Sustainable design is achievable based on the social, economic, and environmental pillars interrelated with energy consumption worldwide. Saudi Arabia is one of the largest countries that consume massive amounts of energy, mainly for generating electricity to operate buildings and cope with population growth. Despite Saudi Arabia’s fast economic development, building envelopes in Saudi Arabia deserve more research attention to address energy consumption and environmental challenges. With the extremely hot weather in the country, building occupants use air conditioning extensively to overcome the heat and achieve thermal comfort. This research analyzed building envelope variables in an existing building in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and measured the effect on energy consumption and cooling loads based on ASHRAE 90.1-2019 and LEED guidelines. The researcher used REVIT software developed by Autodesk for modeling and the Hourly Analysis (HAP) developed by Carrier for simulations as tools to gather data. The researcher concluded that by altering wall thermal resistance, window thermal transmittance, solar heat gain coefficient, window visible transmittance, air infiltration/leakage, window-to-wall ratio, building orientation, and sun shading devices, the building envelope could save cumulatively 9.91% of energy consumption and 16.2% of energy load. Conserving energy is the core of the Saudi vision 2030 and the country’s road to sustainability.
","abstract_html":"<p>Sustainable design is achievable based on the social, economic, and environmental pillars interrelated with energy consumption worldwide. Saudi Arabia is one of the largest countries that consume massive amounts of energy, mainly for generating electricity to operate buildings and cope with population growth. Despite Saudi Arabia’s fast economic development, building envelopes in Saudi Arabia deserve more research attention to address energy consumption and environmental challenges. With the extremely hot weather in the country, building occupants use air conditioning extensively to overcome the heat and achieve thermal comfort. This research analyzed building envelope variables in an existing building in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and measured the effect on energy consumption and cooling loads based on ASHRAE 90.1-2019 and LEED guidelines. The researcher used REVIT software developed by Autodesk for modeling and the Hourly Analysis (HAP) developed by Carrier for simulations as tools to gather data. The researcher concluded that by altering wall thermal resistance, window thermal transmittance, solar heat gain coefficient, window visible transmittance, air infiltration/leakage, window-to-wall ratio, building orientation, and sun shading devices, the building envelope could save cumulatively 9.91% of energy consumption and 16.2% of energy load. Conserving energy is the core of the Saudi vision 2030 and the country’s road to sustainability.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Arafah, Nadia"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Technology Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Suleiman Ashur, Ph.D.","Shining Shyu, Ph.D.","Deborah de Laski-Smith, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:47Z","subjects":["Energy Consumption","Building Envelope","Modeling","Simulation","Saudi Arabia","ASHRAE 19.1-2019","LEED V4.1","Building Opaque","Building Fenestration","Art and Design"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1182","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Suleiman Ashur, Ph.D.","Shining Shyu, Ph.D.","Deborah de Laski-Smith, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Arafah, Nadia"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-02-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Technology Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Energy Consumption","Building Envelope","Modeling","Simulation","Saudi Arabia","ASHRAE 19.1-2019","LEED V4.1","Building Opaque","Building Fenestration","Art and Design"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1182"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Sustainable design is achievable based on the social, economic, and environmental pillars interrelated with energy consumption worldwide. Saudi Arabia is one of the largest countries that consume massive amounts of energy, mainly for generating electricity to operate buildings and cope with population growth. Despite Saudi Arabia’s fast economic development, building envelopes in Saudi Arabia deserve more research attention to address energy consumption and environmental challenges. With the extremely hot weather in the country, building occupants use air conditioning extensively to overcome the heat and achieve thermal comfort. This research analyzed building envelope variables in an existing building in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and measured the effect on energy consumption and cooling loads based on ASHRAE 90.1-2019 and LEED guidelines. The researcher used REVIT software developed by Autodesk for modeling and the Hourly Analysis (HAP) developed by Carrier for simulations as tools to gather data. The researcher concluded that by altering wall thermal resistance, window thermal transmittance, solar heat gain coefficient, window visible transmittance, air infiltration/leakage, window-to-wall ratio, building orientation, and sun shading devices, the building envelope could save cumulatively 9.91% of energy consumption and 16.2% of energy load. Conserving energy is the core of the Saudi vision 2030 and the country’s road to sustainability.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The effects of building envelope parameters on energy performance for high-rise buildings in central Saudi Arabia"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Suleiman Ashur, Ph.D.","Shining Shyu, Ph.D.","Deborah de Laski-Smith, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Arafah, Nadia"],"dc:date.available":["2023-02-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Sustainable design is achievable based on the social, economic, and environmental pillars interrelated with energy consumption worldwide. Saudi Arabia is one of the largest countries that consume massive amounts of energy, mainly for generating electricity to operate buildings and cope with population growth. Despite Saudi Arabia’s fast economic development, building envelopes in Saudi Arabia deserve more research attention to address energy consumption and environmental challenges. With the extremely hot weather in the country, building occupants use air conditioning extensively to overcome the heat and achieve thermal comfort. This research analyzed building envelope variables in an existing building in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and measured the effect on energy consumption and cooling loads based on ASHRAE 90.1-2019 and LEED guidelines. The researcher used REVIT software developed by Autodesk for modeling and the Hourly Analysis (HAP) developed by Carrier for simulations as tools to gather data. The researcher concluded that by altering wall thermal resistance, window thermal transmittance, solar heat gain coefficient, window visible transmittance, air infiltration/leakage, window-to-wall ratio, building orientation, and sun shading devices, the building envelope could save cumulatively 9.91% of energy consumption and 16.2% of energy load. Conserving energy is the core of the Saudi vision 2030 and the country’s road to sustainability.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1182"],"dc:subject":["Energy Consumption","Building Envelope","Modeling","Simulation","Saudi Arabia","ASHRAE 19.1-2019","LEED V4.1","Building Opaque","Building Fenestration","Art and Design"],"dc:title":["The effects of building envelope parameters on energy performance for high-rise buildings in central Saudi Arabia"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Technology Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:47Z"}