C h a l l e n g e s F a c i n g t h e A p p l i c a t i o n o f Z e r o – E n e r g y H o m e s
413
CHALLENGES FACING THE APPLICATION OF ZERO-ENERGY
HOMES IN SAUDI ARABIA: CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND
USER PERSPECTIVE
Farajallah Alrashed
1
& Muhammad Asif
2
1
School of Engineering and Built Environment, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK,
2
School of Engineering and Built Environment, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK,
Abstract
The construction sector in Saudi Arabia is led by domestic buildings that impose
enormous energy and environmental challenges for the country. The domestic sector is
responsible for 52% of the total national electricity consumption. Statistics suggest that
the majority of the current construction projects are related to domestic buildings. In
addition, the number of domestic buildings is growing rapidly as statistics suggest that in
order to meet the needs of the rising population the country needs to build 2.32 million
new homes by 2020. In order to promote sustainable development it is vital to move
towards energy efficient and environmentally friendly buildings. The Zero-Energy Homes
(ZEHs) can be proposed in order to overcome the energy and environmental problems
within the residential sector.
The concept of ZEHs has not yet been taken up in Saudi Arabia due to some obstacles.
This article looks into the issues hindering the application of ZEHs in Saudi Arabia both
from the construction industry and general public (termed as users) perspectives. In this
respect various stakeholders including users, architects, engineers, project managers,
contractors, and investors have been surveyed to identify various barriers. The article
presents the key findings of the survey based upon the responses gathered from 453
user and 122 industrial representatives.
Keywords:
Zero-Energy Home, Energy-efficiency, Sustainable design features,
Renewable energy applications, Saudi Arabia.
Introduction
The world faces a string of serious energy and environmental challenges. The global
energy and environmental scenarios are closely interlinked – the problems with the
supply and use of energy are related to wider environmental issues including global
warming, air pollution, deforestation, ozone depletion and radioactive waste. Global
warming is considered to be associated with greenhouse gases (GHGs) that are
primarily released from the consumption of fossil fuels. Statistics suggest that over the
last three decades, energy demand and carbon dioxide (CO
₂
) emissions in the world
have grown by 89.5% and by 79%, respectively (Elkinton et al 2009). The issue of
climate change has been on the world agenda as a key to sustainable development
since the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987. Subsequently, it
was revealed as a part of the Agenda 21 at the United Nation Conference on
Environment and Development (Earth Summit) in Rio de Jenerio in 1992, and most
recently it was addressed in 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in
The building sector is a major source of energy consumption. Typically, buildings are
responsible for 40% of the total primary energy consumption in most countries. In the
