It is the building enclosure where many sustainable design intentions find their physical expression. Here, as well, is where the majority of legal claims against designers find their expression....
It is the building enclosure where many sustainable design intentions find their physical expression. Here, as well, is where the majority of legal claims against designers find their expression. The building enclosure has three major assemblies-foundation, walls, and roof- each with as many as 10 (or more) components. Sustainable design requires integration of these assemblies and their components in a way that manages the major degradation vectors- water, air, heat, radiation, pests, and...
This course introduces students to frameworks for considering and measuring the social impacts of design. Learning Goals: 1. Students will gain skills in identifying and assessing urban risk factors...
This course introduces students to frameworks for considering and measuring the social impacts of design. Learning Goals: 1. Students will gain skills in identifying and assessing urban risk factors around a design project. 2. Students will be introduced to the use of mapping techniques in the documentation and analysis of social resilience. 3. Students will develop knowledge around identifying and engaging stakeholders. 4. Students will study the processes of urban gentrification and its...
With the development of increasingly sophisticated software, energy modeling has become an integral part of commercial & institutional building design. Making energy performance a manipulable...
With the development of increasingly sophisticated software, energy modeling has become an integral part of commercial & institutional building design. Making energy performance a manipulable element at the earliest stages of building design is essential to sustainable building design. This course will provide an overview of energy modeling of commercial & institutional buildings, an introduction to the most popular energy modeling packages- including hands-on experience with at least one of...
It didn't all start with LEED. Efforts to reconcile the demands of the contemporary built environment with the demands of the natural world and finite resources have been going on around the world...
It didn't all start with LEED. Efforts to reconcile the demands of the contemporary built environment with the demands of the natural world and finite resources have been going on around the world for at least the last fifty years -in some places they have been going on for millenia. For at least the last thirty years, significant green advances in building products, systems, planning and design, and design theory have been going on in Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia-New Zealand as...
While sustainable design principles encompass human health and wellbeing issues, designers don’t often focus on the full range of impacts that the built environment has on public health. This course...
While sustainable design principles encompass human health and wellbeing issues, designers don’t often focus on the full range of impacts that the built environment has on public health. This course examines the intersection of the overlapping fields of green building and public health, with an eye for trends that will guide design practices in coming decades. Participants will explore the direct and indirect relationships that our work has on preventing illness, injury and reductions in...
The concept of an environmentally conscious building should take into account energy consumption, the quality of indoor air, and most importantly human comfort. Indigenous strategies that adapt to...
The concept of an environmentally conscious building should take into account energy consumption, the quality of indoor air, and most importantly human comfort. Indigenous strategies that adapt to the rigors of the local climate and contemporary bioclimatic architecture are part of this introductory course to sustainable design. Participants will be introduced to the human needs for comfort and shelter as well as psychrometrics and the physics of heat transfer and heat loss calculations....
Among the green elements which have come into use over the last twenty years to soften the impacts of buildings on the environment are green roofs. More recently this concept has been extended to...
Among the green elements which have come into use over the last twenty years to soften the impacts of buildings on the environment are green roofs. More recently this concept has been extended to vertical surfaces with the use of green walls, both interior and exterior. Both of these elements have potential and both come with caveats -in terms of their value to the environment and their relationship to the buildings on which they are located. A well designed green envelope can make a...
The existing building stock is here and much of it is responsible for consuming energy, water and other resources at an unsustainable rate from both the environmental and the economic standpoints....
The existing building stock is here and much of it is responsible for consuming energy, water and other resources at an unsustainable rate from both the environmental and the economic standpoints. Focusing on non-residential buildings, this course will examine the issues, techniques and processes that are involved in turning these buildings into sustainable consumers, whether through relatively simple retrofits or major renovations. Among the topics to be reviewed will be assessing existing...
That cities have the potential to be the most sustainable form of human development is coming to be widely recognized, as is the fact that most cities have a long way to go to realize that...
That cities have the potential to be the most sustainable form of human development is coming to be widely recognized, as is the fact that most cities have a long way to go to realize that potential. Progress is being made, however, in terms of improvements to infrastructure and the building stock, innovative transportation and development policies and programs, revised codes, and other measures designed to encourage sustainability. This course will examine the most innovative approaches to...
This course offers an introduction to green building marketing. Students will be introduced to the current market for green buildings. Several methods for making the business case for building green...
This course offers an introduction to green building marketing. Students will be introduced to the current market for green buildings. Several methods for making the business case for building green will be examined. The course will introduce marketing concepts for professional service firms, including architects and designers, engineers and contractors. We will study a variety of means of differentiating a firm in this growth market, including networking, partnering, positioning and...
This course gives students the tools they need to evaluate a material based on how it impacts the built and natural environment. Since people in western cultures tend to spend most of their time...
This course gives students the tools they need to evaluate a material based on how it impacts the built and natural environment. Since people in western cultures tend to spend most of their time indoors, specific attention will be paid to Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). Environmentally responsible materials selection will be discussed, including the importance of waste, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and all aspects of the manufacturing process. Interior design issues that are covered...
This course provides an overview of renewable energy sources and systems available for the built environment including solar energy, wind power, fuel cells, biomass and geothermal. Students will...
This course provides an overview of renewable energy sources and systems available for the built environment including solar energy, wind power, fuel cells, biomass and geothermal. Students will learn to assess and quantify, at the scale of the district and the site, opportunities and challenges to the use of renewable energy including energy generation potential, economic outcome and environmental impact. Students will also learn how to create a detailed renewable energy profile and action...
Resilience is the ability of a system to bounce back from disruptions or interruptions. As climate change advances, we will face increased storm intensity, flooding, heat waves, drought, and...
Resilience is the ability of a system to bounce back from disruptions or interruptions. As climate change advances, we will face increased storm intensity, flooding, heat waves, drought, and wildfire, while terrorism or political strife could result in extended power outages and interruptions in heating or transportation fuels. To prepare for these risks, buildings and communities should be designed to be more resilient. This online course will examine both the context for resilience and...
The interaction of buildings and sunlight is rich and complex. This course will examine the many possibilities provided by the sun to power, light and heat our buildings. These possibilities are...
The interaction of buildings and sunlight is rich and complex. This course will examine the many possibilities provided by the sun to power, light and heat our buildings. These possibilities are affected by geographic location, climate, building site, and building form, orientation, fenestration and thermal mass-all of which will be considered. Passive and active solar thermal systems, solar domestic hot water systems and photovoltaics will be studied along with design strategies to prevent...
This course will examine how communities across the nation are grappling with such smart growth issues as affordable housing, sprawl, urban revitalization, economic development, transportation...
This course will examine how communities across the nation are grappling with such smart growth issues as affordable housing, sprawl, urban revitalization, economic development, transportation investments, and open space protection. These issues are also collectively referred to as sustainable development, growth management or New Urbanism. The course will cover the history of sprawl and current policy debates about land use, urban design, regulation, and public and private investment. The...
As the art and science of sensitively adapting historic buildings for continued and new uses, preservation is inherently a sustainable practice. Learn how old buildings were built with features that...
As the art and science of sensitively adapting historic buildings for continued and new uses, preservation is inherently a sustainable practice. Learn how old buildings were built with features that conserve energy and create a comfortable environment. Develop a framework for evaluating energy-saving options for historic buildings and the special considerations they require. Build your knowledge of current best practices in the field regarding windows, insulation, renewables and more. This...
This course traces the history of the sustainable design movement then introduces its primary tenets using the LEED Rating System as the organizing structure. Readings in the course are drawn...
This course traces the history of the sustainable design movement then introduces its primary tenets using the LEED Rating System as the organizing structure. Readings in the course are drawn largely from Environmental Building News. Online discussions are designed to acquaint the students with the language, philosophy, and principles of sustainable design. This course examines the underlying principles of sustainability and design. The class focuses on environmental sustainability and thought...
Greening healthcare projects should be a no-brainer -what building type has occupants more deserving of a healthy space? Unfortunately, when people think of healthy spaces, hospitals are often among...
Greening healthcare projects should be a no-brainer -what building type has occupants more deserving of a healthy space? Unfortunately, when people think of healthy spaces, hospitals are often among the last to come to mind. The intense resource requirements, code constraints, programmatic requirements and institutional culture can make green building a more significant challenge than with other typologies. This course explores the theories and practices of sustainable healthcare design, what...
As fuel prices and global energy security fluctuate, strategies for designing zero energy homes need to be investigated. A Zero Energy Home is currently a goal and ever present in the media, but not...
As fuel prices and global energy security fluctuate, strategies for designing zero energy homes need to be investigated. A Zero Energy Home is currently a goal and ever present in the media, but not yet accomplished at the level of our technical potential. We will explore the various definitions of Zero Energy and understand the implications of the term within several contexts: bioregional, local, and site constrained. The various energy loads being counted towards the absolute of Zero will be...
Mapping is an indispensable tool for designers, planners, and environmental advocates for the communication of multi-scalar forms, processes, and the systems of our built environment. This course...
Mapping is an indispensable tool for designers, planners, and environmental advocates for the communication of multi-scalar forms, processes, and the systems of our built environment. This course will equip students with the representational, technical, analytical, and intuitive mapping skills that are essential to design research and planning. Through workshops, lectures on contemporary mapmaking, and hands-on exercises, students will unpack these processes while considering the relationship...