This paper aims at investigating the performance of some passive techniques integrated to a house in six climates ranging from Cold climate to Desert one. First of all, a case study of a house, located in Marrakech (Hot Semi-Arid climate), is monitored and a TRNSYS-based numerical model is constructed and calibrated using the resulting experimental measurements. Afterwards, thermal behavior as well as the heating and the cooling energy demand of the house were assessed by means of dynamic simulations in the studied climates. The impact of the house's envelope thermal insulation is assessed by a comparison with a reference case of the house where this insulation is lacking. The results showed that the thermal load of the house decreased by more than 70% in all climates except for the Cold one; where this reduction did not exceeded 57%. The application of the Passive House concept to the studied house enables to assess the technical requirements for its envelope thermal insulation to achieve this standard in each of the six considered climates. Furthermore, the corresponding extra cost was found to be in between 13,000 MAD and 280,000 MAD (around 1,300 to 28,900 USD) while the payback time ranges from 5 to 8 years.

This paper’s objective and novelty is to understand the impact of different natural ventilation strategies as well as the effect of a proposed smart controlled ventilation strategy on cooling energy saving and thermal comfort in a residential building. Afterwards, an investigation of the Climatic Potential of Natural Ventilation (CPNV) in hot and dry climates, and particularly the potential of the night ventilation strategy under present and future climates, was made. Two prediction climate change scenarios, RCPs 2.6 and 8.5, were considered for two periods. The results, obtained by a validated simulation, have shown the beneficial effect of night ventilation, since it could reduce cooling load by 9% and would keep the operative temperature below 30°C. Nevertheless, the potential of this natural ventilation strategy would be reduced in the future due to climate change. Indoor overheating has been projected to increase drastically. The summer thermal behaviour will be greatly aggravated in the future. Indeed, the CPNV in the summer nights will be decreased by 25%. However, the climate change will affect the winter natural ventilation potential in the future. The results also highlighted that the annual Total Climatic Potential of Natural Ventilation could be increased by 1% for RCP 2.6 and decreased by 4.9% for RCP 8.5.

Conducting accurate and quick energy analyses for retrofitting purposes became crucial for Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO) markets worldwide. This paper investigates the possibility of determining and implementing an architect-friendly BIM-based energy analysis for Morocco’s Energy Efficiency Retrofitting (EER). For this matter, a socio-technical approach is adopted. The technical part of the study assesses two Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools (ArchiCAD v26 and Revit v23) regarding their Building Energy Modeling (BEM) capabilities for EER. Their evaluation uses a confirmed case of EER located in Marrakech as a baseline to compare the two tools. The social part investigates the AECO market of Marrakech, where the baseline is located, to anticipate the strengths and limits that might influence the implementation of the BIM-based BEM for an EER workflow in architecture studios. The technical part underlines the significant potential of the chosen BIM tools: ArchiCAD is more flexible, customizable, and accurate regarding energy analysis results, while Revit allows for the strong integration of regulations within its process. The social investigation showcases the studied market’s potential for adopting BIM and BEM for EER but highlights the issue of persisting 2D Computer-Aided Design (CAD) workflows. The same social investigation also suggests that combining BIM tools (ArchiCAD and Revit) in the same workflow might benefit the studied market more because of AECO professionals’ diverse needs. These findings constitute a first base for the national implementation of a BIM-based BEM for EER. They also hold the potential to be used in emerging economies with similar AECO markets.

This paper aims at identifying the impact of three retrofit scenarios of a typical single-family house on its energy performance and its indoor thermal comfort in several climates. Two of these scenarios are based on the Moroccan Thermal Regulation in Constructions (RTCM) while the third is the one proposed in this study. The climates range from group B to group C of the Köppen climate classification. The results show that the proposed renovation scenario allows reducing the heating load by 19–42% and the cooling load by 29–60% depending on the climate. Furthermore, the RTCM retrofit scenario leads to summer overheating in all climates. One of the main reasons for this overheating is the insulation of the slab-on-grade floor as this insulation increases the annual heating/cooling energy needs of the house by 6–10%. Moreover, the cavity wall technique was found to be the best option for external walls, instead of using high thermal insulating material, in hot climates. The analysis of the energy performance, the thermal comfort indices, and the payback periods for each retrofit scenario shows that the proposed scenario presents the best thermal performance, except for the cold climate where the RTCM scenario is the most favorable.