Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• To develop a deep understanding of principles of building physics at the system level to guide the design of zero-carbon buildings
• To understand methods and tools used for quantifying energy efficiency of buildings
• To understand the design of heating, cooling, and ventilation in buildings

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• evaluate alternative energy systems and buildings technologies against energy consumption for a given context.
• design and evaluate energy efficiency of buildings
• understand the factors that influence and control the movement of air and heat in naturally ventilated buildings.

Content

Designing sustainable buildings requires making choices among various building materials and components, and more efficient use of energy and natural resources. In order to do so, the building structure, the building fabric and the building services must be understood both in individual detail and as interacting systems. For example, the need for energy must be analysed in conjunction with energy production for heating and cooling, distribution, thermal storage and the end-use in buildings. The module first introduces students to energy-efficient building systems and other advanced building physics topics. It subsequently describes energy modelling techniques for analysing buildings as a system of interacting components and processes leading to low-energy buildings that satisfy occupant comfort systems and technologies. The module aims to develop a deep understanding of how fundamental principles of building physics are integrated at the system level to guide the design of zero-carbon built environments.

Energy Efficient Building Systems & Building Performance Modelling (6 hours, Choudhary/Fitzgerald)

• Introduction to energy demand in buildings
• Introduction to building performance simulation
• Introduction to data-driven performance assessment
• Integrated design of heating, cooling, and ventilation systems

Ventilation: creating air movements for the supply of fresh air and removal of stale air (10 hours, Hunt)

• Natural ventilation of modern buildings
• Displacement ventilation & thermally stratified flows
• Mixing ventilation
• Airflow through vents
• Transient flows through rooms & night purging
• Steady flows through rooms & heat source modelling
• Sizing ventilation openings
• Low-energy design