ADOPTING PASSIVE HOUSE PRINCIPLES IN HOT DRY CLIMATES: A CASE STUDY OF MAKKAH CITY IN SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

Energy consumption per capita in Saudi Arabia is three times higher than the global average (SEEC, 2018). A significant contributor to this is the residential sector, which accounts for about 50% of the total annual national energy consumption (SEEC, 2018). In 2016, Saudi Arabia established a new socio-political plan entitled Vision 2030, which aims to diversify the economy as well as to mitigate energy usage, particularly in residential buildings. The Economic and the Environmental pressures with the 2030 reform of Saudi Arabia call for improved patterns of energy consumption (Ahmed et al., 2019). The aim of this research is to find sustainable solutions that will help reduce energy consumption in residential buildings in Saudi Arabia. The Passivhaus concept is considered, which will help to explore the possibility of achieving the objectives of the current situation and future climate change projections. The expected results include a reduction in the risks associated with high energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The city of Makkah al-Mukarramah (Makkah) is chosen as a case study as it is characterised by a very hot climate for most of the year. The strategy of the Passivhaus concept is applied to a two-storey residential villa for five to six people, which represents the most typical type of villa in Makkah. In this study, emphasis is placed on improving the building envelope, increasing the insulation rate for the external walls and the roof, and using a high-performance type of window in accordance with the requirements of the Passivhaus standards. To achieve the research objective, the DesignBuilder software is used as a research tool for the verification and measurement of energy efficiency. Through conducting construction simulations and calculations, the results of various analyses are compared effectively and easily. A simulation is carried out to evaluate the energy performance of the Saudi Residential Building Code (SBC) in relation to future climate change using current and future Energy Plus Weather climate data. Additionally, a simulation of a building that meets the requirements of the Passivhaus is carried out, and it is compared to buildings that meet the SBC. The simulation results show that the Passivhaus standards significantly reduce energy consumption (by around 35%). Total building consumption when meeting the SBC is 78,614.82 kWh, which decreases to 50,606.91 kWh in the Passivhaus model. Although the simulation results show a slight decrease in overall energy consumption levels for the 2050 scenario, there are significant increases in both cases in the 2080 scenario. This indicates that Passivhaus standards can help to reduce future impact on the climate.