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Jan 16 2010

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SQU to work on eco-house prototype for Oman

upon which residential housing in the Sultanate of Oman will be developed
MUSCAT -- Due to concerns about the environment, researchers at Sultan Qaboos University, the leading research institution in the Sultanate, are conducting research projects and investigations in designing and building eco-houses suitable for the country. Dr Ali bin Saud al Bimani, Vice Chancellor of SQU, took the necessary steps into uniting knowledge and expertise in the University in a research project aimed at designing and building the first prototype of a typical Omani eco-house at SQU.

To fulfill this task, the SQU Renewable and Sustainable Energies Research Group- RASERG, a research group functioning in the College of Engineering, was asked to undertake the task. The objective of this eco-house project is to develop an innovative residential house that is aesthetically pleasing and functionally working, economic, technically feasible, energy-efficient, climatically appropriate and socio-culturally acceptable. It is of utmost importance in prototype housing development to use appropriate materials which can be produced locally and perhaps to some extent by the users themselves, which would meet the climatic, technical and aesthetic needs.

The envisioned house will be less dependent on energy-intensive systems for cooling and lighting. To achieve this, the house will incorporate the use of renewable energy sources for air conditioning and natural lighting. It will also consist of a well-designed envelope that will be heavily based on passive methods of cooling. The eco-house will be supplied with electric power from a stand-alone PV system.

The PV system, batteries charging system, and load dispatching among the different sources of energy will be managed by a smart controller. The whole system will be designed, simulated and implemented in the experimental eco-house. Furthermore, it will involve the use of water efficient sanitary appliances and will be equipped with a grey-water treatment unit and solid waste management system. Moreover, it will also appear to be modern and intelligent, and easy to maintain, repair and modify if and when necessary.

The innovative house to be developed in this project will serve as a basis upon which residential housing in the Sultanate of Oman will be developed. The first step in developing the innovative residential eco-house is the development of versatile simulation tools capable of simulating the thermal and functional performance of the house and its systems under different climatic conditions in Oman. Also, structural analysis of the house will be conducted to assess structural and building methods and innovative construction materials under different architectural designs that take into account the local cultural and socioeconomic factors.

It is anticipated that the outcomes of this work will lead to drastic cut-down in energy consumption in residential buildings sector as well as in safer environmental building thermal design practices. Furthermore, this work will help in developing building design and construction codes of practice for hot and humid climates as in the case of the Sultanate of Oman and the Gulf region at large. The results of this investigation are multi-effect. In addition, it will benefit the building sector especially the residential sector as well as building designers, architects, engineers, and contractors.

In Oman, past architectural design of residential houses was based on passive cooling and locally available materials, many of which have now taken a back seat in the changing demand of a more prosperous, educated population, global trend and the overwhelming dominance of the industrially-produced materials and more energy consumption. The amount of energy consumed in residential and commercial buildings is equivalent to 70 per cent of the total energy produced. Most of the energy consumption in Oman is directed into buildings' cooling. This can be seen clearly from the electricity consumption variation between summer and winter.

The electricity consumption in summer is about three times the consumption in winter. This huge variation introduces heavy load on the economy and on the power generation sector in the country. Since most of the cooling load in summer is used by residential buildings, then decreasing this load can contribute effectively to reducing this huge power demand fluctuation. One way to accomplish this is by making the buildings more depend on natural, passive, or active cooling methods instead of consuming more utility electric power. Another way is to use renewable energy resources for providing power for the cooling and water heating loads.

A communiqué from the College of Engineering says that now is the time to make our houses eco-friendly and reduce our carbon footprint. "It is high time we did our bit for the environment by assessing how we live. Being carbon neutral doesn't have to involve dramatic lifestyle changes, it can be as simple as; turning off lights, washing clothes at low temperatures, having showers instead of baths, turning appliances off and keeping them not on standby."

The communiqué further says that the Government in the Sultanate of Oman and the industry are also looking into building a number of eco-towns and eco-villages and a number of building firms will soon offer eco-friendly house extensions, at reasonable rates. "Therefore, it is essential that reducing energy consumptions in buildings should be primary objectives in the country. This can be achieved through designing low-energy and energy efficient buildings and houses that rely on renewable energy".