In September 2007, a research Romanian institute (IPA SA) and four Romanian universities (WUT, PUB, TUT and UAUIM) started a research project on “Promotion of Solar Architecture in Romania” (PASOR), [1]. The project will be concluded in September 2010.

The main issue proposed to be solved by the project refers to the opening of a solar building market. The methods proposed are focussed on the two target groups:

• raising the public awareness of the environmental degradation, especially now when it was proved that the effects of human action upon nature have devastating consequences on the one hand and on the other one when the European energy market had suffered another shock through the increase in the price of natural

gases; information regarding how to use renewable energy sources, pointing out the economical advantages deriving from them;

• offering tools and training to experts by elaboration of concrete solar architecture solutions.

• To fulfil these goals, the following specific objectives were proposed:

• Initiation of a network for monitoring the solar energy on tilted surfaces, including: design, practical achievement and calibration of the measuring instrumentation;

• setting up of two measurement centres for meteorological parameters and data acquisitions in Bucharest and Timisoara;

• development of a software program for the estimation with an acceptable accuracy of the solar energy collectable in other locations than those selected within the project;

• creation of a web-site allowing on-line access to the data base

• The data base developed at the first specific objective represents the main source of information in dimensioning the photovoltaic systems. As such, we want to develop interactive software to facilitate the process of designing grid-connected or stand-alone PV systems, with on-line access on the website of the project.

• Elaboration of technical solutions for PV systems integrated into facade and roof elements — private or public buildings: schools, libraries.

• Installation of three demo PV systems, and their monitoring, through measurements for an entire year, at three public buildings visited both by experts and by the public, in Bucharest (terrace covering at UAUIM and window of BIPV Laboratory at PUB) and Timisoara (roof of WUT).

• Intense dissemination activities: promotion of the idea of PV architecture through the organisation of a workshop, inviting representatives of potential promoters: companies from the architecture, building and energy fields of activity as well as specialists from the National Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology;

Measurable objectives:

• Promoting the increase in the percent of renewable energies in the energy balance of Romania. Promoting efficient installations and building them at lower cost price, would aid Romania’s rapid integration in the EU structure, which established as one of its priorities the development and use of renewable energies. Furthermore a decrease in the import of raw materials such as crude oil, natural gas and coal would be registered.

• Education of potential users through the presentation of the advantages in using those installations, which could aid environmental protection and decreasing greenhouse effect.

As specified, the project objectives are focused on the main objective of the programme, aiming at the acceleration of the process of harmonisation with EU standards and requirements in the building construction area. Considering that the use of renewable energy is a priority both for the European Commission and for Romania’s Government, the proposed project relates correctly to the priorities and specific objectives of the European Research Area. The objectives aim to introduce a new concept in urban development by promoting a new science, the photovoltaic architecture, and to initiate R&D activities in this area. All of these stress the complex interdisciplinary character of the thematic approached in this project.

For the first time it has been necessary to monitor solar thermal performance on a daily basis in order to provide proper billing and performance review. Previously metering was simply not completed and the owner had no idea whether the solar system was performing or not. This undoubtedly led to client frustration when systems did not appear to be impacting utility bills as anticipated.

No solar thermal-specific data monitoring or metering equipment existed at any scale in North America prior to the build out of Mondial’s projects. Mondial therefore sourced its metering capabilities from Europe. First of all Mondial focused on small scale district hot water heating metering calculators as the key data acquisition component: flows and temperatures are consistent with those found in typical solar thermal installations. Secondly the market for flow meters available in North America is focussed on industry use and their typical high flow rates for a given pipe diameter, whereas low flow measurement is crucial in capturing all the flow and therefore available revenue in solar thermal. Imported flow meters have permitted capturing a single fixture unit (e. g. a shower) in a 50mm domestic hot water pipe, rather than having the meter cut out due to low flow conditions.

Another key aspect for Mondial has been the ability to demonstrate to our clients their system’s energy production in real time. Mondial worked with a leading renewable energy metering company to modify their existing solar electric systems to work with thermal meters. The result has been the first real time monitoring of solar thermal systems in North America.

This has permitted client-friendly readings of carbon offsets and easily understood energy generation details.

Crucially for Mondial this data acquisition has permitted ongoing refinement of system design; minute by minute flow data has provided accurate usage profiles for different building types while domestic cold water temperatures have allowed model input data to properly reflect system behaviour over time.

Additionally Mondial has been able to take this data and prove coincidence between hot water usage in multi-residential buildings and peak electrical system load days. While intuitive, we have been able to demonstrate that peak electricity consumption coincides with peak solar activity at the exact hours when the system is under strain, and that during these key peak hours Mondial’s storage tanks and hot water delivery temperature grade ensure that electric hot water heaters are not in operation. This means that investment in solar thermal for a building with electric hot water heating can directly offset requirements to invest in new power plant production and constitutes a fuel switch strategy away from electricity, without the need to move to natural gas or other carbon- based sources.

Finally remote metering allows Mondial to view energy generation monthly on line and issue invoices without the need to visit sites, eliminating geographic constraints for system installations.

1.3. Commissioning

Analogous to the green building movement currently gaining momentum in North America, solar thermal systems simply do not perform well unless thorough commissioning takes place during the design, construction and operation phases. For Mondial this has meant reviewing our suppliers’ designs during the energy modelling and design stages, and also helping them modify system specifics (collector numbers, storage volumes) based on experience gained from Mondial’s pre­existing data. During build out Mondial now has access to real time performance data permitting peak and transitional collector performance review. This has provided the contractor the ability to optimise flows to ensure resulting energy capture.

From a financial point of view Mondial also needs to understand how its systems perform compared to their predicted energy models, on which investment decisions are made. Ongoing data review results in refined performance models that contribute to better performance certainty, and therefore economic predictability. This is inherent risk mitigation from our funders’ point of view.

1.4. Maintenance

Mondial’s success depends on ongoing system performance. Mondial has therefore had to develop maintenance specifications and negotiate annual maintenance contracts with providers. Again this is an activity that had not been completed at any scale or replication in the solar thermal industry.

1.5. Conclusion

In moving to a Power Purchase Agreement model for the delivery of solar thermal energy, the necessary advancements in metering, data acquisition and commissioning have pushed the solar thermal industry to new heights of service, quality and energy delivery certainty.

There are several options of renewable energy systems available in the market, in this study were considered the solar thermal (ST) and the photovoltaic (PV) systems. This two system were adopted, since they have shown to be effective in urban environments, special in southern european climates, where sun irradiation is high.

DHW represents a significant share of the overall energy demand, making it a preferential target for renewable energy use. Thus, a solar thermal system is used to supply the DHW. In adition we also considered the use of solar thermal to supply hot water to the washing machines (MHW) and the heating needs of the house. The auxiliary energy of the ST and the cooling (and heating in some scenarios) needs are supplied by a heat pump with an average COP of 2.5.The PV system is sized so that it supplies all the electric needs of the house, including the electricity needs of the heat pump on a net yearly basis.

2.3 Solar thermal system

The solar thermal system is composed by: a reservoir and a set of solar thermal panels with 50° inclination facing south, as discussed, a heat pump provides the auxiliary energy, needed to maintain the water in the reservoir above 43°C. The inclination of the thermal solar panels was optimized using the simulation software EnergyPlus. When the water in the reservoir reaches very high temperatures (80°C) a heat rejection system is used.

It has been edited a leaflet for diffusion of solar cooling, in which era described the different technologies, as well as are given some useful links where to look for extra information.

2. Conclusions

Whit the project Best Result has pretended to develop the RES with different approaches: analysis of the situation by means of surveys sent to different actors on this sector; diffusion labours at two levels: for public in general and on the other hand for technicians and people already involved on this sector. CARTIF, as partner of the project, among other topics have been in charge of the solar cooling topic, falling a structure similar to the one of the whole project.

Its necessary to thanks to all the participants on the project and to the European Union, the effort done for the promotion of the renewable energies as an option for the future that allows having a cleaner environment and less contaminant processes for energy production.

References

[1] BEST RESULT (2008) Page Web: http://www. bestresult-iee. com

[2] SACE: Solar Air Conditioning in Europe. Final Report, EU Project NNE5-2001-25, 2003

[3] TRNSYS 16 Documentation. A transient Simulation Program. Solar Energy Laboratory, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2006

[4] U. Franzke, Uwe, C. Seifert Solar Assisted Air Conditioning of Buildings, IEA Task 25, Subtask B: Design Tools and Simulation Programmes, Documentation for the SolAC Programme, Version 1.2, 2004

[5] H. M.Henning, J. Albers, Decision Scheme for the selection of the appropriate technology using solar thermal air-conditioning. Guideline document, International Energy Agency (IEA), 2004.

Finance was raised from the public and private sectors, including SSEG, the Scottish government and several renewable energy companies. Some companies donated equipment rather than cash. In total, a sum equivalent to approx EU20,000 was raised. This allowed a van to be purchased and equipment bought. We decided to call the van “Solar One”, because it is the first of its kind in Scotland.

2. Planning and conception

It was decided that the van should be propelled as far as possible by renewable energy. Research showed that electric propulsion was not feasible because of lack of range and lack of facilities for recharging. The best alternative was bio-diesel and this was the preferred option. Therefore a second-hand diesel van (Ford Transit) was purchased for about EU 10,000. No engine modifications were needed and the van can run on any mix of fuel from 100% bio-diesel to 100% mineral diesel. No problems have been encountered.

In the design, built-in, customized environment-friendly, zero electricity refrigerators, and built-in energy efficient lights are among the features that help to bring down energy consumption in the home while ensuring comfort levels

S. Camelo and H. Gonsalves

INETI, Department of Renewable Energies, Campus do Lumiar do INETI, 1649-038 Lisbon, Portugal
Corresponding Author, helder. goncalves@,ineti. pt

Abstract

This paper presents an overall review and synthesis of building construction studies and activities in the field of Bioclimatic Buildings, carried by an Iberoamerican network supported by the CYTED Program. This network, include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Paraguay and Spain in a total of 14 Institutions. The main goal of this network is to improve the use of renewable in social housing programs as also to improve the design and implement bioclimatic strategies in this type of building in those countries. This project aims also to help to came closer the main actors in the field in order to set up local or national programs in social housing, putting together these actors at national level, developing ideas, projects, legislation, conferences, seminars or networks. During these three years project, an important review of building construction has been set up, discussed and presented in several main seminars (El Salvador, Mexico and two in Argentina). In this paper a national review of projects and building constructions are presented and discussed in most of these countries as also the main ideas and goals for each of the participants.

Keywords: Social buildings, renewable energies, bioclimatic design.

1. Introduction

The Project started in 2005 and was defined a base program with four main tasks: 1) survey and revision of the constructive practices, passive systems and renewable energies use, systematization of the information in order to define, for each country, the sustainable measures to be implemented; 2) thermal performance evaluation of some buildings and systems; 3) development of building guide lines; 4) dissemination actions.

In the first year the participating countries have done a considerable effort in the survey of the case studies and the results were presented in a Seminar, open to all Argentine groups, in October in San Martin de Los Andes. The main results were published in the proceedings “Bioclimatic Buildings in Iberoamerican CountriesWos Edificios Bioclimaticos en los Paises de Ibero America “ [1].

In April 2006, at El Salvador, a Seminar was undertaken on “The use of solar energy in social buildings “Uso de la Energia Solar para Viviendas y Edificios de Interes Social” and in the CYTED meeting was decided that all groups should be familiarized with buildings thermal and energetic simulation methods in order to evaluate the thermal behaviour of the social houses case studies selected. For that purpose was organized in June, at University of Sao Paulo, a Workshop in order to allow to all the network groups evaluate the thermal performance of the implementation of the corrective measures namely at the building external envelope. Three months later, at Buenos Aires, a

CYTED meeting was undertaken in order to discuss the first simulations results and to overcome the difficulties founded by each group.

In 2007 two Seminars of dissemination and technological transfer were done, one in June Mexico D. C. under the titles “Social Buildings in Iberoamerican countries’Yos Edificios de Interes Social en Ibero America” and the other in November at San Luis, in Argentina, “Buildings in the Future, Bioclimatic Strategies and Sustainability’Yos Edificios en el Futuro, Estrategias Bioclimaticas y Sustentabilidade” [2].

This year a Seminar will take place at Lisbon in next October open to all the scientific community and also the final meeting in order to make the balance of the network contribution in each participating country. The network in all countries wherever organized seminars always meant to be open to others groups and to promote and enhance discussions of these subjects.

The population selected for the transference was the following:

— In the village of Antofagasta de la Sierra: students, parents and teaching staff of the N° 494 Secondary School.

— In the settlement “Los Bajos”: 36 persons with family ties sharing their habitat. They are 6 family groups with different internal structure.

1.2. Transference methodology

■ Firstly, the technicians in charge of the field work were trained to develop their activities in both locations with the purpose of giving them the necessary tools to comply with their duties, taking into account the fact that they receive the users’ comments and thus are able to suggest modifications in order to improve the devices to be transferred.

■ In the village of Antofagasta, data were collected in order to become familiar with the population practices related to the use of wood in the school and family environment so as to generate discussion about the land degradation problems and the possibility of using alternative energy sources. The technology use and maintainance was accomplished in practical ways during training workshops carried out in the school building so that the kitchen staff could work together with the technicians, thus being able to acquire skill in the different procedures.

■ In the village of Antofagasta, diffusion started in the school because the socio-cultural and educational activities of the population are concentrated in this institution. Demonstration workshops were thus conducted with the participation of the school staff during which different meals were cooked. The idea was to train the people in charge of meals preparation and, at the same time, make the students aware of the advantages of solar technology, so that they could later become multiplying diffusion agents.

■ In “Los Bajos” the time to make the technology known was connected with the life objectives of the families and with the production of symbolic representations. The changes generated were monitored so as to help the participants to take ownership of the alternative energy in their daily activities. Simultaneously, quantitative and qualitative

analyses about these daily applications were carried out. The techniques used were: participant observation, case histories, focused interviews, “leam by doing” technique and workshops to develop training related to the use, preservation and cleaning of the solar cooker. In order to obtain a collective overview, the nominal group technique was applied.

■ Later, in the same location, the emphasis was placed on the creation of three micro

enterprises for the elaboration of bakery products, handmade jams, and pickled vegetables using, mainly, the solar technology. These enterprises were proposed taking into account the participants’ previous knowledge so as to change retail sales for sustainable strategies. Monitoring and evaluation indicators were considered to measure the impact of the activities in family lives. The basic strategy for skills and capacities development and knowledge acquisition was the training by means of workshops and working spaces where family members interested in the micro enterprises were given technical support and in situ exercises. The experience was systematized for proper analysis and improvement and for eventual replicability.

The experience in both locations was developed in 18 months.

During the still construction and upon completion of the still, the students’ understanding of the construction process was reinforced through first-hand experience. Math problems were used that required students to interpret project plans and calculate material takeoffs thus strengthening students’ knowledge in one of their weakest subjects. The students’ knowledge of the natural physics in solar distillation was acquired during still construction and seeing the still in operation.

Students’ comprehension of solar distillation was tested at the beginning of still construction and throughout. In the practical labs, time was allotted by the teacher for the construction of the improved solar still with small groups of students. The practical lab monitors helped to manage groups of students performing project construction, increasing project involvement and building capacity.

The solar still and the solar flat-plate collector were not completed during the school year, due to difficulty in obtaining materials, as well as comprehensive senior testing at the end of the year. The improved solar still construction was completed during the summer, with the help of a few motivated students who took the initiative to come back to school to help. Distillation results are still pending.

Each group has its particularity, teaching topics and training system:

-1st group: we propose to have a demonstrative truck equipped with various materials gadgets educational tools to be shown to the students when visiting schools in coordination with the ministry of education and Lebanese center of energy conservation project (LCECP) which is a joint project between the Ministry of Energy and Water (EWM) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The truck shall be provided with enclosure with sufficient space that would accommodate the renewable energy demonstrative equipment and materials along with the educational and awareness tools. The truck would enable the students to check how these equipment work and energy being transformed from one type to another (Solar to Electricity, Solar to thermal wind to Electricity, Hydro to Electricity etc.). These demonstrative equipment and materials shall be the following:

Solar water heater with hot water storage tank 80 l.

PV cells including batteries, inverter and charger.

Small wind turbine/ generator.

Hydro turbine.

Various measuring devices.

Others.

The truck shall also be equipped with educational and awareness tools that can be used during demonstration like: TV, DVD player, sound system, CD’s, brochures, pamphlets, etc… with small desk cabinet for PC station.

The truck enclosure shall be equipped with roller shutters that can be closed during transportation and opened during demonstration and exhibition purposes.

-2nd group: 2 types of educational programs can be provided for this age group.

1- Academicals level in Laboratories through experiences, performance of thermal collectors, photovoltaic demonstration center, wind energy, hydroelectric, etc

2- At practical level including installation, manufacturing and assembling works, as for example the following procedures:

To assemble and weld a flat plate collector with its different components.

To assemble photovoltaic cells with inverters and batteries.

To assemble a small wind energy.

It is important, in this age group, to give the students in the same time a real educational and training program based on both theoretical and practical aspects insisting in the meantime on the services that the use of this type of energy can provide.

-3rd group: Each university has its own educational program for renewable energy courses, the experimental side as well as solar projects executed and developed by the students-engineers within their universities courses and graduation studies must include various solar energy applications as per following example:

AUB (American University of Beirut-Large established university,6000 population, Engineering faculty):

-Present a course MECH 517(Energy Efficient Buildings)that involves all aspects of Buildings physics and design including the impact of solar heat gain/losses and the use of active and passive systems.

• Several news courses now added under a new MS track in

• Weather station with logging of all relevant solar data

• Research on solar systems:

o — Experimental assessment of refrigerant filled solar heat pipe system o — Assessment of solar-driven absorption refrigeration systems o — Environmental chamber for use in many experiments o — Solar-thermoelectric concentrator system with full tracking capability

• Involves students in group projects under the Senior design course auspices.

Some projects that have been accomplished are:

o Solar Distillation

o Solar disinfection of water using solar energy. Temperature, bacterial counts and o Design aspects.

o Solar heating of a university room using an air-collector with circulator and distribution

o system.

o Installation and testing of trough concentration system with assessment of possible o applications.

o Hybrid solar, thermoelectric portable trough for electricity generation. o Assessment of solar heat gain and ventilation in a stationary automobile. o Solar heat gains in university buildings with software usage.

HCU (Hariri Canadian University-small new university,800 population, Engineering Faculty)

• — Presents a course MECH 545 on fundamentals of solar energy and basic solar thermal

• design with the following objectives:

• — Familiarize students with basic solar nomenclature and definitions.

• — Acquaint the students with the basic underlying principles at play in solar energy use

• — Impact on the students a basic understanding of the fundamentals of solar collector

• design.

• — Demonstrate to students how to roughly assess solar collector performance.

• — Motivate the students to apply solar energy where possible.

• — Train students in critical thinking as related to feasibility and environment.

LAU (Lebanese American University)

Students At the Lebanese American University are exposed to renewable energy concepts at various levels. An elective environmental science course is given including a significant portion dealing with renewable energy. Students have successfully constructed a solar cooker as a part of their work for this course. In addition, Biodiesel synthesis is undertaken in organic chemistry lab experiments and Dr Ahmad Houri and his students have won a national award for their work on this project.

Aside from course work, students are often exposed to research and review related to evaluating the implementation of various renewable energy technologies for the benefit of electricity supply and consumption reduction in Lebanon.

-4th group: The educational and awareness program should be coordinate with many national players as:

• Syndicate of Engineers and Architects in Beirut-Lebanon.

• Industrial Research Institute (IRI).

• National Council for Scientific Research (NCSR).

• Ministry of Energy and Water.

• Ministry of Education.

• Ministry of Environment.

• Ministry of Public Works.

• United Nation Specialized Agencies like UNIDO and ESCWA.

-LSES Solar seminars:

The Lebanese Solar Energy Society (LSES) has developed with the Syndicate of Engineers and Architects in Beirut its 1st solar energy meeting on march 02 by defining the role of the Syndicate in developing and integrating the use of solar energy in buildings as well as other topics during the past 6 years LSES has developed a software calculation program for solar thermal system applied to Lebanon with the following design and usage guidelines:

The program is a tool that helps in sizing solar systems used for domestic water heating.

The program is a guideline to determine the feasibility and the pay back period of the solar system.

Three types of solar panels with different efficiencies and gross areas are given for selection; they are based on real brands available in the market.

The number of panels to be input by the user, and then the solar ratio to be checked such that it covers the target heating capacity without exceeding a certain pay back period.

As an economic guideline, a minimum ratio of 70% for the worst month can be targeted.

A choice of hot water (50 Deg C) use per person is given based on European standard figures:

Residence: 50 lit/person/day

Hotel: 180 lit/person/day

Hospital: 100 — 140 lit/person/day

Restaurant: 18 lit/meal/day

In order to maximize collectors efficiency it is recommended to select the size of the tank based on the maximum need per day during the year, or daily heated water.

The energy cost for electricity and fuel can be adjusted by accessing the data sheet.

It should be noted that the program leaves room for the engineer judgment to suit variable conditions that can not be limited by few choices.

-Architectural integrated solar system.

The Syndicate has also imposed in the construction permit file the integration of thermal solar system for hot water production in the architectural drawings mainly on roof by mean of a reserved area on roof for implementing the solar panels as well as the necessary shaft and space in the mechanical room for the hot water storage tank.

-Norms in association with LIBNOR.

Establish the appropriate norms as per EN norms including Solar standards and certification procedure manuals (already established by LSES and delivered to the LCECP and MEW), thanks to UNDP and MEW for choosing LSES as a solar thermal expert for the development of a Lebanese solar standard in collaboration with the Lebanese Norms Institution LIBNOR.

-Testing facilities by IRI.

Certifications and test facilities in coordination with the IRI. This laboratory will be launched end 2008 and will deliver certificates for thermal solar manufacturer in order to increase the quality of local production reduce the cost and create more jobs opportunities in this field.

-Incentives and encouraging laws by the Government.

-Training courses within CE program and European Embassies (Italian, German, etc…) to train the plumbers in performing good work based on good knowledge in

Type of solar panels.

Type of storage tanks.

Pipe work, insulation and heat exchangers.

Control system.

Commissioning and start up procedures.

3- Conclusion

The proposal objectives and impact are:

Increase the level of awareness in relation with the use of Renewable Energy technologies and equipment on National level with emphasis towards schools and universities.

Support on developing capacity building of Lebanese engineers on Renewable Energy technologies.

Set up a “quality label” for enhancing the renewable Energy components and especially the solar ones for the satisfaction of the end user by implementing a tested and certified solar collector product as well as related services.

Create a partnership with the Lebanese media to cover these activities.

Strengthen the economy and create new jobs.

Distribute solar prizes for distinguished renewable energy application projects in each age’s group, one example is the solar prize, within the solar schools-Brighter future Grand prize competition gathered in Orlando-Florida-USA from 6th to 12th of August 2005 to celebrate the anniversary of the ISES. (Students from grade 1-9 i. e. primary and secondary). LSES was pleasantly surprised when ISES informed the Board that two students of the “Bawaba Al Ouzai” Institution in Beirut — Lebanon won the 1st international grand prize.

Plan regular visits to sites in the country and in the region involving Renewable Energy applications in general and solar ones in particular.

Establish an Energy center at a large scale including basic demonstration examples for all ages and integrating most of solar applications. This energy center will use the maximum of renewable energy technologies in the building in order to offer a show-case for the integration of renewable energy technologies including:

• Electricity production with PV.

• Geothermal heating and cooling system.

• Solar hot water distribution system.

• Together with energy efficiency measures like:

• Insulation of facade and roof.

• Double glazing and high performance window.

• High efficiency and low consumption lighting system.

• Natural ventilation system.

• High performance mechanical equipment

Furthermore it will offer measurement and experimental platform in renewable energy applications.

References:

MEW-UNDP: project No LCECP -09/07 Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Educational Demonstrative Truck.

Dr. Rida Nuwayhid — Hariri Canadian university — College of Engineering — e-mail: nuwayhidry@hcu. edu. lb

The Renewable Energy House — Europe’s headquarters for Renewable Energy EREC.

"Chemical Aspects in the Development of Innovative Environmental education approach". Ahmad Houri and Hassan El-Rifai. Proceedings of "International Conference on Environmental Research and Technology (ICERT)", pp 618-620. May 28-30th, 2008, Penang, Malaysia.

"Impact of Rising Fossil Fuel Prices on the Use of Solar Thermal Collectors in Lebanon". Ahmad Houri. Proceeding of the "World Renewable Energy Congress IX", p221. August 19-25* 2006. Florence, Italy.

"Biodiesel Preparation as an Educational Tool" Ahmad Houri and Dany Doughan. Proceedings of the "World Renewable Energy Congress VII" p529. June 29th — July 5th, 2002. Cologne, Germany.

"Biodiesel Out of Waste Cooking Oil" Ahmad F. Houri, Hiba Moubayed. Project presentation at the "Fifth Conference and Exhibition — LIRA (Lebanese Industrial Research Achievements)", November 27th to December 2nd, 2001. Beirut, Lebanon.