In this course you will start by identifying the different steps a HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) engineers need to follow to come to a proper design while collaborating with the architect. You will then learn how to distribute heat and cold using air and water systems, what temperature levels to use in both and how that relates to the type of energy supply and to the thermal quality of the building construction. You will further deepen your knowledge on air handling units and how to humidify and dehumidify air when needed and what that does mean for the energy consumption. As ventilation systems are often responsible for local thermal discomfort, you will also discover how different distribution systems lead to different comfort experiences and different indoor air qualities and you will know which simple control techniques can be applied. Finally you will study a modern complex system consisting of an aquifer thermal storage, heat pump, boiler, solar collector, PV-cells, air handling unit, water and air distribution systems. This will allow you to develop skills to catch the complexity of such HVAC systems and to understand the basic rules of how to control them to get the best out of them and how to use data from the Building Energy Management System to help you in this task. This course is part of the PCP Buildings as Sustainable Energy Systems. In the other courses in this program you can learn how to design buildings with low energy demand, how to choose low carbon energy supply and how to determine if this will lead to a comfortable indoor environment. The development of this course is supported by Climate-KIC.

Even in the well-accepted indoor temperature range of 20-24°C (68-75°F), people can experience thermal discomfort. Complaints about the indoor thermal environment are one of the major complaints building and facility managers have to deal with, and they spend a large amount of their time and money to solve them. People spend more than 80% of their time in buildings. Therefore a good thermal comfort and quality of the indoor environment are essential for their wellbeing, health and productivity. In this course you will learn how to ensure good indoor thermal comfort and air quality, and how these factors relate to building design and to buildings’ energy systems. Comfort complaints mean user dissatisfaction, which in turn means delays and resistance to accept technologies needed for low carbon emission buildings. So if you want to discover what to pay attention to in your energy designs, or in designing new concepts for sustainable buildings, this course is for you. First you will discover the two main theories of thermal comfort, learning which measurable physical parameters and combinations of parameters impact people’s comfort. Second, you will understand why it is so difficult to create indoor environments satisfying everyone and which main parameters to tune to make buildings comfortable. Third, you will discover how to measure, analyze and solve existing comfort complaints, and finally you will find out what determines a healthy indoor air quality. This course is part of the PCP Buildings as Sustainable Energy Systems. In the other courses in this program you can learn how to design buildings with low energy demand, how to choose low carbon energy supply, and how to control and optimize HVAC systems. The development of this course is supported by Climate-KIC.

Building construction is one of the most waste producing sectors. In the European Union, construction alone accounts for approximately 30% of the raw material input. In addition, the different life-cycle stages of buildings, from construction to end-of-life, cause a significant environmental impact related to energy consumption, waste generation and direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. The Circular Economy model offers guidelines and principles for promoting more sustainable building construction and reducing the impact on our environment. If you are interested in taking your first steps in transitioning to a more sustainable manner of construction, then this course is for you! In this course you will become familiar with circularity as a systemic, multi-disciplinary approach, concerned with the different scale, from material to product, building, city, and region. Some aspects of circularity that will be included in this course are maximizing reuse and recycle levels by closing the material loops. You will also learn how the Circular Economy can help to realign business incentives in supply chains, and how consumers can be engaged and contribute to the transition through new business models enabling circular design, reuse, repair, remanufacturing and recycling of building components. In addition, you will learn how architecture and urban design can be adapted according to the principles of the Circular Economy and ensure that construction is more sustainable. You will also learn from case studies how companies already profitably incorporate this new theory into the design, construction and operation of the built environment.

The course introduces the basic elements and trends for performing a through built environment assessment and develops the tools for urban sustainability policy impact analysis. During the first week the dimensions for urban sustainability are introduced first through an analysis of the classics, later followed by a master lecture on climate change by Nobel prize winner Edward S. Rubin and ending with an interview of the late Nobel prize winner Sir Harold Kroto on Nanoscience. The second week builds the connection with the tools available through science for making our cities sustainable. The first video develops the possibilities of Nanomaterials, followed by the key impact of Green Infrastructure on the city metabolism and ending with an analysis of the role of smart grids on energy distribution for the future cities. Week 3 the core chapters for assessment and impact analysis of the built environment. The first video develops the theoretical framework followed by the necessary Integrated Design approach to the assessment and impact evaluation presented on the last video. Along the fourth week the main techniques for modelling a city are put together for understanding their essence and field of application. Beginning with the most detailed approach (BIM), the prevalent Life Cycle Analysis follows to end with an economical point of view through business models formulation. The last week (fifth) the final envisaged paradigm of the circular city is presented starting from the grounding concepts which are developed in the proposed Circular City model. As a final point the Sustainability Plan for the University of British Columbia is analysed.

First, we'll begin from the year 1868 with Japan's emergence as a new nation. Its new and increasingly Western-style capital city of Tokyo grew upon the foundations of a far smaller seventeenth-century town called Edo surrounding a feudal castle. Before long, changing building methods and materials foretold a different age. By the turn of the twentieth century, a strong contrast between the old-style, low, wooden, Japanese structures and up-to-date modern buildings, first distinguished by red brick and later by industrially produced materials, was clearly visible to any and all. We'll discuss the intensive process of Westernization set in motion by Japan's imitation of European and American lifestyles. From that angle, we'll see how architects began to seek out their own version of early twentieth-century Modernism. As a starting point, Japanese practice followed the novel rational and "functionalist" innovations of the Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier and the stripped-down and up-to-date approach of Walter Gropius, director of the famous German art school known as the Bauhaus. Meanwhile, Japan had embarked upon educating its own architects, who were no longer the older skilled master carpenters trained on site. A distinct, if frequently eclectic, style evolved with a few younger Japanese seeking experience abroad. Our course seeks to discuss and illustrate the roots of Modernist building in Japan over approximately three quarters of a century in Part 1.

Reduction of energy consumption of buildings is an important step in the move towards a sustainable economy. How can buildings be made net zero energy, in different climates? This course introduces you to zero energy design. It will teach you a stepped approach to design a zero energy climate concept for existing buildings: homes, schools, offices, shops etc. It will demonstrate how an integrated approach, which takes into account both passive measures (such as thermal insulation and sun shading) and active measures (such as heat pumps and photovoltaic panels), can deliver the best results. It will do so by providing you with an overview of possible measures, and through reviewing several case studies of zero energy buildings in the Netherlands, with lessons for other climates as well. Thus, you will learn which measures are most suitable for individual buildings under local climate conditions. This course is for anyone interested in making buildings more energy efficient, who already possess basic technical knowledge.

This course offers an interdisciplinary approach to sustainabilityin Architecture. Learners will be introducedto the basic elements of sustainability assessments (first model layer), as well as trends informing the space today. The coursework enables students to develop a conceptual neighborhood model for assessing performance and urban policies. In the first week,participants willlearn todevelop a conceptual model from the architectural elements of buildings; the basic building blockof which will be theperformance of materials. The second weekexploresmethods of optimizing performance. Coursework willdetail the needs and constraints inherent in selecting materials and neighborhood urban elements (the second model layer for green, blue and grey infrastructure). In the third week, learners will developthe basic tools for introducing energy and measuring the potential impact on climate change (CO2). A new layer (third) on our neighborhood stainability model, this will be approached from a global perspective. In the fourth and finalweek, the course will explore techniques for a joint assessment directly connected to policy issues.

Architecture engages a culture’s deepest social values and expresses them in material, aesthetic form. This course will teach you how to understand architecture as both cultural expression and technical achievement. Vivid analyses of exemplary buildings, and hands-on exercises in drawing and modeling, will bring you closer to the work of architects and historians. The first part of the course introduces the idea of the architectural imagination. Perspective drawing and architectural typology are explored and you will be introduced to some of the challenges in writing architectural history. Then we address technology as a component of architecture. You will discover ways that innovative technology can enable and promote new aesthetic experiences, or disrupt age-old traditions. Technological advances changed what could be built, and even what could even be thought of as architecture. Finally, we'll confront architecture’s complex relationship to its social and historical contexts and its audiences, achievements, and aspirations. You will learn about architecture’s power of representation and see how it can produce collective meaning and memory. Architecture is one of the most complexly negotiated and globally recognized cultural practices, both as an academic subject and a professional career. Its production involves all of the technical, aesthetic, political, and economic issues at play within a given society. Join us as we examine how architecture engages, mediates, and expresses a culture’s complex aspirations. This course is eligible for American Institute of Architects (AIA) continuing education units (CEUs). Enroll in the course to learn more about options for earning credit.

Are you interested in studying architecture or urban planning? This course will help you understand what spatial design professionals really do, so you can decide if this is the right profession for you. First, we’ll learn about the built environment, and the kinds of challenges and opportunities that architects and planners grapple with. Then we’ll discuss five short examples based on real projects. In each example, we will focus on the role played by different spatial design professionals, including urban planners, urban designers, landscape architects, architects and interior architects. You’ll gain a good understanding of what each spatial design profession does, so you can make an informed choice about what to study. The course will also be useful for anyone who needs to interact with spatial design professionals, and would like an insight into their different roles.

Groundscape is a neologism resulting from the combination two words: ground and landscape. As a new field of research for architects, designers, and urban planners, this unheard-of form of subterranean architecture explores and investigates the universe of possibilities that lie beneath the surface of our cities. The idea of Groundscape proposes a different way of experiencing the earth underground by offering a resilient, responsible, aesthetic, and durable response to the many urban challenges our cities face today. Founded by prof. Dominique Perrault in 2013 at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) the SubLab is an academic Think Tank and multidisciplinary research platform dedicated to the investigation of the underside of our cities. Alongside SubLab instructors Richard Nguyen, Ignacio Ferrer Rizzo, and Juan Fernandez Andrino you will participate in an unprecedented design oriented online course, where you will acquire the fundamental skills necessary for the conception of your own underground project. Since 1985 Prof. Dominique Perrault has designed more than 55 Groundscape projects over a period of almost 30 years.