Benchmarking of Energy Consumption in Higher Education Buildings in Saudi Arabia to Be Sustainable: Sulaiman Al-Rajhi University Case

Abstract

Electricity is used in educational buildings, and there are now numerous attempts to reduce consumption, achieve sustainability, and protect the environment. This paper aims to study energy consumption, identify opportunities to rationalize energy consumption, and propose solutions at Sulaiman Al-Rajhi University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in order for the university campus to become sustainable. The results showed that total annual electrical consumption totaled 13,859 MWh in 2021. The air conditioning system, other devices, and lighting have the percentage of consumption 79, 14, and 7% of the total, respectively. Electricity consumption intensity was approximately 145–155 kWh/m2, and the per capita intensity was approximately 12,987–16,351 kWh, in the period 2017–2021. The price of the electrical energy generated on the university campus ranged between 0.3 and 0.53 SR/kWh in 2021, while the electricity tariff from the grid for educational buildings was 0.18 SR/kWh. This means that the public grid was 50% cheaper than campus-generated electricity. At the price of energy generated by generators, the total simple payback time (SPBT) for the suggested energy conservation measures (ECMs) is 4.13 years, whereas the SPBT is 8.96 in the case of the consumption of the electricity supplied by the national grid. The environmental benefits of the proposed ECMs were also identified.