Sustainable Building Design: A Brief Review

Abstract

Buildings are liable for the highest global energy consumption and CO₂ emission. Wider adoption of sustainable design in buildings can significantly reduce such energy consumption and CO₂ emission, along with contributing to a healthier environment, cost savings from reduced energy use, and enhanced occupant comfort. Also, the combination of active and passive design strategies is more effective in reducing energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. In this regard, and as the beginning of a recently launched wider study on adopting passive design strategies in buildings, this paper presents a brief and summarized outcomes of the initial literature review. The target is to allow a better understanding of sustainable design practices and extract various active and passive design strategies/features. A total of 59 design strategies have been identified: eight active strategies, 18 passive strategies for lighting and 33 passive strategies for heating, cooling and ventilation purposes. Such strategies/features include: solar panels, shading devices, roof garden and wind towers. These do not use any externally supplied energy, but improve building energy profile. The strategies will be further refined/adjusted for a questionnaire survey to identify their degree of actual practice in building design, which will be feeding into the wider study of adopting passive design strategies. The findings provide a reference for construction professionals and practitioners, pave the route for further academic research, and allow policy makers further insights.