Qualifying Current Housing Standards in Iraq for Sustainability

Abstract

Iraq adopts a traditional perspective and a normal housing approach. The current standards are outdated and do not keep pace with the changes of the times, which imposes the need to update those standards to a sustainable level, which represents an important goal. Local studies to update housing standards are relatively scarce. No system has been adopted to measure the level of sustainability of residential buildings. The foregoing represents the problem and objective of the study. Current standards have been classified traditionally into planning, dwelling, and infrastructure standards. Their indicators are either quantitative, qualitative, or double. The process of qualifying the indicators for sustainability is a gradual, flexible process that can be carried out in light of a three-step methodology. The first step is defining the types of standards and their indicators, the second step is sorting the unsustainable indicators by a scale that meets the requirements of sustainability according to its three constituents; economic, social, and environmental, and the third step is qualifying the unsustainable indicators in light of a mechanism of three alternatives according to the types of indicators; quantitative adapting, qualitative adapting, and dual adapting. The core of the qualifying process included the intensity of land use; intensification of green spaces; the mixed-use; integration of services with site elements; and exploitation of local resources. In the end, 19 indicators were found to be unsustainable, these included 12 indicators for planning, 4 indicators for dwellings, and 3 indicators for infrastructure. The theoretical framework of the study, represented by the nineteen indicators that have been qualified for sustainability, was evaluated through a questionnaire of twenty-five questions, which were directed to 48 specialized experts. The test showed, after analyzing the data by the SPSS statistical analysis program, that the experts accepted all the indicators except for one dwelling indicator that was rejected, which was to increase the occupancy rates of bedrooms. Accordingly, the study has abandoned the qualification of this indicator.
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