THE REALITY AND EXPECTATION OF THERMAL INSULATION OF HOUSING BUILDINGS: THE CASE OF RIYADH CITY IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

Being the largest in land occupation and population, City of Riyadh has the largest number of buildings in the Arab Gulf Countries. The assumption among practitioners that building external walls with insulated cement or adobe block will provide thermal insulation is wide spread. Any thermal insulation to any building should include all external horizontal and vertical structural elements beside windows and doors regardless of the used material or method of construction. The aim of the study is to represent the reality of thermal insulation to the city's housing buildings thorough the clarification of the practitioners' and clients' and related agencies' understanding of building thermal insulation. All necessary data were collected by using sample of housing units selected randomly as well as open-ended interviews to randomly selected practitioners, clients and engineers in the licensing department at the Municipality of Riyadh and the Saudi Electricity Company. Before mandatory application of housing building thermal insulation, it is necessary to implement the following regulations: 1- No issuing of building permit to new housing buildings which its construction drawings do not have a full thermal insulation. 2- The introduction of mandatory site supervision by the designer to insure the full and accurate implementation of thermal insulation. 3- Water and electricity services should be denied to any housing units does not have a written report signed by the Municipality of Riyadh and the consultant office indicating the full implementation of thermal insulation. The Municipality of Riyadh with its current authority can not insure the full implementation of thermal insulation in housing units without the starting the use of Building Occupancy Permits as a toll to insure the inclusion of full thermal insulation in new and old buildings.