How Effective Are Building Materials and Urban Design Tools in Reducing Energy Consumption in Saudi Arabian Environment?

Abstract

Due to the harsh climate weather conditions and the increasing number of buildings/projects together with lack of attention given to the design in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is very essential to adopt energy-efficient design and effective architecture approaches. Previously, the KSA adopted vernacular architectural styles like Najd and Hejaz with local building materials such as mud, coral stone, palm, limestone, etc. Such building materials proved to be very resilience and reliable in term of providing comfortable living spaces and reducing energy usage. Added to this, the vernacular architecture styles were very resilience that includes compact shaded housing units and ventilated courtyards as well as shaded pedestrian between houses. While currently the most dominant building materials are cement block and read-mix concrete with various modern architectural styles brought from different countries all over the world. Such materials are not the best fit for such weather due its poor thermal conductivity and holding heat in the walls and roofs resulting in over energy consumption particularly in the HVAC systems. Accordingly, urban design tools and building materials play unprecedented role in reducing energy consumption and providing comfortable living and working spaces. Thus, three cities in Saudi Arabia have been selected to accurately evaluate the use of different building materials and urban design tools in dissimilar weather conditions. Riyadh city which is the capital located in the middle has a hot and dry weather. While Jeddah city is located on the coast of the Red Sea in the west of Saudi Arabia has a very hot weather. On the other hand, Al-Qatif/Dammam city is located on the coast of the Persian Gulf has a hot and humid climate weather. The investigation found that traditional architectural design strategies such as air vents, secluded balconies, thick walls, shaded pedestrian and buildings, narrow alleyways, etc. have proved to be very effective in term of energy consumption and CO2 emission reduction.