1. 32 MEED Business Review MEED Business Review / 33
Ecohouse
Photograph:JasonFlakes/USDepartmentofEnergySolarDecathlon
T
sustainability
begins at home
AURAK is focusing on designing hous-
ing that is suitable for use in the Gulf,
which means that as well as ensuring it
can cope with the local climatic condi-
tions, it must also fit in with the regional
culture. “There is no point in building a
house that doesn’t fit in with the local
culture,” says Professor Mousa Mohsen,
director of the RAK Research and Innova-
tion Centre (RAKRIC) at the university.
AURAK hopes the project will be
accepted into the Solar Decathlon Middle
East competition, due to run in Dubai
from 2018. It expects to find out in Octo-
ber. The design-and-build is expected to
take 18 months, to be ready for the two-
year competition. A US Department of
Energy-run competition aimed at student
teams, the winning entry is the house
that best blends renewables and energy
efficiency with cost-effectiveness and
attractive design. Building the techno-
he American University of Ras al-Khaimah
(AURAK) is planning to work with
students and local industries to build
a net-zero energy house in the emirate.
Currently in the planning phase, its pro-
ponents hope the energy-efficient house,
which will be lived in, will be used as a
showcase of what can be achieved when
using sustainable materials.
A net-zero energy house is one that
produces enough renewable energy an-
nually to balance supply and demand. It
can be grid-connected and will often use
electricity supplied by a utility in night-
time hours. During the daytime, it should
put enough energy into the grid to cover
both daylight hour use and to cover the
energy it draws during the hours of dark-
ness. Overall, a net-zero energy house
should produce far lower greenhouse
gas emissions than most homes, despite
using conventional energy at times.
economic viability for materials used in
the project, such as the cost of solar ver-
sus its efficiency, is an important way of
attracting interest, says Zaki Iqbal, senior
research and development engineer at
the centre and university, because com-
panies want to know about the return on
investment. “If a material is too expen-
sive it does not matter if it is efficient, it
will not be bought,” he says.
Long-term benefits
It means the scheme will need to look
closely at the cost of each technology
used, its life cycle and the savings it
brings. The argument is that money spent
upfront will have long-term financial
benefits for building owners, providing
savings on utility bills and maintenance
costs. Also, ensuring energy-efficient ma-
terials are included at the development
stage is much cheaper than the cost of
a retrofit undertaken at a later date.
AURAK plans to showcase the house
and the materials and processes used to
developers. If they are convinced by the
final product, its materials and processes
are more likely to be incorporated into
the development cycle, says Mohsen.
This could encourage manufacturers to
consider using more sustainable materi-
als to ensure their products are used in
major developments.
The university has researched the
performance of materials, components,
equipment or completed buildings, ap-
plicable to the sustainable built environ-
ment in the Middle East. RAKRIC won an
Emirates Green Building award in 2016
for the work.
AURAK plans to work directly with
local manufacturers, which will help
reduce transport miles. It also plans to
investigate the impact the house will have
on carbon emissions. In theory, it should
have a positive impact due to the smaller
number of hours it needs to draw power
from the national grid. But that is a key
element within the project life cycle.
Managing power demand is one of the
most important aspects of the house.
Decisions around the type of solar tech-
nology used will be part of the project
process, but AURAK will look at building
integrated photovoltaic panels.
The university wants the house to
be on-grid and to have net metering to
monitor the energy supply and offtake.
Battery storage to supply energy in the
peak hours of darkness is not being con-
sidered at this stage. “We want to work
with stakeholders in industry on materi-
als [so we can] come up with solutions
that mean you don’t consume more pow-
er,” says Mohsen. “There is still a lack of
awareness in industry about being more
energy-efficient in their processes.”
A challenge with ensuring power use in
the house is net-zero will be accounting
for the people living in it, as each person
will add more heat in a room and so re-
quire more power for cooling. To reduce
the amount of energy required, passive
solar options are being considered, such
as the orientation of the building and
a reduction in the use of air conditioning.
Water use will also be a key element of
the design. The house will be designed to
look for ways to reduce the amount of
water being used, as well as methods of
water reuse, such as using grey water for
toilet flushing and irrigation, and looking
at the size of sinks being used.
Robert Jones
A UAE university is looking to build an energy-efficient
villa that can cope with the region’s climate
The RAK
ecohouse
project is
aimed
to enter
the Solar
Decathlon
Middle East
competition,
due to run
in Dubai
from 2018
40%
Shareofbuildingsin
total energyconsumption
inUAE
70%
Shareofpowerconsumed
byair-conditioningin
buildingsinUAE
24%
Shareofpowergenerated
fromcleanenergysources
by2021,asaffirmedby
UAEinDecember2015
Join the project
If you would like
to be a part of the
RAK ecohouse
project, email:
richard.thompson@
meed.com
The UAE’s American
University of Ras
al-Khaimah has
embarked on an
18-month project to
design and build a
zero energy house
for the Middle East.
In an exclusive new
partnership, MEED
will track the project
every step of the
way. Follow the
project on
www.meed.com