Green architecture as an approach for increasing energy efficiency in Egyptian buildings

In the light of the growing global concerns about environmental problems and the importance of achieving sound management of the natural resources, this research proposal was developed. Though Egypt is now enjoying a secured energy supply for the short and medium terms, yet it is mainly dependent on fossil fuels. Building sector in 2007 was responsible for 23% of the total energy consumption in Egypt and is expected to reach 35% by 2030 and the construction sector growth rate was 15.8%. Developing an environmental assessment tool was the approach adopted by this study to address the building sector energy consumption levels in Egypt. The success of these tools in reshaping the design and practice worldwide has long been established. In the absence of an existing adequate measure to assess environmental buildings and with the concept of modern environmental design emerging in Egypt, the current study proposes the Egyptian Green Code for Buildings. The Egyptian Green Code for Buildings is an assessment tool specifically designed for the Egyptian environment. Three phases of surveys (questionnaires and interviews) were developed to create, evaluate and validate the proposed code. With the collaboration of the field specialists represented in: governmental officials, architects in practice and academics. The results reveal that this research has developed an understandable code, with categories relevant to the Egyptian environment, achievable credits and satisfactory overall classifications. The proposed code will insure a minimum level of applying green architecture principles in Egyptian buildings. It presents a unified, coherent and accurate method of assessment. It allows the designers and decision makers to identify the key points that need to be addressed to enhance the overall performance of a building and in turn make it beneficial to the environment. The application of the proposed code will result in green concepts being more in the centre of the architecture practice in Egypt and opening the possibilities to introducing new concepts and measures to achieve sustainability