ABSTRACT
Building infrastructure is one of the essential needs in the human life. In the past few years, a rapid and continuous growth has been observed in the sector and is likely to be seen in future. Energy consumption to construct and operate buildings causes significant adverse effects on the environment, and makes the sector one of the largest energy consumers. Therefore, the need for developing energy-efficient buildings (EEBs) to ensure sustainability has been universally acknowledged in recent years. Construction is likely to be one of the most dynamic industrial sectors in the next 15 years and is utterly crucial to the evolution of prosperous societies around the world. Moreover, in the era of resource conservation, the ignorance of material, energy, and water conservations in the traditional construction processes make the sector much more vulnerable than ever before. The development of EEBs is not only a technologically complex process, but also requires intense and sophisticated simulations at the planning and design stages to ensure the efficient performance during its lifetime. This chapter discusses the energy consumption status of buildings, and their impact on the sustainability; strategies and concepts used in the energy-efficient development of the buildings around the globe to support and promote energy-efficient developments. Additionally, different tools and techniques used for the performance simulation are discussed and highlighted in this chapter. Furthermore, authors have elaborated on the green building assessment standards in the certification process that confirms the sustainability of buildings and the organizations involved in certification and verification process. Moreover, a few low-cost energy conservation options equally applicable for new and existing buildings were explored.
