Energy, economic and environmental benefits of integrating passive design strategies into buildings: A review

Passive design has recently received increasing attention as an option to reduce energy consumption, abate carbon footprint and alleviate energy bills of buildings by taking advantage of local climatic conditions and building features. However, investigating the performance of passive techniques from one of the energy, economic and environmental (3E) perspectives is insufficient, as several factors from each aspect have a critical influence on the effectiveness of these techniques. This paper provides an in-depth review on the 3E potential of passive design strategies and recommends suitable ones, individually or in combination, depending on building features and climatic conditions. The effectiveness of these methods is evaluated based on key indicators in the 3E points of view, such as energy saving, payback period and greenhouse gas emissions mitigation. The results revealed that most passive strategies have proven to be effective in reducing the energy demand and carbon footprint of buildings when they are well designed. Economically, not all strategies are cost-effective, as strategies such as phase change materials, shading, green roofs and green walls have exhibited longer payback periods. Furthermore, the combination of several passive techniques has yielded significant outcomes in the 3E perspective, resulting in energy savings of 6.7–66.2% and life cycle cost reductions of 12–52%, with payback periods of 0.5–84 years. The higher payback periods of some passive strategies are mainly due to the high capital costs required to implement them. Thus, exploring all features affecting the 3E benefits of passive approaches is crucial to improving their efficiency.