Course syllabus

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Course-PM

ACE285 ACE285 Integrated sustainable building design, civil engineers lp2 HT24 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Contact details

Examiner

Lecturers/Supervisors

  • Mats Persson, PhD student, Division of Building Services Engineering, matsp@chalmers.se 
  • Joel André Slunitschek, PhD student, Division of Building Services Engineering, joelandr@chalmers.se 
  • Despoina Teli, Associate Professor, Division of Building Services Engineering, ACE, teli@chalmers.se 
  • Max Tillberg, Chief Executive Officer at EQUA Solutions AB

 

Course purpose

The aim of the course is to equip students with the necessary skills and abilities for the design of sustainable buildings by integrating environmental, functional, technical, and aesthetical qualities in a design concept. Furthermore, students shall be able to cooperate over professional boundaries in the design processes. They are also expected to be able to formulate and communicate their main ideas and goals orally and in written form.

 

 

Schedule

20241119_ACE285_schedule.pdf

TimeEdit (Time edit shows also the collaborative moments with ACE560, please refer to the PDF schedule and ask the teachers when in doubt)

Course literature

Literature will be distributed in connection with the exercises, if needed.

 

Course design

The course deals with the building design process following an integrated approach where multiple design, sustainability, and performance criteria are taken into account throughout the design process. The course consists of a design project in which architects and engineers cooperate in groups. This cooperation in an multidisciplinary working environment prepares students for working in integrated design teams in their professional life. The project work includes site visit, consultation with stakeholders, and group supervision meetings.

The main part of the course consists in the project work. Students are expected to independently identify a design challenge they want to solve and develop the strategy to solve it using simulation and optimisation. The teachers will support the students in supervision meetings but the students need to drive the projects themselves, There is no predescribed problem solving strategy. It is one of the learning outcomes for the students to develop and implement the strategy themselves. 

To support the project work, lectures and workshops are given on relevant topics and tools (energy, Life Cycle Assessment, climatic design, HVAC). Furthermore, tutorials on the software IDA ICE and CAALA will be provided. In addition, students ae expected to explore the software themselves and support each other.

Students are expected to manage the workload in the group themselves. Any group problems should be reported as early as possilbe to the examiner.

Mandatory events were attendance is required are marked in the schedule. In case that these cannot be attended, the students are expected to inform the examiner beforehand to find a solution together.

 

Changes made since the last occasion

A summary of changes made since the last occasion.

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives:

  • contribute to the iterative and multidisciplinary process of a building design project with focus on sustainability
  • combine passive and active building design strategies
  • apply appropriate engineering tools, models, and methods for evaluating indoor environmental quality (thermal comfort, indoor air quality, daylight), energy efficiency and environmental impact (energy use, Life Cycle Assessment) of design alternatives
  • work methodically to optimising the design proposal considering multiple performance criteria
  • communicate the optimisation strategy and visualize the results in a clear way to a range of stakeholders, e.g. clients, general public, architects, etc.
  • collaborate across disciplinary boundaries in design processes

 

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.

https://www.chalmers.se/en/education/your-studies/find-course-and-programme-syllabi/course-syllabus/ACE285/?acYear=2024/2025

 

Examination form

The examination is based on two parts:

1) the mid-term and final presentation (5 credits)

2) the individual final report presenting the optimisation strategy and the analysis results in detail for experts and reflecting on the multidisciplinary approach (2.5 credits).

 

Details about the expected report structure, length, and format will be presented in the first week of the course.

Course summary:

Date Details Due