Sustainable design guidelines for detached housing in the Lebanese inland region

Developed through a holistic approach, this study aims at setting new applicable sustainable design guidelines for single-family detached residences in the Lebanese inland region, and any other region with similar climate. This paper is an evaluation of the effects of using passive building design strategies on the energy consumption of a housing unit in the Lebanese inland region, and any other location of similar climate. The paper, also, examines the possibility of saving energy through using low embodied energy building construction materials, and investigates the viability of integrating renewable energy sources. The application of the passive design strategies proved to save up to 78% of the annual heating and cooling electric energy consumption. The total annual operational energy of the best case is 63% less than that of the base case. Using the construction materials’ cost variation, a range of 26–45% of the overall annual energy needs could be produced using renewable energy systems. Furthermore, using local low-embodied energy construction materials in the developed model is found to save approximately 80% of the embodied energy compared to the insulated base case model.