Western Asian and Northern African residential building stocks: archetype analysis

Buildings are significant consumers of natural and manufactured resources, especially in rapidly urbanizing regions. This study presents the first comprehensive analysis of residential building stocks in 19 countries across these Western Asia and Northern Africa (WANA), utilizing an archetype-based, bottom-up, stock-modeling approach. By integrating life-cycle assessment (LCA) with building energy models via BuildME, the study estimates the material, energy, and annualized life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions (ALCGHGE) intensities associated with various residential building types. These findings provide critical insights into the resource use and environmental impact of residential buildings in WANA, considering the region’s diverse climatic, architectural, and economic contexts. Significant variations are found in both total residential emissions and the proportion attributed to material-related versus use-phase-related sources. The analysis reveals that 64% of total annualized life-cycle emissions from residential buildings stem from operational energy use, e.g. 90% in Qatar and 38% in Georgia. Oman has the highest per capita annualized material use at 3 t/capita/year, while Kuwait shows the highest total per capita emissions at 5 tCO2eq/capita/year, significantly outpacing countries such as Morocco and Syria (0.7 and 0.5 tCO2eq/capita/year, respectively). Although single-family houses are the least emission-intensive per m2, they exhibit the highest emissions per dwelling unit. Policy relevance The findings hold significant implications for policymakers in WANA as they address the environmental impacts of rapid urbanization and growing residential building stocks. The findings emphasize the urgent need for targeted policies that focus on reducing energy use in residential buildings and for incorporating targets into nationally determined contributions, particularly in energy-intensive countries such as Qatar and Kuwait. Policymakers should prioritize the development of energy-efficient building codes, incentivize the adoption of low-emission technologies, and promote sustainable building practices that minimize material use. The study also underscores the importance of considering both per dwelling unit and per m2 emissions in policy frameworks, especially in countries such as Oman and Kuwait, where large, energy-intensive homes dominate. By leveraging the region-specific insights provided by this research, governments can design more effective strategies for reducing ALCGHGE and resource use in residential sectors, contributing to broader climate change-mitigation efforts.