Hadram Bin Shalan was the object of neighborly scorn when he announced plans to build a guesthouse out of recycled materials in southwestern Saudi Arabia. Seven years later and the former science teacher earns a healthy sum each time he rents out the building, which is made from iron, bricks, tiles, and wood taken from nearby construction sites, for weddings and other events. He told Al Arabiya News, who interviewed Bin Shalan at the Abha property gifted to him by the government, that the guest house will bring him income now that he is retired.

Not so sexy, but…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFnkt1xrrjs[/youtube]

The guest house may not be the most attractive environmentally-friendly building we’ve featured on Green Prophet decorated as it is in the plush style so common among Arabs with gold trimmings and other lush finishings, but its socio-cultural significance is enormous.

In general, the people of Saudi have a tendency to value luxury over economy, status over health or environmental concerns, and typically reject anything that doesn’t come out of a glittering box. A quick look at some of the so-called sustainable development projects emerging from the kingdom will give readers a sense of the standards that most Saudis aspire to achieve.

A coup!

So it is a real coup than an educator, a respected position in Saudi society, should eschew such social norms in order to build a home by himself (without hiring a pile of workers from East Asia for piddling wages) out of scraps that he collected. They aren’t even hand-me-downs. These are discards. Unwanted materials. And for most Saudis, untouchable.

Instead of relying on someone else to do the work for him, Bin Shalan learned how to install his own plumbing and electricity (no solar sadly). As a result, he managed to complete the project at half the cost of an equivalent guest house. And now this space is among the most-coveted in the neighborhood. So much so that people are willing to pay over $500 to rent it for one event!

Although Bin Shalan admits that the seven years it took to make the guesthouse a reality cost him a lot of effort, he is getting ready to start another one next door and expressed a desire for other Saudis to take heart.

“I hope that young Saudi men will follow in my footsteps in all fields, not just in construction or electrical work but also in other fields,” he told Al Arabiya.

:: Al Arabiya News

More on Architecture in Saudi Arabia:

Sustainable Architecture Saudi Style: King Abduallah Financial District

Proposal for Riyadh’s Celebration Hall in Saudi Distorts Bedouin Values

Saudi Adds a Splash of Green to Royal Weddings

The post Saudi Teacher Built a Funky Guesthouse Out of Recycled Materials appeared first on Green Prophet.

Saudi Arabia has no intention of falling out of power when its oil runs out, which is why the kingdom has backed a potentially “game-changing” solar cell project in Canada. Already the Gulf country has diversified its energy portfolio by building solar energy projects such as the 500-kilowatt plant located on Farasan Island – a sure sign that its leaders are preparing for peak-oil, which is expected to affect the world population as soon as next year.

But if we have any chance of off-setting the worst effects of climate change and saving our species from extinction, solar technology has to outstrip the cost and convenience of fossil fuels and nuclear. Canada Research Chair in nanotechnology Ted Sargent has persuaded Saudi that his postage stamp-sized solar cells have significant potential. The kingdom is so convinced, in fact, they have given him $10 million to perfect this tiny technology, which is painted with quantum dots.

Cutting out coal

The Middle East and North Africa have enough solar energy to power the world three times over, but tapping into that energy is not so easy. At the recent Desertec Conference in Cairo, we discovered that Concentrated Solar Power technology which requires water to cool its turbines is completely inappropriate for water-scarce environments, and the cost of developing photovoltaic and other solar technology is slowing down the process of implementing these technologies quickly enough to mitigate the effects of carbon emissions in our atmosphere.

But according to the Vancouver Sun, Sargent’s solar cell could change all of that. For a maximum of $20, he and his research team can apply a special paint containing quantum dots on as much as 3.28 square feet of solar cells. When the sun hits the electrons present in this paint, it excites them, creating energy.

PhD student Illan Kramer told the paper that they are able to manipulate the cells to optimize their performance. “By changing their size, we can change the colour and type of light they absorb,” he said. Nor is the team restricted to harvesting energy from visible light, since the quantum dots are excited by energy in infrared light as well, from which half of the earth’s solar energy is sourced.

Harvesting solar contact

This project does not come without drawbacks. At present the cells are only able to capture energy from roughly 6% of the light that bounces off them. This is partly because the energy created needs an appropriate exit that is prevented by any kind of impurity or space, creating a blockage.

Although an improvement from the 0% of energy harvested when Sargent first conceived this idea several years ago, it won’t be a genuine game-changer until the postage stamp sized cell is able to use at least 10% of the energy with which it comes into contact.

Saudi’s energy hegemony

After that, the applications of this technology are nearly limitless. Sargent told the Vancouver Sun that it sees a future in which electronics, cars and rooftops will be coated with this special paint, and even wide swaths of desert. Saudi has recently announced plans to license this technology, presumably to maintain its hegemony in the energy world.

This time, they won’t be looking to fossil fuels to maintain the wealth behind such absurd projects as the world’s newest tallest tower. They’ll be peering into the sun instead.

:: Vancouver Sun

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