MABY4600 Digital Twin-Driven AI for Sustainable Building Design Course description

Climate change and increased focus on resource use and environmental impacts entail a greater focus on the choice of materials and climate adaptation of buildings. The course aims to give students an understanding of the interaction between the choice of building materials and components in the design of energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and climate-resilient building envelopes and design solutions.

The course combines the theoretical basis for building physics from the courses MABY4200 Building Physics and Climate Adaptation of Buildings and MABY4300 Sustainability Assessment and Life-Cycle Analysis, and builds on theoretical and especially practical knowledge of the holistic design of buildings. In the course, students will learn how to use and combine their knowledge of building physics principles, sustainability assessments and life-cycle analyses in the design of an optimum building envelope. The following topics are addressed in particular:

• Relevant standards and regulations (TEK 17, NS 3031, NS 3700, NS 3701 etc.);
• Principles of nZEB, passive- and plus house building design;
• Integration of building physics principles in the holistic design of building envelope;
• Innovative buildings materials;
• Dynamic energy and hygrothermal simulations (SIMIEN and WUFI Plus);
• Environmental and energy assessment of intergration of renewable sources in buildings;
• Life Cycle Cost Assessment (LCC).

MABY4200 Building Physics and Climate Adaptation of Buildings.

MABY4300 Sustainability Assessment and Life-cycle Analysis, or courses with an equivalent learning outcome.

None.

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge:

The student:

· has sufficiently advanced knowledge of building physics, complex climate impacts and building materials to be able to develop and propose climate-adapted, robust and innovative solutions

· is capable of assessing climate adaptation solutions for building envelopes and components

· has advanced insight into the properties of building materials, not least about emissions, energy demand and CO2 emissions in connection with production, and their durability, service life and degradation processes

· has specialised knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of building materials and the optimum combination of different materials with a view to maximising the building-s energy efficiency, sustainability and service life

· is capable of combining building physics and sustainability principles to achieve an environmentally sound building design.

Skills:

The student is capable of:

· explaining relevant standards and requirements for building materials and components, and assessing documentation from manufacturers/suppliers

· combining analysis methods for building physics calculations and life-cycle assessments in the choice of materials, components and design

· criticising and justifying these choices in relation to complex phenomena that arise between a building and the outdoor/indoor climate

· planning and creating a comprehensive and environmentally sound building design, including a description of the materials and components used in the building envelope

· interpreting simulation tool results to revise and optimise the proposed design

· assessing the quality and condition of materials and components in existing buildings, and any maintenance and replacement needs.

General competence:

The student is capable of:

• using scholarly articles to keep up with latest developments in the field
• working in teams
• presenting results in a scholarly, professional manner with the help of written reports and oral presentations.

The teaching will largely consist of lectures and weekly exercises. Lab exercises and inspections will also be used. Students will also be given a major project assignment in which they are to design an environmentally sound building with regard to building physics and sustainability. Voluntary exercises related to the project assignment will be given in connection with each lecture.

The students must participate in at least 75% of the weekly project meetings. The requirement refers to each student, not to each group.

New exam spring 2020:

Written project report over two weeks, prepared in groups of 2-3 students, approx. 50 pages (excl. appendices), weighted 100%

The exam can be appealed.

[Originally:

1) Individual written exam (three hours), weighted 40%.

2) Project report prepared in groups of 2-3 students, approx. 50 pages (excl. appendices), with presentation, weighted 60%.

All assessment parts must be awarded a pass grade (E or better) in order for the student to pass the course. Students must be awarded an E or better for their project report to be allowed to take the written exam. In the event of a resit or rescheduled individual written exam, oral examination may be used instead. If oral exams are used for resit and rescheduled exams, the result cannot be appealed.

Assessment parts: 1) can be appealed, 2) cannot be appealed]

All aids.

[Assessment part:

1) All printed and written aids and a calculator that cannot be used to communicate with others.

2) all aids]

A grade scale with grades from A to E for pass (with A being the highest grade and E being the lowest pass grade) and F for fail is used in connection with the final assessment.

1) One internal examiner,

2) Two internal examiners

External examiners are used regularly.

Dimitrios Kraniotis