The Civil Engineering Section of Shinas College of Technology organized a one day field visit to the Eco-house at the Higher College of Technology (HCT), Muscat on Oct 12, 2015. Dr.Mahmoud Khazalah, Head of Civil Engineering Section and Mr. A. Kandasamy, a lecturer from the same department accompanied five BTech (Project A) students on this visit.

The purpose of the visit was to acquire practical knowledge of what a Green Building is or does, and to understand the main aspects of it.

At the beginning, Dr. Issa and Ms. Muna of HCT enlightened the student-visitors about the concept of an Eco-house.

The main features of a Green Building include: extensive usage of green materials, maintenance of a high-quality indoor environment followed by an interior and exterior landscaping of the building. Also, efficient utilization of water and the usage of renewable energy are other vital characteristics of a Green Building.

Dr. Issa and Ms. Muna also explained about the Passive House which means making the most of day- light inside the house, thereby reducing the energy requirement.

In the Eco-house at HCT, specially designed insulated double-wall (external and internal) technique is used to reduce the heat load from the atmosphere. Additionally, double glazing technique is employed for the windows. Special inlets and outlets along with heat exchangers assist in improving the environmental quality indoors. The orientation of the house is in a South-North direction. A waste water treatment plant and rainwater storing facilities are also installed in the building.

Solar PV panels have been installed to produce electricity for the building and the excess is fed to the main grid using a bi-directional meter. A solar water heater too has been installed. In this way, renewable energy is utilized as much as possible for the operation of the Eco-house