A conceptual checklist of decarbonizing elements for the building sector in Egypt

The building sector significantly contributes to energy consumption and carbon emissions. Moving toward decarbonization practices becomes a strategic target. Although there are energy building codes and a green building rating system developed by the Egyptian government, they have not been widely implemented in the building sector due to different barriers. This paper investigates the gap between the theories of decarbonization principles and the adoption of these principles in practice in the Egyptian building sector. First, a semi-structured questionnaire was developed to identify the common barriers against successful implementation of decarbonization practices. The six identified barriers were lack of mandatory regulations, high cost of some decarbonization measures, client requirements, market awareness and knowledge, lack of resources, and complexity of some decarbonization procedures. Then, a questionnaire has been developed, including 25 decarbonization measures collected from GPRS (Green Pyramids Rating System), EDGE (Excellence Design for Greater Efficiency) and the regional roadmap for buildings and construction in Africa. The questionnaire has been distributed among experts to evaluate the availability of implementing these measures in the building sector against the identified barriers to identify a checklist for the most plausible measures applicable to the Egyptian building sector. Based on data analysis, eight decarbonization measures from the proposed measures have been proposed to be more appropriate to the Egyptian building sector. This paper will help researchers and practitioners identify the most appropriate decarbonization measures and strategies for the building sector.