Developing a strategy for energy efficiency in the Egyptian building sector

Abstract

Global warming is a major threat for each country worldwide, in particular however for the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. Furthermore, inefficiency has been a common feature of the energy use in most of the MENA countries for the last decades; high subsidies on retail energy prices covered this fact for years, however as the oil prices shrank, this was no longer possible due to reduced revenues. The combination of those two reasons led since the early 2010s some MENA countries to develop energy efficiency (EE) policies, whilst others are trying to catch up. Egypt is the most populous country, facing many challenges: a further significant growth of population and an expected high annual economic growth on the one hand, the need for new infrastructure and the scarcity of water on the other. The present paper focuses on the situation of Egyptian building sector with respect to prevailing energy efficiency regulations and their implantation, as well as on the elaboration of proposals for a viable and effective strategy to improve conditions.