Low Cost Approach to Energy Efficient Buildings in Nigeria: A Review of Passive Design Options

Energy consumption in buildings accounts for approximately 45% of the world’s total energy consumption, leading to a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. This has led to an increasing effort towards reducing energy consumption. An example of such efforts is energy efficient buildings using passive design options. This paper assesses a low cost energy efficient strategy approach to achieving energy efficiency in buildings using passive design options in Nigeria. A critical review of various passive design options and their roles in reducing energy consumption in buildings will be conducted. This approach is necessary due to energy poverty, high energy cost, erratic power supply, over dependence on electrical generators for indoor thermal comfort and other factors. Research has shown that this method can reduce energy consumption in buildings by 40%-60% in comparison to conventional buildings. This paper shows that there is an urgent need for professionals in the building industry as well as other stakeholders to advocate passive design options in Nigeria as a viable step towards achieving high energy performance buildings. This paper concludes by emphasizing the need for Nigeria to start with a low cost energy approach to achieve energy efficient buildings in the short term while aiming for ultra-low energy buildings in the long term.