Monday 17 / March / 2025
Muscat: A two-storey eco-house will open soon at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU).
The house will open for the public from February 21, according to a SQU media official.
“The building form, shading system, special thermal insulation material, and climbing plants have been used to build the house and it will contribute to a saving of 40 per cent of the electricity compared to the average energy consumption of modern Omani houses,” Professor Awni Shaban of the Civil and Architectural Engineering department said to the Times of Oman.
He said that the size of each floor is 142 metres. Solar panels cover the roof and provide all the electricity to the house.
“The plants were carefully selected to stop sunlight from heating the house. We picked plants that do not need lots of water and don’t cause issues with the soil,” the SQU professor said.
“We designed the house in a way that cool air will enter lower windows of the house to cool the house and exit at upper openings, similar to traditional Omani architecture,” Shaban said.
A water fountain is also neatly placed in the house, and together with the plants keep the place cool,” he explained. “The fountain pumps cool water that is stored 4 metres under the ground,” Shaban said.
Black water (waste water) is cleaned and recycled to irrigate the plants. Researchers, engineers, environmentalists, and students have been invited to visit the house next February.
