The State of the Art of Residential Building Energy Retrofits in Libya and Neighbouring Mediterranean Countries: A Comprehensive Review

Salwa Albarssi, Shan Shan Hou and Eshrar Latif ()
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Salwa Albarssi: Wels School of Architecture, Cardiff University, Bute Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3NB, UK
Shan Shan Hou: Wels School of Architecture, Cardiff University, Bute Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3NB, UK
Eshrar Latif: Wels School of Architecture, Cardiff University, Bute Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3NB, UK

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: With the increasing concern about global warming and future climate change, attention has been drawn to the need to reduce building energy use through improving buildings’ energy efficiency. Existing residential buildings constitute the largest percentage of energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions, and hence, offer significant potential for energy savings and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. This review aimed to provide an in-depth analysis of current research on improving the energy efficiency of existing residential buildings in Libya and neighbouring Mediterranean countries, with a focus on research methods and tools utilised in this domain. This helped to identify potential areas of intervention to improve the energy efficiency of existing residential stock in Libya. Under identified themes, this study systematically analysed 44 publications of high relevance to the subject area found in Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. The results reveal that while energy retrofitting is a research area of interest in the region considered, studies in the Libyan context are limited. There is also limited attention to achieving net zero energy and embodied carbon reductions, specifically in the Libyan context. Moreover, some weaknesses were identified for most of the studies reviewed, including those in the Libyan context, related to the credibility and reliability of the energy models used in the various literature.

Keywords: existing residential buildings; building energy retrofit; building energy modelling (BEM); building model calibration; building energy simulation; model optimisation; net zero energy buildings (NZEBs) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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