Over the past decade, Kurdistan region has faced rapid increase in residential buildings. Unfortunately, lack of awareness and absence of building regulations have led to dismay a sense of identity and created an unsustainable built environment. Sustainable design offers many solutions for this crisis. The research will primarily focus on the current problems of the built environment, especially regarding energy consumption. Additionally, natural design concepts will be examined in dwellings. The research will provide regulations to restrict building guidelines in accordance with sustainable concepts to reduce energy consumption. Finally, the research will show a case study designed and constructed by the co-author in accordance to the suggested regulations for residential buildings.