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Energy- and Climate Systems III
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:36:00
Abstract
The master course ‘Energy- and Climate Systems III – Climate Responsive Design’ addresses passive and active design strategies and methods to design buildings that respond to local climate as well as to challenges of global climate change. The course consists of six inputs lectures on specific topics and five hands-on exercises in class using different computational tools.
Objective
The input lectures outline the physical mechanisms and related design strategies for comfortable buildings in different climate zones as well as exemplary buildings in which these methods have been influencing the architectural design of the building. For each of the lecture topics, students will work on hands-on exercises using Rhino/Grashopper and plugins on small building examples in order to apply strategies and observe the effect and the interactions with design. As a final project, students will use the methods practiced to develop a small design proposal in a specific climate zone. The objective of this course is for students to be able to identify the properties of a site for its implications on interior climate/comfort and energy consumption. Based on this analysis, students know passive and active approaches and concrete measures to provide a comfortable interior climate and their implications on architectural design. Students are familiar with the underlying design process and are skilled in using computational tool-sets to apply these principles in own building design projects. After successfully passing this course, students will be able to: - Identify Climatic parameters and their impact on architectural design, building energy systems, construction and human comfort. - Read a building site for its environmental characteristics for active and passive climate design strategies. - Utilize the relevant physical principles and technological concepts to analyse and design a climate-responsive building unit. - Apply state-of-the-art simulation tools in Rhino Grasshopper for performance-driven design. - Design with building-integrated solar technologies and compute their time- and spatially-resolved thermal and electric generation potential.
Content
1. Introduction to Climate Responsive Design. 2. Climate and Site Analysis. 3. Passive Solar Design and the Envelope Thermal Properties. 4. Active Solar Design. 5. Parametric Modeling and Optimization. 6. Real-world applications and examples.
Resources
Lecture Notes
The slides from the lecture serve as lecture notes and are available as download (PDF).
Literature
A list of relevant literature is available at the chair.
Learning Materials (Links)
- Main link
- Information
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- MSC
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture |
Energy- and Climate Systems III
No course on 23.10. (seminar week) and 11th and 18th December 2020 (before final critics).
ITA Pool Introduction Event: Information on courses offered by the Institute ITA: 7.9.20, 10-11 h, HIB Open Space.
|
|
2 h weekly |