Evaluating Compliance with Building Energy Codes in Residential Sectors: Insights from Jordan

Building energy codes (BECs) are essential policy tools for promoting building energy efficiency; however, their effectiveness depends on appropriate implementation, enforcement, and compliance. Despite Jordan’s adoption of BECs, systematic evidence on their regulatory effectiveness and field compliance remains limited. This study addresses this gap through a two-stage assessment. First, Jordan’s BEC framework was benchmarked using Young’s international code-assessment framework to evaluate stringency and coverage, technical requirements, and enforcement mechanisms. Second, international compliance-assessment practices were reviewed, and elements of the U.S. Department of Energy compliance methodology were adapted to develop a weighted field-assessment framework, applied to eight compulsory measures in 52 residential buildings under construction in Amman. Benchmarking identified enforcement as the weakest regulatory dimension (33.3%), compared with stringency and coverage (75.0%) and technical requirements (64.3%). The field assessment revealed an area-weighted overall compliance rate of 35.2%, indicating substantial implementation gaps. The findings support stronger construction-stage verification, stakeholder capacity building, periodic code revision, and phased implementation strategies. The proposed methodology provides an adaptable framework for identifying regulatory and compliance gaps, subject to local regulatory, climatic, institutional, and construction conditions. Broader validation using larger and geographically diverse samples is recommended.