Abstract

This paper presents the results of a survey study that aims to establish a representative database of the existing residential building stock in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) starting in 1974 until 2012. The main goal is to identifying the approximate numbers built as well as applicable thermal energy insulation building regulations applicable at each period. It was found that buildings constructed pre-2003 did not have to adhere to any such regulations in both the emirates of Dubai and Sharjah. In Abu Dhabi, thermal insulation requirements were only introduce in 2011. At the time of writing this paper, there are no thermal insulation requirements in the other four emirates or the federal institutions. Energy modeling on a 1991 villa was done using the IES-VE energy modeling software. The results showed a 37.2% reduction in the total annual cooling load between the villa as built and if it had been upgraded to ESTIDAMA 1 Pearl thermal insulation requirements. This study clearly shows that there is great potential for reducing the energy consumption of existing buildings in the UAE.