EPN-V2

MABY4900 Timber building engineering Course description

Course name in Norwegian
Timber building engineering
Study programme
Master’s Programme in Civil Engineering
Weight
10.0 ECTS
Year of study
2024/2025
Curriculum
SPRING 2025
Schedule
Course history

Introduction

Timber has been used as building material since antiquity. In particular in Norway, wood has been the main basic material for buildings and structures for centuries. Nowadays, the new technologies in material science has resulted in innovative engineered wood-based products, which have opened wider horizons for building in timber, e.g. tall timber buildings etc. In addition, the climate change due to global warming has accelerated the need for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions and use nature-based products and building materials with low, or even negative, carbon footprint. This makes wood an excellent choice for sustainable buildings, which has steadily led to the increase use of timber in building industry.

Recommended preliminary courses

Etter å ha gjennomført dette emnet har studenten følgende læringsutbytte, definert som kunnskap, ferdigheter og generell kompetanse:

Kunnskap

Studenten:

  • forstår problemløsning ved hjelp av programmering
  • kjenner til innebygd funksjonalitet i Python
  • har grunnleggende kjennskap til programmering med bruk av datastrukturer, funksjoner, og vektoriserte beregninger
  • kan gjøre rede for sentrale begreper innen mengdelære, sannsynlighetsteori, parameterestimering, hypotesetestingsteori og modellvalg
  • kan gjøre rede for sannsynlighetsfordelingene normal, binomisk, Poisson og eksponensial og typiske problemstillinger hvor de kan anvendes

Ferdigheter

Studenten kan:

  • skrive programmer for å løse gitte problemstillinger
  • dele opp et større problem i-delproblemer
  • lage løsninger for virkelige problemer på en datamaskin med brukerinteraksjon, plott av data og lagring/lesing av data
  • finne og rette feil i egne programmer samt være i stand til å sette seg inn i andres kildekode
  • dra nytte av eksterne biblioteker i egen kildekode
  • anvende statistiske prinsipper og begreper fra eget fagfelt
  • utføre grunnleggende sannsynlighetsregning og parameterestimering
  • sette opp konfidensintervaller og utføre hypotesetester for normalfordelte og binomisk fordelte data
  • utføre enkle korrelasjons-/regresjonsanalyser

Generell kompetanse

Studenten kan:

  • bruke Python til å løse relevante problemstillinger innen sitt fagfelt
  • tilegne seg og ta i bruk ny programmeringskunnskap
  • benytte statistiske tenkemåter på ingeniørproblemstillinger og formidler disse skriftlig og muntlig
  • løse ingeniørproblemstillinger ved sannsynlighetsregning, statistisk forsøksplanlegging, datainnsamling og analyse

Learning outcomes

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 advanced knowledge of physical, thermal, hygric, mechanical and other properties of wood and timber products
  • has advanced knowledge of wood technology and timber building construction.
  • is capable of giving an account of standards and requirements for timber buildings and structures with regard to building physics, fire design, acoustics and structural analysis.
  • is capable of assessing climate adaptation solutions for building envelopes and components in timber buildings.
  • has specialized knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of wood as building material as well as the optimum combination of timber with other buildings materials.
  • is capable of taking the reuse potential of timber products into a life cycle assessment.

Skills:

The student is capable of:

  • using analysis methods and calculation tools related to hygrothermal performance, sound proofing and fire resistance of timber building components, according to TEK17 and relevant Norwegian standards, e.g. NS 3516, NS 3512 osv.
  • designing common building components and building based on Eurocode 5
  • explaining relevant standards and requirements for building materials and components, and assessing documentation from manufacturers/suppliers.
  • combining analysis methods for building physics, structural engineering, fire design, acoustics and life-cycle assessments in the choice of materials, components and design.
  • criticizing and justifying choices of materials, components and design in relation to climate-related and other loads as well as the building type and use.
  • planning and creating a comprehensive sustainable timber building design, including a description of the materials and components used in the building envelope, the load bearing system and the internal building elements.
  • interpreting simulation tool results to revise and optimize the proposed design

General competence:

The student is capable of:

  • explaining the background for user-related, societal and environmental requirements for buildings.
  • applying relevant regulations, instructions and documentation.
  • presenting results in a scholarly, professional manner with the help of written reports and oral presentations.
  • using scholarly articles to keep up with latest developments in the field
  • working in teams

Content

Forelesninger og øvinger.

Teaching and learning methods

The teaching consists of physical and degital lectures, demonstration of measurement methods and simulations tools. In addition, a project assignment will be given in which the students are to perform analytical and simulation-based calculations of the performance of a timber building in connection with different engineering aspects.

Digital lectures will be recorded, and the material will be made available to students on CANVAS.

Course requirements

The following required coursework must be approved before the total portfolio can be evaluated:

  1. Deliver/hand in all sub-assignments by their respective deadline
  2. Each sub-assignment should be approved (pass).

Assessment

Portfolio exam that consist of:

3-4 sub-assignment reports (in total, approx. 100-120 pages, without appendices). The students will work in groups of 2.

The overall assessment can be appealed.

Permitted exam materials and equipment

All aids are permitted.

Grading scale

Graded scale A-F.

Examiners

Two internal examiners.

External examiners are used regularly.

Course contact person

Dimitrios Kraniotis