Introducing Climate Engineering in the Building Sector in Lebanon as a tool for Comfort, Sustainability and Economy

For my individual project, I will work on studying the advantages of introducing climate engineering as a tool to increase user’s comfort, promote sustainability and provide an economic solution for buildings in a specific area in Lebanon. For this, I will carry out a study on an existing building (case study) in the Bekaa area in Lebanon. The study will include analysis of the existing building envelope and HVAC requirement to operate the building. Then I will assess the behavior of the building and work on reducing the energy required to operate it, this will be done primarily by introducing strategies that take advantage of the prevailing natural resources (solar, wind, etc) in order to increase user’s comfort and maximize sustainability; knowing that Bekaa’s climate has a lot of advantages (i.e. abundant time in comfort zone, low humidity, prevailing sun, etc). The study will also include a cost benefit analysis in which current running costs of the building will be estimated and then costs for adopting any of the presented strategies. The aim behind this study is to come out with a simplified construction guideline for improving existing facilities or developing new facilities with the advantages of employing sustainable elements related to the local climate.
I will target a school facility since it presents a good case study and potential site for implementing such concepts due to the large number of users which might require different ambient conditions and due to the high running costs; which in this sense allows them to be keener for adopting the project.

Mentor: Peter Voit

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