DESIGN OF LOW CARBON AND ENERGY EFFICIENT BUILDINGS

The course aims at providing the students with the technical and scientific base knowledge for designing low carbon and energy efficient buildings. After a review of the fundamental thermal parameters governing the thermal and hygrometric behaviour of a building’s envelope and the energy efficiency of mechanical systems, the principles of thermal comfort and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) are introduced and examined in depth.

On these bases, the main techniques and technologies for passive heating and cooling of buildings, as well as the best performing Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) solutions available on the market, are dealt with. A specific module is devoted to renewable energy production from photovoltaic panels, solar thermal collectors, and their integration in existing buildings.

All these topics are tackled with a practical approach oriented towards the professional growth of the student in the broad field of building energy efficiency and sustainability. To this aim, certified software tools for the thermal and energy analysis of buildings – certified by Italian norms and exploitable in the licensed profession – are used along with relevant technical instrumentation.   

Teaching activities will take place in the form of lectures and laboratory activities concerning the topics reported in the “Course Planning” table.

No specific background knowledge is required because during the lectures all fundamental concepts of Building Physics and Technical Systems Design necessary for an optimal understanding of the topic will be recalled.

Lectures attendance is not mandatory but is strongly encouraged for getting the most out of the lectures’ contents and discussion with the instructor and fellow students, which is deemed particularly important especially in the design phase of a building renovation project

Lectures and a project work concerning the energy renovation of an existing building chosen by students.

The project work will be conducted in small groups of 2-3 students each and will cover the following aspects:

·         Functional and geometric characterization of the building;

·         Definition of the main thermal features of the glazed and opaque envelope including thermal bridges;

·         Identification of HVAC systems and water systems;

·         Characterization of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors features (if present)

The design of the renovation solutions and their verification in terms of energy performances will be supported by the use of dedicated software tools developed by ACCA SOFTWARE, and in particular TERMUS-BIM (thermal and energy systems analysis, Attestato di Prestazione Energetica and Legge 10 documents release), SOLARIUS-PV (design of photovoltaic systems) e SOLARIUS-T (design of solar thermal systems).

The details of the activities is reported in the "Course Planning" section of this webpage. 

1. D. Chadderton, Building Services Engineering. Taylor & Francis, London, 2007
2. F. Allard, Natural ventilation in buildings: a design handbook. James & James, London, 2002
3. ASHRAE 2013 Handbook of Fundamentals. ASHRAE, Atlanta, 2013
4. V. Olgyay, Design with climate: Bioclimatic approach to architectural regionalism. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2015
5. B. Givoni, Passive and low energy cooling of buildings. John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York, 1994
6. J.L.M. Hensen, R. Lamberts, Building performance simulation for design and operation. Routledge, London, 2019

The examination of the students will start with the discussion of the building renovation project together with the other members of the design group. Then, each student will be examined individually about the contents of the lectures. 

•         Calculation approach to superficial condensation, mold growth and interstital condensation
•         Calculation of the domestic hot water standard needs and sizing of the boiler
•         Appropriate choice of a heat pump features from a datasheet
•         Differences and performances of traditional and condensing gas-fired boilers
•         Thermal comfort
•         Normative requirements in Italy about building components and energy consumption