Towards Sustainable Construction Systems Of External Walls Of Buildings In The Of External Walls Of Buildings In The West Bank Of Palestine

Sustainable construction is one of the important aspects of sustainable development which meets a growing concern in most of the world communities. As a very large sector in the West Bank, construction has a significant impact on the environment, during the construction phase and the running of the structures and buildings. In the last decades, as in most of the world countries, the interior environment of buildings became uncomfortable in the West Bank, which require an extensive use of heating and cooling that raised the running costs of the buildings and the consumption of energy, and consequently negatively affected the environment in the West Bank. This study focuses on the methods that lead to obtain sustainable construction of external walls of buildings as a very important component of the building envelope. Such a study will help in improving the construction sector and make it less harmful to the environment; it will also help in improving the external wall systems and make them more efficient and sustainable. The study reached the intended aims through studying and analyzing the relevant literature, performing a pioneer study and comparing findings. It produced a number of findings , for example, the use of thermal insulation in the external walls of buildings would decrease the need for heating and cooling by 14-20% when using air gap technique, and by 22-56% when using insulation material technique. It also found that construction materials in the West Bank needed to be improved regarding their properties, management, disposal, recycling and reuse, in order to become more sustainable. The study concluded that; conventional ways of practicing construction in the West Bank do not take into consideration construction sustainability and without including construction actions into sustainable approach, environmental problems in the West Bank will be uncontrolled and running costs of building will be higher. The study presented a number of recommendations for all parties involved in the construction process, these recommendations are intended to improve and develop the construction in general and the construction of external walls in particular, in the West Bank.