Advanced HVAC Optimization for Sustainable High-Rise and Mixed-Use Developments in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's high-rise and mixed-use developments are entering a period in which cooling performance, occupant experience, carbon reduction and operational resilience must be solved together rather than treated as separate design packages. This review examines advanced heating, ventilation and air-conditioning optimization for towers, podiums, hotels, offices, residences, retail districts and transport-linked developments in hot-arid Saudi conditions. The aim is to synthesize recent evidence from 2020 to 2025 and translate it into a practical optimization framework for projects aligned with Vision 2030, the Saudi Green Initiative and national energy-efficiency programs. A structured review method is used, combining thematic literature screening, technology classification, Saudi contextual analysis and a design-to-operation synthesis. The findings show that the strongest HVAC outcomes are achieved when passive load reduction, high-efficiency central plants, model predictive control, digital twins, fault detection, occupancy analytics and continuous commissioning are integrated from concept design to facility management. The review also highlights unresolved challenges, including limited climate-specific datasets, mixed-use diversity factors, high latent and sensible cooling peaks, maintenance capability gaps, control interoperability and the need for credible measurement and verification. The paper proposes a staged roadmap for sustainable HVAC optimization in Saudi high-rise developments and argues that future competitiveness will depend less on selecting a single premium technology and more on coordinating envelope, plant, controls, data governance and human comfort across the building life cycle.