Analysis of sustainable collective housing in Jijel, Algeria: evaluation of resident satisfaction

Worldwide, 40-percent of all energy used is consumed in the buildings sector. In this context, most developed countries have orientated their research and design to encourage energy efficient or green buildings; however comparable sustainable architecture is still in its early stages of exploitation in many developing countries. There are many pressures that can reduce emphasis on sustainable design in developing countries; for instance over one billion people worldwide still lack adequate shelter and suffer poverty, and Algeria is one example facing a pressing housing shortage. The socialist government that came to power after Algerian independence in 1962, considered this problem to be the major issue and this resulted in the initiation of major building programmes for social multi storey housing estates. This research described in this paper reports on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of collective contemporary houses built in the city of Jijel. Detailed questionnaires were used with 30 residents in Jijel. The results showed that residents were more concerned with space issues while thermal comfort was neglected. Another interesting finding was that most of the interviewed residents would prefer to participate in the design of their houses; a process that would enable them to improve space and thermal comfort.