Towards sustainable residential buildings in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Residential buildings are not only a major energy consumer, but also have considerable
ecological impact. Quite often, architects can constitute a large part of the problem of
tackling climate change. It is notable, however, that architects around the world have
recently been encouraged to embrace the principles of sustainable design, which essentially
aims to promote a suite of sustainable architectural practices such as those centred on
enhancing household energy and water efficiency. Nonetheless, there seems to be a
comparatively limited interest in pursuing the sustainability agenda among architects in the
Middle East. In addition, there has been a corresponding dearth of academic research on
this topic in spite of its apparent importance. This thesis considers the case of Saudi Arabia,
and analyses the energy and water consumption of its current residential buildings in the
context of two different climatic settings in the country, with the ultimate aim of
establishing guidelines towards achieving sustainable architectural practices within the
Saudi residential sector .

An extensive literature review has been conducted in order to establish a broad
understanding of existing sustainable architectural practices around the world. Using
available literature, the thesis also examines both the current status of sustainability within
the Saudi building sector, and the need for sustainable residential buildings in Saudi Arabia.
Current energy and water consumption within two typical Saudi houses (an apartment
complex and villa) were analysed using simulation software packages. Next, a number of
design-oricntated energy and water conservation measures were suggested, and their
serving potential assessed. In addition, especially as for this Ph.D. research, fourteen
highly-informed Saudi stakeholders were interviewed in order to both validate the
simulation results and to engage in in-depth discussions on ways of making residential
buildings within Saudi Arabia more sustainable. Ultimately, a number of barriers that
currently impede a transition towards a sustainable residential sector in Saudi Arabia have been identified. The thesis goes further and provides a number of design and non-design
related strategies that have the potential to change the status quo with regard to the limited
application of sustainable architectural principles within Saudi residential buildings.