Nexus implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs) for sustainable public sector buildings in Pakistan

• Published in: Journal of Building Engineering 2022-07, Vol.52, p.104415, Article 104415
• Main Authors: Latif, Muhammad Hamza, Amjad, Muhammad, Tahir, Zia ur Rehman, Qamar, Adnan, Asim, Muhammad, Mahmood, Waqar, Khalid, Waqas, Rehman, Abdur
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Clean energy; Climate action; Energy conservation; Sustainability; Sustainable development goals (SDGs); Water storage
• ISSN: 2352-7102; 2352-7102
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2022.104415

The United Nations (UN) has introduced 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) intending to achieve a conventional trio of social, economic, and environmental prosperity across the world. Pakistan is making a fair contribution to SDG achievement under its ‘Vision 2025’. However, the introduced strategy for SDG implementation is a sectoral based approach which leads to severe resource inefficiency. The objective of this study is the development and implementation of a nexus strategy of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 13 (Climate Action) in Pakistan due to their indepth interlinkage and interdependence, to achieve sustainability in Energy, Water, and Environment. This study comprises an onfield Energy-Water-Sustainability assessment of 24 public sector premises across Punjab to create a pilot model for future implementation. The Pearson correlation analysis of the SDGs substantiates the argument of the nexus approach. The results of this work show the energy conservation potential of approximately 12.8 MW and renewable energy installation potential of 40.4 MW to achieve SDG 7. Moreover, rainwater harvesting is calculated to be 0.035 million cm3 per annum, contributing to approximately 7% reduction in water use to achieve SDG 6 and minimizing the environmental impact on cities by reducing 14.8 million tons of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) per annum to achieve SDG 11 and 13. The results show that due to indepth interlinkage, the nexus implementation approach enhances the execution process while eliminating resource duplication to reduce inefficiency. [Display omitted] •A nexus strategy is developed for the implementation of four Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Pakistan.•Energy conservation potential of 12.8 MW is identified in buildings.•Renewable energy integration potential of 40.4 MW is explored to address SDG 7.•Greenhouse Gas emissions can be reduced by 14.8 million tons per annum.