Strategic framework of operational energy performance improvement potential for Damascus post-war social housing

ABSTRACT In Syria, the war’s devastating destruction to the built environment, especially to the housing and energy sectors, has mounted the demand for energy-efficient social housing. Hence, the implementation of the housing energy efficiency law, endorsed by the Syrian government (Law No. 18, 2009), has had tremendous barriers. The law has not adopted an energy efficiency strategy and plans that comprise; financial provision, assessment framework, fiscal inducements, market initiatives and international collaboration. The present research attempts to assess the improvement potential in the operational energy performance of typical mid-rise residential buildings in Damascus through the implementation of energy conservation housing law and analysis of the key influencing variables. The research evaluates a pilot energy-efficient complying building compared to typical conventional one, in terms of thermal performance, operational energy efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions, and total energy-cost trade-off. The framework, developed by this study, tackles the implementation barriers and divides responsibilities among the involved parties along with the financial and managerial requirements. This is essential, in the light of the Government’s self-efforts for reconstruction. The framework enables designers and decision-makers to start thinking from the occupancy stage backwards to benefit the early design stage where irretrievable decisions are being made.