Environment I: Climate & Energy in Architecture
This course introduces architectural design responses for energy conservation and natural conditioning, human comfort and the site-specific dynamics of climate.
design decisions are critical for climate and energy, resiliency and equity.
Our commitment to designing net zero energy and carbon positive buildings and communities is critical to environment equity and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This course introduces architectural design responses for energy conservation and natural conditioning, human comfort and the site-specific dynamics of climate. The state of the art in building energy conservation and passive heating and cooling technologies is presented in lectures and supported by readings and assignments. An overview of energy flows in buildings and energy design standards is illustrated by lectures on building energy conservation successes and emerging demands for a broader definition of sustainability. Students compile a professional energy consultant's report for a residential-scale building to understand the significance of architectural design decision-making on energy consumption and comfort. They design the most viable energy conservation retrofit measures for their client from siting, massing, organization, enclosure detailing and opening control, to passive system integration and management.