Sustainable Solutions for Mass-Housing Design in Africa: Energy and Cost Assessment for the Somali Context
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The paper proposes sustainable solutions for mass-housing design for new sustainable settlements in Mogadishu and in detail it is the outcome of the BECOMe projects.
The paper is well written and structured. Few reviews are suggested to improve the quality of the contribution.
Section 1. At the end of the introduction you can describe how the paper is divided in sections Section 2. Can you explain how the literature review has been carried out? Section 3. A flowchart could help to visualise all the steps developed by the methodology proposed. You can add a map for better understanding where the site is located. Section 7. In the conclusions you can try to descrive how this proposals meets the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and which one.Author Response
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
This paper presents a sustainable solution for mass-housing design for new settlements in Mogadishu. Overall, the paper is worthy of publication as the quality in terms of structure and presentation is good. However, authors should make clear throughout the paper that this paper provides a specific design solution based on different context characteristics rather than defining a concept design for housing settlements, as it is stated in the conclusion section (L. 620); this needs to be clear and reworded where needed.
Furthermore:
- Table 1: I would locate this table at the end of the section as it is a summary of the KSRs. In addition, it is confusing the way references have been included. A better and clear table design should be considered.
- Table 2 needs references.
- P. 9, L. 441: How is this possible? Can people change by themselve the different walls to adapt the indoor living spaces? There are many asumptions but without a specific solution. Have this design solution tested yet?
- P. 10: Have you considered the irradiation losses of the proposed PV design? I would say that the proposed tilt is not the optimal one.
Author Response
Please see the attachment
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
This is a well written article, with insights into the building energy efficiency in a country located at an economically less developed continent with fewer empirical studies. Thus the originality of the paper is without doubt and may attract audience from a wider scope. The work is well supported by empirical data and robust analysis too.
Author Response
Please see the attachment
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
