Net-Zero Pathway: Case Study of GCC Residential Buildings Cooling Units

Abstract

Residential buildings in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries face the challenge of maintaining comfortable indoor temperatures in extremely hot weather conditions. This has resulted in a high demand for cooling units, which contribute to significant energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Efforts to reduce buildings energy use and help in decarbonization of residential building in hot desert environments will be addressed in this paper. In many developing countries, the responsibility of selecting air conditioning units (AC) typically falls on the residential homeowner or tenant. Unfortunately, this often results in AC units being chosen based primarily on their cost, rather than their energy efficiency, despite the availability of higher-rated energy star AC units in the global market. To be in line with net zero emission (NZE), an inexpensive solution centered on energy efficiency for the AC unit’s equipment’s manufactures, builders, homeowners, and policy makers without changing building architecture or integrating renewable energy sources, but rather decarbonization of end users will be recommended.