The main purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate the design and construction measures concerning building energy efficiency in Iran. In this regard, reducing energy consumption and using renewable energies are the main approaches of this paper. Thus, firstly, the most applicable renewable energy system in building industry has been identified; then, the design and construction measures have been identified and evaluated with respect to their effects on the building energy-performance; utilization of renewable energy systems as well as energy consumption patterns. In this way, utilization of renewable energy has been evaluated on the basis of experts' opinion and energy consumption has been evaluated on the basis of energy simulation. The primary result of this research revealed that, passive solar energy is the most applicable renewable energy system in urban areas and buildings in Iran. Furthermore, 23 design and construction measures were identified and categorized into 12 groups. Finally, the groups of measures are evaluated and classified into three levels of high, medium, and low importance with respect to their effects on buildings energy-performance. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.