Building Standards to Minimize Water Use

Energy Saving and Water Conservation

Energy Saving

Currently LAU consumes around 24 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electric energy and 5 million kWh of thermal energy per year, generating the equivalent of the CO2 emissions produced by around 7,000 cars.

Recognizing the importance both of environmental sustainability and of maximizing our community’s ability to work to its fullest capacity, we are constantly exploring ways to conserve energy, operate efficiently, and introduce renewable energy sources

Water Conservation

Our campuses use around 100,000 m3 of water annually, enough to fill nearly 40 Olympic swimming pools. We are tirelessly working to reduce our water consumption, harvest rain water and recycle gray water for irrigation.

Here is what we are doing to achieve these goals:

Green Awareness

We are continuously sensitizing the LAU community about the importance of energy and water resources and their conservation and actively engaging them in this endeavor.

We have launched an awareness campaign with tips for saving water on campus, in dorms, or at home. Posters were placed in restrooms and on bulletin boards throughout LAU, coupled with a short video on campus TV screens, the LAU website, and social media channels.

On August 26, 2022, the LAU Facilities Management Department in collaboration with the Association of Energy Engineers – Lebanon Chapter organized a site tour for LAU and non-LAU students. This initiative was part of the “internship in energy and sustainability” program by AEE Lebanon. Interns got the chance to tour the Byblos Campus, visit the High Performance Infrastructure Utilities as well as the LEED Gold Joseph Jabbra Library and Riyad Nassar Central Administration buildings.

Measure It to Manage It

A metering plan is underway for the whole university to establish benchmarks and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for continuous resource monitoring and management.

Pilot projects are underway at the Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury Health Sciences Center and the Tohme-Rizk Building in Byblos, as well as the Adnan Kassar School of Business and Wadad Sabbagh Khoury Student Center in Beirut.

Energy Efficiency and Renewables

We are implementing projects to reduce energy consumption and generate energy from renewables.

• The Byblos Library and Riyad Nassar Central Administration project features power and hot water generation from the sun.
• The same building will feature a solar tracking system.
• Beirut’s Wadad Sabbagh Khoury Student Center has been outfitted with a solar water heating system.
• Preliminary studies are underway for the introduction of solar water heating at Beirut’s indoor pool and the Byblos dorms.
• Several new and renovated classrooms and offices feature occupancy sensors that automatically regulate air-conditioning and lighting.
• CO sensors control the operation of the ventilators at the Byblos Underground Parking proportionally to the pollution level.
• We are currently retrofitting low consumption lighting fixtures throughout the university.

Water Efficiency and Re-use

We are implementing projects to reduce water consumption, harvest rain water and recycle water for irrigation.

• We have tested water saving devices in offices and dorms and implemented the same at the Tohme-Rizk building in Byblos as a pilot project, achieving savings of around 29 percent.
• Our Byblos campus features wastewater treatment plants. Treated water is being reused for irrigation, which will be further increased with the upcoming Byblos infrastructure project.
• The Byblos Library and Riyad Nassar Central Administration project features rain water harvesting and reuse.
• The Byblos Library and Riyad Nassar Central Administration project has been designed with low flow sanitary fixtures, achieving 35 percent water use reduction.
• We have surveyed all the water fixture types on the Byblos campus and are currently drafting a master plan to determine and implement possible further water saving measures.

Certify Your Space (initiative in progress)

We invite all departments, offices and units to implement sustainable practices into your day-to-day operations. This will motivate and engage participating staff to lower waste and consumption habits, improving their overall environmental performance while saving energy and water and reducing costs. 

The Physical Plant will recognize your work by certification, installing a plaque at your office in recognition of your achievement. We will also list your office online on LAU’s list of certified green offices.

Water Consumption Figures

Sustainable Design and Construction

Green Building Certification

We are committed to developing sustainable buildings that reduce resource consumption while protecting the environment and providing a high indoor environmental quality. Increasingly, our building projects involve certifying our buildings by means of green building rating systems, thus obtaining recognition and creating further awareness.

On the Byblos campus, two buildings have recently followed this path:

The Library and Riyad Nassar Central Administration buildings were being constructed with USGBC’s LEED gold certification in mind.

The Tohme-Rizk building in Byblos has obtained the International Finance Corporation’s EDGE certification, becoming the first EDGE certified office building in Lebanon (PDF - 0.7MB). This will will result in reductions of 41 percent in energy, 29 percent in water, and 34 percent in materials’ embodied energy compared to local benchmarks. It will reduce, at no additional capital cost, utility expenses for the building by around $600 each month, in addition to saving the environment 21 tCO₂ per year.

High Performance Renovations

We aim at transforming LAU’s campuses into high performance facilities, one project at a time, without necessitating large budgets for the retrofitting or replacement of inefficient installations. For example:

• Byblos’ Architecture L1 renovation was designed and is being executed with energy conservation features.
• Beirut’s Wadad Sabbagh Khoury Student Center renovation was designed and executed with water and energy conservation features.

Green Design Guidelines

We are in the process of establishing guidelines for green criteria/systems to be adopted in all of our designs. These would consist of solutions that are most relevant to our culture and to our university’s context, most technically appropriate to each building type, and most financially feasible. We are currently identifying the appropriate systems and will launch this initiative in 2016.

Tohme Rizk Office Building

Operating under a charter from the University of the State of New York, the Lebanese American University is a private higher education institution that has eight schools and more than 8,000 students. The Byblos campus is located 35 kilometers north of Beirut on a plot of land approximating 175,000m2 with a built-up area of around 80,000m2.

The EDGE-certified retrofit of the university’s Tohme Rizk Office Building incurred less cost than a conventional approach would have. The university, at no additional capital cost, will reduce its utility expenses for the building by US$600 each month, in addition to saving the environment 21 tCO2 per year. While the EDGE certification system is intended for new buildings, exceptions are made for project owners who have an ambitious outlook and wish to set an example for what can be achieved.

Predicted Savings of EDGE Certification

Part of the energy efficiency percentage may be associated with virtual energy for comfort depending on the presence of heating and cooling systems. Note that virtual energy does not contribute savings to utility bills.

Technical Solutions

Energy

Reduced window to wall ratio; external shading; air conditioning with air-cooled chiller and a high COP; variable speed drives pumps; and an energy-efficient lighting system. 41% Energy Savings

Water

Low-flow faucets and dual flush water closets. 29% Water Savings

Materials

Concrete filler slabs for floors and solid dense concrete blocks for walls. 34% Less Embodied Energy in Materials

J Jabbra Library & R Nassar CA BLDG.

Address: Blat, Byblos, Lebanon, 0000

Rating system: LEED BD+C: New Constructionv3 - LEED 2009

Project info

Gezairi Building

LAU expanded its facilities with the acquisition of the Gezairi Building, a purchased complex that underwent a major renovation completed in Summer 2021. Located in Sadat Street, it provides needed spaces aligned with the University’s academic programs growth and is the home of the School of Architecture and Design, with a built-up area of 18,932.4 m².

Another Sustainable LAU Facility

Gezairi building has already achieved a preliminary sustainability EDGE certification (Excellence for Design and Greater Efficiencies) and is currently in the final audit phase; it has successfully achieved the following:

• 28% in Energy Savings
• 24% in Water Savings
• 27% Less Embodied Energy in Materials