Applying building standards to minimize water usage
Energy efficiency:
Qassim university buildings were designed to use the natural daylight to reduced wasting of energy as electricity.
There are energy efficient appliances all over the university buildings.
All light sources at the university buildings are being substituted by energy sufficient ones.
There are air fans inside buildings to distribute air efficiently and to reduce waste in energy of air conditioning.
Indoor environmental quality:
There is many green plants inside the building to enhance the indoor environmental air quality.
There are air fans inside buildings to distribute air efficiently and to reduce waste in energy of air conditioning.
There are energy efficient appliances all over the university buildings. A station for Monitoring CO2 emission inside the campus has been implemented along with CO2 measuring devices.
Structure design efficiency:
All free spaces around buildings have trees and plants. o Buildings walls are insulated.
Inside buildings, there are plants that help in reducing CO2 emission.
Energy and water systems have often been treated as a separate system over the entire pathway from production to consumption. However, their close interdependence requires some perspective of the water-energy nexus, especially in regions with very high-water stresses combined with a myriad of rapid changes in resource production and consumption.
The proposed research areas within this priority address 7 out of 17 Goals of Sustainable Development established by UN to transform our world including clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, industry, innovation, and infrastructure, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, and life below water.
Researchers at Qassim University are using the latest technologies to find sustainable power sources and environmentally friendly water management techniques from turning date palm tree waste into renewable energy to harnessing the power of the sun, Qassim University is on a mission to find sustainable power solutions.
Investigating sustainable developments in energy, water and environmental engineering is one of the university’s 10 priorities, set out in its 2020 to 2024 research strategy.
Sustainable technologies are crucial in Saudi Arabia, where wastewater, municipal and construction waste and air pollution pose environmental threats. The Saudi Vision 2030 has set a target to power half the country with renewable resources by 2030.
Qassim University is working on a host of solutions, from sludge management and waste recycling to sea and groundwater desalination.
One notable project, led by Professor Sulaiman Alyahya, is examining how this waste from date palm trees can be transformed into renewable energy.
The central Al-Qassim province has more than 8 million date palm trees. The trees produce a large amount of agricultural waste including dry leaves, stems and seeds. “A quarter of the date palm is waste and many of the farmers burn that waste, which of course produces CO2 emissions and harms the environment,” says Alyahya. “We are really concentrating on how to convert this waste to energy.”
An international group of researchers, including scientists from Iowa State University, is investigating how the latest technologies can turn the waste into renewable energy forms like biomass, bio-oil and biogas.
The researchers are using the new technique of autothermal pyrolysis, developed by Iowa State University’s Bioeconomy Institute. The process is simpler and cheaper than conventional pyrolysis and does not require an external energy source.
“If we achieve this goal to convert the waste of date palms into energy, Saudi Arabia will have a reduction of almost 8,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions,” says Alyahya. “We will stop burning the waste of agriculture and at the same time create richer products.”
Solar power research is another focus for Qassim University. Dr Muhannad Alaraj, an assistant professor in the university’s Department of Electrical Engineering, is exploring how photovoltaic panels can transform light into power.
“We are investigating the economic effectiveness of PV panels in the Al-Qassim region. We’re also studying the effect and forecasting for those PV panels and we currently have a small PV system from which we are collecting the data,” says Alaraj.
“We have to consider the weather conditions and meteorological parameters. This is really important because in our region we have mostly sunny days, but sometimes there are sandstorms or clouds. We are trying to see the effect of this weather on PV panels. This will be really helpful to build a model to predict or estimate how much power or energy we will get from this PV panel each day.”
As one of the world’s most water-scarce nations, Saudi Arabia also needs innovative ideas for renewable water sources.
Dr Saleem AlSaleem, from the College of Engineering, is working on water and wastewater treatment, such as greywater treatment and using solar energy to treat saline water. His team is also developing solutions for solid waste management and tackling noise pollution.
AlSaleem is a member of the university’s Sustainable Development Centre, which oversees Qassim’s progress in its sustainability initiatives. The centre runs four greening projects, focusing on the curriculum, the campus, research and the university as an organisation.
AlSaleem and his colleagues say collaborating within and outside the university is important for a successful research project. Qassim’s scientific research deanship has launched a number of international cooporation grants and encourages faculty members to apply. “We can improve our work by encouraging collaboration,” says AlSaleem. “I am working with water companies and municipalities inside Saudi Arabia, and we also collaborate with researchers outside the country. For example, I am working with one professor in Malaysia and another in Italy.”
The university’s future research into sustainable developments will be boosted by a recently announced research chair for artificial intelligence. The chair will fund studies into AI across the university, including in agriculture and engineering.
“I’m currently working with five teams to see the role artificial intelligence can play in agriculture and renewable energy,” says Alyahya.
The Network Water Quality Conference continued its activities today, at the King Khalid Cultural Center in Buraidah, where three dialogue sessions were held that included 8 working papers.
The first session, chaired by the Vice President of Qassim University for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, Dr. Ahmed Al-Turki, discussed three working papers on the first of which came under the title "Quality of groundwater" by Dr. Hussein Al-Ajmi Groundwater, where he explained that it constitutes approximately 98% of fresh water and constitutes almost 60% of the sources of drinking water supply projects in the Kingdom, while the second paper was entitled "Plastic pipes used for drinking water in networks and homes" in which Engineer Turki Al-Shahrani talked about the advantages of plastic pipes and that they Environmentally friendly, while Dr. Ahmed Al-Arifi presented the third paper entitled "Desalination Industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" in which he touched on the water challenges facing the Kingdom and the history of the desalination industry and some statistics locally and globally.
The second session, chaired by the Director General of the Water Regulation Department at the Ministry, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Shuaibi, discussed three working papers, the first of which dealt with "Promising desalination methods" presented by Dr. Ibrahim Al-Mutaz, in which he explained that there are techniques still in the process of experimentation such as desalination by the process of humidification, dehumidification, desalination by freezing method and others, and the second paper discussed the topic of "Optimal design of water purification plants to reduce waste from wastewater" by Dr. Mohammed Heikal, in which he explained that water purification plants produce daily quantities of The third paper was entitled "Specifications of transported water and its impact on the shelf life of transport systems and their reflection on the quality of water arriving to the consumer" presented by Dr. Saud bin Murshid, in which he highlighted the operational technical specifications applied to the transport systems of sweet water in the Kingdom.
The third session, chaired by Dr. Bader Al-Baridi, former Director of Studies and Designs Department at the General Directorate of Water in Qassim, dealt with two working papers, the first of which discussed the topic of "Protection of buried carbon iron pipes used in the transport of water from corrosion", in which Eng. Hamad Ababtain spoke about the importance of protecting carbon iron pipes because it is the nerve of the project to continue serving as long as possible, while the second and last paper in this session was presented by Dr. Ali Al-Hamza entitled "Monitoring of organic and inorganic pollutants in the water produced." From the plants of the Saline Water Desalination Corporation" in which he pointed out that the World Health Organization's standard specifications for drinking water showed the results that organic and inorganic pollutants in the water produced from desalination plants are within the limits allowed by the World Health Organization.
Qassim University signed a contract for the second phase of the project to complete the infrastructure of the university city with the Saudi Foundation for Reconstruction with a total value of 59.919.321 riyals during a period of 24 months.
The contract was signed by His Excellency the Director Khalid bin Abdulrahman Al-Hammoudi, while the Contracting Corporation was represented by the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors Bashir Abdul Hamid Omar Al-Azam in the Great Meeting Hall at the headquarters of the University City in the suburb of Al-Melida in Buraidah.
The contract includes the implementation of a number of projects such as the infrastructure of the Faculty of Medicine building, the university hospital building, the university sports city project, the ring road surrounding the university, sewage projects, drinking water feeding networks, fire and irrigation, high-pressure projects for university electricity, telephone network and communications.
After signing the contract, His Excellency the Rector of Qassim University expressed his happiness with this giant project, which will serve Qassim University, God willing, and be an important factor in its progress and advancement to continue its lofty goal of serving the people of the region, pointing out that there is a third phase that will be completed in the future for these and other projects of the university such as university housing for faculty members, conference building and others.
He pointed out that the Center for the Study of Female Students will be one of the future projects, God willing, which the university will be keen to establish an academic educational zone for female students, thanking him for the support of His Highness the Amir of the region in this regard.
He thanked the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince Al-Amin for their clear efforts in supporting the educational process of the university, noting at the same time the budget of the good that was adopted for Qassim University.
