Benefits of Green Schools in Kuwait
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Kuwait is a country located in the Middle East, which is a region characterized by severe water shortages as its located in the middle of a desert. Also, nearly all the electrical energy consumed in Kuwait is generated from fossil fuels such as natural gas and diesel. This situation poses several challenges. For example, the lack of enough clean water for domestic use could lead to serious problems such as waterborne diseases, such as cholera or typhoid. Also, water shortages can affect businesses such as agriculture and hospitality businesses. On the other hand, over reliance on fossil fuels as a source of energy could be deleterious to the economy in the long run (Willis, 2007). This is because fossil fuels, unlike renewable energy sources, cannot be replenished once they are exhausted. Therefore, if the oil wells would cease to flow; the country’s economy would grind to a halt. Hence, there is urgent need to find a way to reduce water consumption to conserve the resource (International Energy Agency 2005). Also, there is need to wean Kuwait’s economy off fossil fuels in order to cushion it from future oil shortages or vagaries of oil prices. Furthermore, the widespread use of fossil fuels in the country leads to emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrogen oxides. This leads to environmental pollution and global warming.
Green buildings pose as a possible solution to this problem. Essentially, green buildings are buildings whose design is optimized to reduce resource consumption, such as water and electricity. If green architecture is widely embraced in Kuwait, it’s anticipated that consumption of water and electricity resources would be greatly reduced. However, it would be technically impossible to force commercial building operators to retrofit green architecture features in their properties since they are privately owned. Schools provide an appropriate avenue for wide scale application of green architecture. Schools are publicly owned and hence the government has total control over the structures. As such, it is possible for the government to retrofit old buildings in schools with green building features. Also, new buildings in schools can be designed with green building features.
Assimilation of green technology into schools would lead to the proliferation of green architecture countrywide. Schools hold hundreds and sometimes thousands of students and thus the reduction in resource consumption due to the technology would be enormous. This is because the schools draw a lot of water and electricity from the utilities to support this high population. The school environment offers a suitable ground for millions of people to live under green architecture, which offers a fertile sector for the application of the technology. As a result, the overall effects of the technology would be experienced countrywide and at a large scale. Hence, the benefits of the technology would be possible to assess by examining the impact of the education sector on the energy and water infrastructure.
Aims
The aims of this research project are:
Objective
The objective of this research project is to examine water and electricity resource consumption in Kuwait and recommend green architecture as a possible solution for resource conservation.
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
In the data collection stage, several research techniques will be used. These include interviewing the concerned stakeholders in the energy and water sectors. This will help establish the consumption of the resources and the impact that green schools can have on the total consumption figures. Also, operators of schools, such as head teachers will be interviewed to ascertain trends in water and electricity consumption in schools. Another interest group that will be interviewed is the engineers in the ministry of education who are responsible for designing school buildings. This sample group will give insight into the architectural trends in the construction of public schools and the likelihood that change from traditional school buildings to green buildings will be embraced or shunned. Also, the engineers shall provide the national preference for school building and the public opinion on how the buildings should look like. Lastly, architectural firms in Kuwait will be consulted to ascertain how environmental factors, such as the weather conditions in the country, influence building designs in the country. This will help inform the design of the proposed buildings in green schools.
Risks of qualitative research
During the qualitative research process, there is risk of distortion of information during the data collection stage during the interviews. The correspondents may offer their personal opinions rather than the required facts, which may lead to wrong conclusions on areas such as the feasibility of the green school project. Also, there is the risk of sampling respondents with similar opinion thereby leaving out divergent views. As a result, the project feasibility analysis would be one sided leading to a flawed conclusion.
CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW
Section A: Aspects of a green building
A green building is a type of a building whose resource consumption is minimized as low as possible in comparison to ordinary buildings. As such, consumption of water and electricity is maintained to a minimum. A green building achieves reduction in resource consumption through several ways. These include the 3R strategy, reduce, recycle, and reuse for water consumption (Adshead 2011). The features in a green building increase its construction cost over that of an ordinary building. However, these higher costs are recouped over time from the savings realized from the low operational costs. This makes construction of green buildings very sustainable. The detailed aspects of green buildings are discussed below.
Reduction of water consumption
Water is an essential resource especially in the Middle East. Conservation of water involves the reduction of consumption of potable water. This can be achieved through several ways, such as harvesting of rain and storm water and using it for washing applications and for flushing toilets in the building. Storm water is collected by installing cisterns below the ground to collect runoff water from roofs and other impervious surfaces. A single storm can provide enough water to fill 250 bath tubs if properly harvested (Edwards 2003). Also, water can be conserved by recycling grey water and applying water in various applications such as irrigating lawns and flower beds.
Energy efficiency
Energy is the most expensive resource used in the operation a building. Energy efficiency is achieved by reducing the energy consumed by the electrical appliances in the building. Reduction of energy consumption can be passive or active. Active measures of reducing energy consumption involves the use of alternative sources of energy, such as solar water heating systems to provide hot water and solar photovoltaic systems to generate electricity which can be used to supplant or complement the grid supply (OECD 2015).
Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Solar PV systems convert the electromagnetic radiation from the sun to electricity. The solar systems have four main components that aid in their operation, the solar panels, batteries, inverter, and a charge controller. The solar panels are responsible for energy generation and are mostly mounted on rooftops. Also, the panels can be mounted on balconies and building facades in type of solar systems referred to as building incorporated solar systems. The solar panels consist of interconnected solar cells, which are made from a semiconductor material, such as crystalline silicon (OECD 2015). The silicon is doped with an impurity, such as boron, to increase the number of free charge carriers responsible for driving current round an electrical circuit. The crystalline material is then used to make a photosensitive p-n junction diode (Alhusainan 2012). When light hits the diode, the charge carries gain enough energy and jump over the potential barrier in the p-n junction. There are two types of charge carries in the silicon diode, holes and electrons (Goetzberger & Hoffmann 2005). The holes do not move but the free electrons can move about in the diode thereby creating and filling holes as they move (Goetzberger & Hoffmann 2005). When the electrons flow through an external circuit or an electrical load, an electrical current is generated.
Solar water heating systems. Solar water heating systems convert radiation from the sun to thermal energy, which is then used to warm water for applications such as bathing, washing dishes, and laundry (Yudelson, 2006). Solar water heating systems reduce the electrical load on a house by eliminating the need for electrical heating elements.
Passive energy conservation measures. Passive energy conservation measures are provisions in green buildings that enable it to conserve energy without any external input. Common passive energy saving features is discussed below.
Thermal mass
Thermal mass constitutes any material that can absorb, store, and release thermal energy from the sun. Thermal mass materials usually have low thermal conductivity and high density, which help it absorb and retain heat. Concrete slabs are the most common type of thermal mass materials used in green buildings. The mass are placed strategically near windows such that they receive insolation from the sun during the day (EdwardS & Naboni 2013). At night the masses radiate the stored heat to the room in the building and as such, no external heating is required, which lowers the space-heating power load in the building.
Natural lighting
Natural lighting is the use of natural light from the sun instead of electrical lamps for day time illumination. Natural lighting in a green building is implemented through several ways, such as the use of sky-lights and full-length windows. Sky lights are translucent roofing sheets that admit light into a building via the roof (Sayigh 2013). On the other hand, full length windows running from the floor to the ceiling admit maximum daylight into a building thereby eliminating the need for electric lamps.
Green/Planted roofs
A green roof is a roof that is covered with a vegetative and growing medium. The plants are planted over a waterproof barrier that has been reinforced with a root barrier. Planted roofs help maintain stable indoor temperatures by cushioning the house against the vagaries of the weather by absorbing excess heat from the sun and insulating the building against heat loss. Also, green roofs mitigate the heat island effect, which is the rise of temperature in urban areas due to radiation of heat from the concrete in buildings and roads (Yudelson 2008). As such, planted roofs reduce the need for elaborate heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) Systems, thus the reduction of a building’s overall electrical load.
Recycling of construction material
Green buildings are often constructed from materials salvaged from other demolished buildings. Such salvaged materials include steel and concrete (Lee & Kim 2014). As such, the green buildings reduce the carbon footprint of the activities involved in extracting and transporting the construction materials to the building site.
Section B: Application of green architecture in schools
The main buildings in schools are classrooms, halls, dormitories, and offices. These types of buildings have simple designs. For example, halls consist of a single large room and as such it’s very easy to incorporate green technology such as day lighting using sky lights and full length windows. Also, since the halls and classrooms have no partitions, it possible to incorporate thermal mass into the building. In addition, the design of classrooms makes it possible to use natural lighting. Furthermore, solar PV can be used to light up the buildings in a school during the early hours of the night, such as from 7pm to 10pm, before the students go to bed. Lastly, full-length windows can be used to enhance natural ventilation and eliminate the need for an air conditioning system.
Other aspects of green buildings that can be incorporated into green schools include the use of green roofs to regulate temperature fluctuation in the school buildings. Also, recycled construction materials can be used to reduce the environmental cost of school building activities. Lastly, some sections of the schools, such as the dormitories can be fitted with solar water heating systems to provide warm bath and laundry water, as opposed to using electrically heated showers during winter. Green schools offer a more conducive learning environment than ordinary building due to the enhanced natural temperature control, natural ventilation that brings in fresh air into the room space. Also, natural lighting does not disturb the learners with glare as opposed to electrical lamps.
Ethical Issues
CHAPTER 4: PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
Kuwait experiences extremely hot and long summers. As such, all buildings in the country are required to have air conditioning systems to ensure the comfort of occupants. As a result, air conditioning and lighting loads constitute 65% of the total electricity consumed annually in the country. Also, the two loads form 85% of the annual peak demand. However, electricity costs in the country are heavily subsidized as the consumer pays only 5% of the final cost of power (Willis 2007). However, the government requires the consumers to mitigate their consumption by practicing energy conservation. An energy conservation code put in place in 1983 requires energy conserving features to be retrofitted in old buildings and made it mandatory for all new buildings to incorporate the features.
Kuwait primarily generates her energy from oil and natural gas. These two fuels are a major natural resource for the government and form a big portion of the country’s foreign exchange. However, these fuels are nonrenewable and as such they will eventually get depleted. The country consumes 15% of the total amount of fuel that it produces. Also, the biggest power load comes from buildings (Willis 2007). As a result, the country revised its 1983 energy conservation policy in 2010 as shown in the figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Energy conservation policies adopted in Kuwait in 1983 and revised in 2010. Source: Willis 2007.
CHAPTER 5: ANALYSIS OF DISCUSSION AND RESULTS
Since the government is trying to encourage energy efficiency, it can therefore be concluded that that the green schools project will be fully embraced by the government. Also, the government foots almost all the cost of power consumed in the country. Therefore, it would welcome any type of project that can reduce this power load. Kuwait has a generally hot weather, which necessitates the use of air conditioning systems. The use of green buildings in schools will encourage a countrywide proliferation of sustainable buildings, which will lower energy the country’s energy demand and promote sustainability.
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Green buildings exhibit lower energy and water consumption than ordinary buildings. The building lowers their resource consumption through the use of water solar for energy generation and recycling of grey water and harvesting collection of storm water. Other measures include the use of natural lighting and passive heating through the use of thermal mass. Planted roofs are also used to insulate the green buildings against temperature fluctuations in the environment.
The government can lower the financial load that it foots in subsidizing energy in the country by making green buildings in schools mandatory. Such an approach would lower the power demand from the education sector. Also, the total amount of water consumed in schools would reduce and as a result of water conservation by green buildings. As a result, the water and electricity infrastructure would experience less demand and the government would have to pay out less amounts of money in form of subsidies. The climate in Kuwait is ideal for solar energy. Therefore, installation of robust solar systems in green schools would ensure a wide scale exploitation of the country’s climatic condition. Also, green school would insulate the country against water shortages, which are common in the region.
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