Retrofitting measures for energy saving will be implemented in 9 university buildings of three Mediterranean universities. Here is presented the pilot sites of An-Najah National University, Palestine.

— LOCATION —

The An-Najah National University is located in Nablus (Fig.1) and consists of five campuses; namely, the ‎New Campus, the Old Campus, Hisham Hijjawi College of Technology, Khadouri Campus in ‎Tulkarem and An-Najah National Hospital.

Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern region of the West Bank, approximately 60 kilometers north of Jerusalem. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, Nablus is considered the largest commercial and cultural center in Palestine. Founded by the Roman Emperor, Vespasian in 72 CE as Flavia Neapolis, the city has been ruled by many empires over the course of its almost 2,000-year-long history

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 Fig.1. View of Nablus

—  HISTORY —

The history of An-Najah National University began in 1918, since it was established as a primary school- An-Najah Nabulsi School- educating students from Palestine and abroad.1941: The University was named “An-Najah College” , in 1965 An-Najah became a teacher preparation institute, also granting intermediate university degrees in various fields of study. In 1977 An-Najah evolved into a full-fledged university, “An-Najah National University,” with a Faculty of Arts and a Faculty of Sciences. It joined the Association of Arab Universities (AARU) as a full member. In 1978,The faculties of Economics, Administrative Sciences, Educational Sciences and Engineering were inaugurated.In 1981, The first Master Degree Program was established in curricula management at the Faculty of Educational Sciences.

The Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences was established in 1978 and began classroom instructions in 1978/1979.When the Faculty first started, it had only two departments: The Department of Business Administration and the Department of Accounting. However, to meet the changing needs of the Palestinian society and to contribute to the economic and social development process, four new departments were introduced that all lead to Bachelor Degrees and offer four Graduate Programmes.

An-Najah National University Libraries are an extension of An-Najah School and An-Najah Community College library. In 1998 the Diana Tamari Sabbagh Main Library was built in the center of the Old Campus.

— CURRENT SITUATION —

Three pilot audits will be implemented at An-Najah University : Library , Faculty of economics and social studies, and Faculty of educational sciences. The three red cycles in Fig.2.

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​Fig.2. Location of pilot sites at An Najah National University

The buildings are used for various different academically purposes such classrooms ,offices, library, laboratories... The faculties consist many departments each consists of classrooms equipped with computers and flat-screen monitors as well as internet services to enrich the learning environment and promote technology in education.

The library offers several services to meet the needs of students and staff: Circulation Service, Photocopy Service, Electronic Databases on CDs, The Internet, Multimedia Centre, and Video Conference Room (Fig.3).

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 Fig.3. The library at An Najah National University

— RETROFITTING MEASURES —

Currently, the whole buildings (Fig.4) needs a series of refurbishment to improve comfort, environmental quality and energy efficiency. This requires high levels of performance for usability, safety, comfort and management classes of needs. The building is inadequately insulated and presents low energy efficiency of artificial illumination, insufficient heating system and single glazed windows without shading systems. The on-line Management control system which will be equipped in ERC ( Energy Research Center) facilities at An-Najah National University will represent the added value of the complex .

The buildings are not equipped with Building Energy Management System (BEMS) and the management of the buildings will be controlled by an online Management control system . The University should be able to maintain, enhance and manage their real estate assets in order to produce social benefits (implementation of institutional goals) and economic benefits (reduction of management costs and possible production of income).

To cover the shortage of supply, solar PV systems will be installed in the two faculties. ANNU team started the design and evaluation process of the PV power plant which shall be delivered and installed at the following sites: Faculty of Educational Sciences and Teachers' Training building (System capacity around 85 kWp) and Faculty of economics and social studies building (System capacity around 55 kWp), the penetration factor will be around 70% of consumption of these buildings.

The energy efficiency of lighting, HVAC systems will be improved, power factor correction technique, and a high efficient equipment’s will be used in all pilots buildings, the saving will be around 20% of consumption.

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Fig.4. View of a building at at An Najah National University