In recent years, water scarcity, climate change, water-sensitive planning, and energy consumption management have become key priorities in urban planning policies in Iran.
Modern.az reports that this was stated by Gholamreza Kazemian, Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran, at the “High-Level Energy and Urban Dialogue of D-8 Countries” event organized within the framework of the 13th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) held in Baku.
He noted that these directions have been specifically taken into account in the new generation of complex urban development plans, which began to be developed approximately five years ago. Urban planning plans prepared for the city of Khomir, located in the West Azerbaijan province, and other cities have been approved based on this approach. Similar plans prepared for Isfahan are expected to be approved by the Supreme Council of Urban Planning and Architecture of Iran.
“Against the backdrop of the deepening global energy balance crisis, increasing energy consumption and limited production capacities have made energy supply difficult in the industrial and service sectors.
In Iran, buildings account for more than 40 percent of total annual energy consumption. Therefore, the building sector plays an important role in energy management, especially during peak electricity demand periods,” he emphasized.
According to him, the presence of more than 300 sunny days a year in many regions of the country increases the potential for renewable energy and makes investments in solar energy necessary.
Kazemian noted that the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development of Iran, together with the Ministry of Energy and the Construction Engineering Organization, is preparing to sign a memorandum on the expansion of solar systems in residential buildings.
“The project will be implemented within the framework of the “Law on Construction Engineering and Supervision”. The main goal of the initiative is to reduce energy consumption in the building sector and to meet a part of the energy demand of buildings through solar panels. For this, technical and engineering support, financial incentives, and credit opportunities are planned to be provided.”
The Deputy Minister added that the project costs are planned to be financed through energy savings and energy saving certificates sold on the Iran Energy Exchange.
He recalled that the “Law on Construction Engineering and Supervision”, adopted in 1995, defines technical standards related to the design, construction, and operation of buildings. In the last 30 years, consistent work has been carried out to reduce energy consumption in buildings within the framework of the 19th section titled “Energy Consumption Saving”.
According to Kazemian, the latest revision of that section was prepared under the title “Energy Management in Buildings”, and it defined mandatory obligations for parties involved in the design, construction, and operation process.
“In the fifth edition of the document, for the first time, a life cycle assessment system for buildings was applied, and A, B, C, and D levels for green building rating were determined. According to the new approach, energy efficiency is evaluated based on both normative indicators and energy performance simulation,” G. Kazemian noted.
