Near Zero Energy House in Palestine: Identification of the Future Challenges

Abstract

Most of researches and experiences of the concept of near zero energy buildings (NZEBs) are highly concentrated on the developed countries more than the developing countries due to many reasons related to the different contexts conditions. This paper is a part of a PhD thesis, which is being supervised by the Department of Architecture at the University of Palermo. The paper aims at highlighting the challenges facing the house design in Palestine as a developing country in terms of NZEBs by making a study which is related to discussing different experiences in the field of energy saving strategies in Palestine and some surrounded countries, such as Jordan which shares certain climatic and architectural characteristics with Palestine. The data analysis process is based on the study of several attempts and experiences taking into consideration the contemporary house design situation in Palestine. This study follows a classification of challenges toward near zero energy house (NZEH) into two categories; firstly the organizational challenges; such as costs, policies, and training challenges in effect relates to how society organizes itself and establishes its priorities. Secondly, the technical challenges of the NZEBs. The discussed results should be considered in the influential governmental institutions to provide the requisite leadership decisions for planning better future built-up environment in Palestine, also in other countries which have nearly similar context.