudi Arabia is facing today.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Saudi Arabia; building design; conservation; culture; energy conservation; energy consumption; energy efficiency; energy performance; energy use; government; residential; standards; sustainable building |
| Index terms: | strategy, homeowner, energy-efficient design, consumption, retrofitting, architectural design, methodology, decision-making, sustainable building, sustainable building design, lifestyle, transformation, designer, energy efficiency, residential building, subsidy, building design, traditional architecture, Saudi Arabia, energy-efficient building, dissertation, energy performance, energy use, conservation, energy conservation, energy consumption, thermal insulation, national economy, identity |
| Subjects: | environmental policy, architectural design, economic analysis, research dissemination and communication, construction type, consumer economics, demography, heritage and conservation, research methods, sustainable construction, sustainable design, Geography, sustainability and energy, energy systems, business, profession, sociology, decision analysis, design practice, management, renovation and retrofit |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Research Practice, Construction Materials, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Construction Technology, Design Practice, Urban Studies, Geographical Context, Engineering Principles, Risk Management, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here