UTSOA

Students in this course will spend the semester developing the ability to apply systems thinking to the design process and to test design strategies through a variety of techniques. The related fall course, Numerical Experiments, dissects phenomena related to the flows of energy around and through the built form so that the principles governing these flows may be understood in isolation. Integration of Sustainable Technology seeks to re-assemble those principles along with other considerations into a holistic approach to sustainable design, then provide simulation and evaluation tools to assess the success of the resulting design hypotheses.

The semester will begin with a series of exercises meant to develop familiarity with the concepts and simulation/evaluation tools used in the course. Students will be expected to approach these tools from a critical perspective, seeking to identify their strengths, weaknesses and built-in value systems.

A "remodel" of an existing building or student project will be the semester's primary focus. After evaluating the existing design, students will develop an integrated strategy to improve the building's environmental performance, while also maintaining or improving its architectural integrity. The resulting family of ideas will be tested and refined through a series of parametric studies focusing primarily on human comfort, energy efficiency, and life-cycle performance.

This will be a seminar-style course with a high degree of class participation and frequent presentation of current findings by students. Class discussion will cover several case studies as well as: energy simulation strategies, comfort, energy efficient design principles, energy codes, moisture management, indoor air quality, water use, life cycle assessment, decision support systems, and principles of systems thinking among other topics.

Software tools employed for the course will include: EcoTect, EnergyPlus, EQuest, Energy 10, Paco's Muses, and the Athena Environmental Impact Estimator.

Though not a requirement, students will get the most out of this course having taken Numerical Experiments previously. It is strongly recommended that students have taken Environmental Controls II or its equivalent prior to enrolling in Integration of Sustainable Technology.