Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022
This course provides undergraduates and graduates with an introduction to issues of physical building performance including building thermodynamics, daylighting, and solar control. The course presents the fundamentals of building science while recongnizing the evolving nature of building technologies, energy efficiency, ecology, and responsible design. The course begins with a detailed explication of the thermal properties of materials, heat transfer through building assemblies, balance point temperature, solar geometry, and shading analysis. Students apply these principles later in the course to a design project. The latter part of the course also provides a survey of broader building science topics including mechanical system design, microclimate, and current developments in energy-efficient design.
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Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Physics or equivalent, or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 3 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Architecture/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Instructors: Brager, Schiavon
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