Environment I: Environmental Systems / Energy in Buildings

This course introduces architectural design responses for energy conservation and natural conditioning, human comfort, and the site-specific dynamics of climate. Students will be expected to combine an understanding of the basic laws of comfort and heat flow with the variables of local climate to create energy design guidelines for design work. To stress the significance of architectural design decision-making on energy consumption and comfort, full design specifications and calculations will be completed for a residential or small commercial scale building. Students will compile a professional energy consultant's report, designing the most viable energy conservation retrofit measures for their client from siting, massing, organization, enclosure detailing, opening control, to passive system integration and management. An overview of world energy consumption in buildings and energy design standards will be illustrated by lectures on building energy conservation successes, and emerging demands for a broader definition of sustainability.