Energy-Efficient House in the GCC Region

The residential sector is a major contributor to energy consumption and carbon emissions. The concept of energy-efficient house appeared as a response to the need to reduce energy demand in this sector. Energy-efficient houses have been designed and constructed widely in cold regions, the concept is however still under experimentation in extreme hot and arid climates such as in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region where the priority is to reduce space cooling load. This paper examines the concept of energy-efficient house and its applicability to the GCC region by reviewing two case studies where energy-efficient houses were designed and constructed. The paper concludes with GCC-specific considerations regarding the design and construction of energy-efficient houses and recommendations for future research.