Since the beginning of its foundation, the university had a commitment to a climate action plan in order to adapt to the effects of climate change. Therefore, it took this into consideration as we can see in its design and took into account the adoption of green spaces to alleviate the heat of the sun and increase the proportion of oxygen in the air, so that the percentage of green spaces reached more than 75% of the total area of land allocated to the campus, i.e. about 103,000 cubic meters and includes more than 2,200 trees. The adoption of green spaces was not limited to the exterior spaces only, but also it was designed in a way that overlaps with the buildings intended for students.
Concerning the irrigation of these areas, the university relied completely on rainwater harvesting through the construction of tanks to collect rainwater to re-pump it and use it for irrigation and at last filtering the remaining to meet the water needs of buildings.
The engineering designs for the shape of the buildings took into account having natural ventilation. As for outdoor lighting at night, the university has relied on a renewable energy system through solar panels as an alternative to fossil fuels to reduce the carbon level.
Total Campus Area:
The following figure (in yellow) shows the total campus area of Wardanieh campus that is about 158.413.9-meter square.
Total area on campus covered in forest and Ratio of Total area on campus covered in forest to total area: (In our calculations, we assume the tree’s coverage radius = 7.5 m).
The following figure shows the total area on campus covered in forest which is about 76.526.5-meter square.
The ratio of total area on campus covered in forest to total area = 76526.5/158413.9= 48.3%.
Total area on campus covered in planted vegetation:
The figure shows the Total area on campus covered in planted vegetation. This area is about 103.578-meter square.
The ratio of total area on campus covered in planted vegetation to total area = 103578/158413.9= 65.3%.
Efficient Energy Appliances and Energy Saving Campaign
As the campus is newly built and is equipped in 2016, the University has put a policy to use energy efficient electric appliances (rated 5 certified for energy savings), including luminaries where LEDs are used in the whole campus (100%). This will use at least 75% less energy, and last 25 times longer, than incandescent lighting according to US Energy Saver.
Smart Building
The Wardanieh campus is considered a smart building facility by using various technologies.
Safety
S2 – Fire-fighting system: it is available in all indoor buildings, through extinguishers, sprinklers, fire hose reel.
S2 – Fire Suppression system: critical zones such as Datacenters and telecom rooms are equipped with fire suppression system (FM200) in case of any fire incident.
S2 – Fire Alarm System: all indoor locations (rooms, corridors, auditoriums, …) are equipped with addressable Smoke/Heat detectors connected via fire rated cables to a central panel in each building (block), then all panels are connected together. Therefore, any fault will trigger a voice and an alarm to catch the attention of the responsible agent to interact. The system is also connected to both GSM and IP network to send emergency messages to the responsible.
S3 – Video Surveillance: the campus is equipped with up to 390 HD CCTV cameras that provide almost 100% coverage of all areas where public move, including administrative areas, classrooms halls, auditoriums, student facilities, open spaces, gardens, parking, roads, …
The monitoring is accomplished through an intelligent system that saves recording from all cameras up to 30 days, and provides a big wall screen (210cm x 371cm) to make real time supervision located in the “Campus Control Room”
Energy
E1 – Monitoring: the university uses an automatic acquisition and logging system of energy consumption for different sources of energy.
E2 – Management: the university uses a high availability automatic management system to manage the electricity usage from the different energy sources.
Water
A1 – Water management system: to monitor the level of water in the different tanks throughout the campus via the campus control room.
A2 – Water Recovery: the university has built a rainwater recovery system for covering the flushing and irrigation for the whole campus. The rainwater fallen on the building roofs and on the roads is collected in 11 tanks having a total volume up to 4987 cubic meters. The collected water is used on the campus for irrigation and services purposes.
Indoor environment
I4 – Passive System: Lebanon has a Mediterranean climate characterized by a long, semi-hot, and dry summer, and a cold, rainy and snowy winter. Fall is a transitional season with a lowering of temperature and little rain; spring occurs when the winter rains cause the vegetation to revive. A South west wind provides relief during the afternoon and evening; at night the wind direction is reversed, blowing from the land out to sea.
Air movement is the most important element of passive cooling. It cools people by increasing evaporation and requires both breeze capture and fans for back-up in still conditions. It also cools buildings by carrying heat out of the building as warmed air and replacing it with cooler external air.
The well-designed openings (large windows, doors and vents) and unrestricted breeze paths inside the buildings provide a passive cooling for all indoor locations.
Lighting
L1 – LEDs: As the campus is newly built, all indoor and outdoor luminaries are LEDs, even the road lighting.
L2 – Sensors: All streets LED lights are equipped with LDR sensors to illuminate automatically at night.
L4 – Natural Light: The locations of the buildings were directed in relation to the north and south points. It is the appropriate direction according to the location of Lebanon. Where the sun rises from the east and sets to the west, passing through the south. This will provide natural lighting starting at 7 am and throughout the year. The square shape of the educational buildings with a courtyard in the middle, and wide glass windows in the east and the west walls, provides ideal natural daytime lighting for the entire building.
Renewable energy produced on campus per year
The amount of renewable energy produced by the campus renewable sources is calculated as follow:
- Solar Power: there are 150 solar panels installed on 78 lighting poles, where each panel provides between 50 to 60 Wh. Therefore, the campus benefits from a total power of: 21,600 KWh per year
- In Total the annual amount of energy produced from renewable sources is: 21,600 KWh per year
Electricity usage per year
The electricity supplying the campus comes from three sources, the first is provided by EDL (Electricité Du Liban), the Lebanese public electricity provider, the second source is the university generators and the third from the renewable energy sources:
- Electricity consumed from EDL and from university generators (Figure 2.18): 717,176KWh = 717MWh(h.1)
- Total energy produced from renewable sources: 21600 KWh (h.2)
The total electricity usage per year in the campus: (h.1) + (h.2) = 738,776 KWh
Ratio of renewable energy produce/production towards total energy usage per year
The ratio of renewable energy produced towards total energy usage per year
= 21,600 KWh/ 738,776 KWh = 2.923%
Elements of green building implementation as reflected in all construction and renovation policy
The green building elements implemented in the campus as reflected in construction policies comprises four axes: site design, indoor air quality, energy savings, and water.
Site design:
- The campus design works with natural features, protecting trees, streams and soils such as gardens, efficient drainage, and energy-saving shade. Most of the buildings are connected to sun and wind to achieve significant energy. Buildings E1-E2 (Faculty of Engineering) and Buildings B and S (Faculty of Business and Faculty of Sciences) are connected via an underground path (buildings 3 and 2).
- The buildings were brought together to reduce impacts, and to provide more green space for the community
The design of each building facilitates the ventilation and the natural light
IUL works on increasing green area inside and outside of the buildings
- Buildings were oriented to take advantage of the dominant angles of the sun and the wind.
- Rainwater was managed by natural drainage and gathered into underground tanks for agriculture and service usage. The relatively small built areas beside the wide planted areas reduce impermeable surfaces.
- Landscaping for sustainability: the university planned to plant more trees and to reduce the grass areas correspondingly. The planted trees are selected carefully to reduce watering and maintenance needs.
Indoor Air Quality:
- The buildings design has taken into consideration giving all offices and classrooms direct access to fresh and clean air coming from the windows. The campus location helps keeping the air cool and fresh, it is located on a hill facing the Mediterranean Sea (around 1 km away) at an altitude up to 100m. It is also located on a place that is away from sources of exhaust and moisture.
- Direct ventilation is available for heating equipment, furnaces and bathrooms.
- The university has implemented a no-smoking policy and use entrance mats that remove dirt from shoes.
Energy savings:
- Trees surrounding buildings can provide shade in summer and repel wind in winter.
- Daylighting replaces electric lights for hours due to the buildings shape and large windows.
Water:
- Efficient irrigation equipment and landscaping techniques were used outdoor to minimize water use.
- Rainwater is taken advantage in irrigation.
- Dual flush toilets were used to preserve water.
- Most planted trees are drought-resistant and supplement sols to improve water retention.
- Drip irrigation and stream-rotator spray are the techniques used for irrigation.
Waste (WS)
Program to reduce the use of paper and plastic in campus:
Program 1: All the papers and cartons in the university stores, and after a certain period, are sold to a factory to be recycled.
Program 2: Plastic bottles are collected for later recycling. The objective is to help deaf persons from the collected amount of this program.
The Sewerage on the university campus is treated conventionally and is connected to the sewage network of Wardanieh municipality.
Water (WR)
Water conservation program implementation
The rainwater fallen down on the campus internal roads and parking areas and on the buildings floors are gathered in 11 underground tanks.
- The following Figure shows the location of the 11 tanks (named R1 to R4 and S1 to S7). The volume of these tanks is about 4,987 cubic meters.
This amount of rainwater is collected from the inside roads, parking and from the roofs of the buildings. Each area is highlighted by a color related to the tank that collects rainwater of this area.
The collected water is used as follows: 80% for irrigation and 20% for service.
- Use of water efficient appliances
Several means are used to reduce water loss in Wardanieh campus:
To reduce water loss in irrigation, drip irrigation and stream-rotator sprinkler technologies are used for about 90% of the plantations and trees throughout the campus.
- In all WC rooms dual-flush toilets are used to reduce the service water loss.
- An electronic system is used to monitor, operate and manage the water distribution between the main tanks and the building water tanks to reduce the loss in water distribution. The following Figure shows the electronic system used to monitor, operate and manage the water distribution.
Transportation (TR)
Number of cars actively used and managed by the University
There are 3 cars used and managed by the university in Wardanieh campus, these cars are used for the shuttle service of the students.
Number of cars entering the university daily
All vehicles entering the Wardanieh campus should have tags with university logo. These tags are available for students, professors (fulltime and part time) and administrative staff who want to access the university with their cars. The number of cars having university tags is up to 235 cars. The percentage of cars with tags entering daily the campus is around 80% from the total cars.
Therefore, the average total number of cars entering daily the university is about 188 cars (235*0.8).
Number of motorcycles entering the university daily
The average number of motorcycles entering the university daily is about 15 motorcycles.
Shuttle services
The shuttle service from Khaldeh campus, Saida old city and from Saida-Beyrouth highway to Wardanieh campus, is available regularly and without any charge for all students, professors and employees.
Number of shuttles operated in IUL University
There are two types of shuttles to transport students, professors and employees:
- Three shuttle buses owned by IUL University.
- Four shuttle buses operated by a transportation company, having a contract with the university to transport students.
Therefore, the total numbers of shuttle buses are 7.
Average number of passengers of each shuttle
The capacity of each shuttle bus is about 20 passengers.
Total trips of shuttle services each day
For each working day, there are:
- 6 daily trips to transport passengers from Khaldeh campus to Wardanieh campus.
- 6 daily trips to return back passengers from Wardanieh campus to Khaldeh campus.
- 15 daily trips from Wardanieh campus to Beirut-Saida highway.
- 15 daily trips from Beirut-Saida highway to Wardanieh campus.
- One daily trip from Saida old city to Wardanieh campus.
- One daily trip from Wardanieh campus to Saida old city.
