The completion of a 850,000 square foot residential living area at the Texas A&M-Qatar campus will mark two monumental occasions. It will be the world’s first residence hall to meet the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum ranking and become the largest collection of Platinum buildings in one location.
Buildings obtaining the LEED Platinum level must demonstrate the highest quality in five areas of human and environmental health – sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
Twelve buildings will make up the living area, including residence halls, computer labs, prayer rooms, community centers and a cafeteria. Each one is vital to creating the sense of community important to the Qatari culture, said Residence Hall Director Christopher Silva.
The halls will implement the latest innovations in energy saving technology, reducing energy use by half compared to its non-green counterparts.
Solar panels covering the roof and wind turbines will be able to generate 12 percent of the building’s energy needs alone.
Sunlight transport devices will be installed to light inside hallways during the day that are not in contact with the sun. This technology uses solar lenses to capture and transfer direct sunlight through fiber optic cables to places it would normally not reach.
The buildings will utilize low-flow water fixtures and gray water capturing systems. The gray water systems use bio-mass walls to filter water from sinks and showers and reuse it for gardening, water fountains and toilet flush water.
Other features will include a double security system that requires access cards and fingerprint identification to permit entrance into the residence halls.
Smart-room technology will allow the students to be directly involved in the conservation process. They have control over the temperature, lighting and even music, which will turn off and on whenever the students leave or reenter the room.
“Their energy use would be connected to their behavior,” Silva said. “We hope with all these things in place we would be showing the students how their behavior affects the environment.”
The designs have been completed and construction is set to begin soon. The administration said they hope to have the buildings ready to house students by fall 2011.
While Education City’s residence halls accommodated 320 students, the project will add living quarters for 1,200 more students – nearly half the student population.
Education City Student Housing and Residential Life received the Qatar Today Environmental Leadership Award in 2008.
“Qatar Foundation’s commitment to have all of the residence halls certified at this highest level indicates [their] desire to have immediate positive impact on the environment while providing experiential living that will produce long term education about ‘green’ living to students of Education City,” said A&M-Qatar Student Affairs Program Coordinator and Interim Associate Director Jeffrey Sulik.
Onlinedougklembara.wordpress.comDoug Klembara shares his experiences at Qatar through photography.