Development of a Sustainability Framework for Greening the Construction Sector in Albania

Abstract

Energy demand in buildings in Albania represents a challenge for the country, which is committed to reduce its carbon footprint by 22% in 2020, and implement green building efficiency measures in an attempt to fulfill EU legislation requirements. In this regard, the Albanian building industry has been highly receptive to “green” growth, witnessing an era of high demand for green buildings. Although the demand and commitment for greening the construction sector is increasing, the country still lacks a comprehensive framework to lead the building sector towards the road of sustainability. The main objective of this study was to provide information for the development of a regional sustainability framework with green building parameters specific to Albania’s environment. The hypothesis this study evaluated is that developing a regional green building rating system, focused on measures that lower the energy consumption of buildings in Albania, is an effective instrument for achieving the 22% GHG emission reduction goal by 2020. In order to define the criteria to be applied, it is crucial to answer questions such as: (i) What is the energy saving potential and GHG emission reduction of a “typical” building in Albania? (ii) What energy conservation measures will be most effective in reducing energy consumption and GHGs? The best building practices were evaluated taking into consideration the local climate and regional priorities, while highlighting parameters that yield the best energy efficiency outcomes. To narrow the scope, this research focused on the building stock of the city of Tirana, which was used as a “typical” city in Albania. Performance-based building energy modeling was used as the core of this research protocol, and four building typologies were modeled to assess the energy efficiency of buildings. The building typologies represented the three different building sectors of commercial, residential and public buildings. The energy simulations were conducted using the Urban Modeling Interface (UMI) software, which is a Rhino-based simulation engine designed to model the environmental performance of neighborhoods and cities with respect to operational and embodied energy. The results of the study quantify the energy saving potential and GHG emission reduction impact for the city of Tirana. The study demonstrated that the building sector in Tirana has great potential for energy improvements with projected energy savings and GHG emission reduction of 42% at the city level, resulting in environmental pollution reduction and a healthier quality of life for building occupants. This showed that the city could achieve the 22% GHG emission reduction goal by 2020 targeting the building sector alone, supporting the hypothesis of the study. Following the energy modeling analysis, a set of sustainable practices for buildings in this region were recommended. The implementation of these measures are projected to have the highest impact in the residential building sector with 47% projected energy savings, compared to 30% in commercial buildings and 36% in public buildings in Tirana. This makes the residential building sector a priority for the implementation of these measures. In addition to advancing the state of knowledge in the field of green buildings, this research could serve as the basis for the development of the sustainability framework with best building practices to be applied for decision makers, developers and policymakers for improving the sustainability performance of buildings in Albania.