NEARLY ZERO ENERGY BUILDING IN AL KHOBAR, SAUDI ARABIA (A Residential Building )

According to the “BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2017”, Saudi Arabia was the world's 10th largest consumer of total primary energy in 2016. It can provide itself completely with self- produced energy and the main source of energy production are the Fossil Fuels. The total consumption of electric energy per year is an average of 8,889 kWh per capita, and the energy needs are going to grow faster in future because the fast population growth, the high economic growth and the low energy prices. The buildings residential, governmental and commercial in KSA consume 80% of the electricity generated in the country, while AC represents more than 70% of this consumption, followed by lighting and appliances. This study aims to demonstrate the feasibility of a nearly Zero Energy multi-layer residential building in AlKhobar, a main city in the Eastern Province on the coast of the Persian Gulf, characterized by a hot and humid climate. This study will study the current energy situation of the country and specifically of the city in case. Afterwards, in view of a residential project, it will be necessary to get closer and learn more about the culture of local living. In this sense, the Saudi home will be analyzed and the concept of privacy, which largely influences the aspects of Saudi living and housing, will be studied in depth: It is a society that tends to choose to live in types of single family houses, but lately, for economic reasons, young people are looking for apartments that conciliate their cultural needs with economic ones. In fact, an annual rent of a single-family villa is as expensive as buying an apartment. One of the challenges, that will be faced in this project, is to adapt a multi-layer residential building to the users' needs so that it can become their choice. In this case, the main features to satisfy would be: privacy, spaciousness and typical internal distribution. Furthermore, the research will present how much the Saudi Arabia has rich potential for solar energy due to its position and will proved the PV panel high power potential in Al Khobar city . The nZEB project, will adopt some technological material choices and passive strategies, considering as much as possible the materials present on the Saudi market, to improve the passive performance and the energy efficiency of the building. The passive strategies and choices are: using PCM (phase change material) , increasing the insulation thickness, Installing double glazing windows, reusing a traditional element “Mashrabyya “ (wooden baluster) taking advantage of its environmental functions, using solar protection devices, Installing a canopy over the roof and scheduling the HVAC system according to the periods in need. The model for an energy simulation will be developed within the WUFI PLUS software, which allows to simulate the progress, the efficiency of the materials and the energy demand for heating and cooling of the building within a year. Having obtained the result of the simulation regarding the cooling and heating energy needs and adding the energy needs of household appliances, the photovoltaic system will be sized to be installed on the roof.