MAEN4200 Building Energy and Environmental Assessment Course description

The construction industry is responsible for almost 40% of total energy use in Norway. It is important to understand heat loss, heat gain and energy consumption, and how to improve energy efficiency of buildings in order to address this. Equally important is understanding how to design buildings with a good indoor climate.

Students with backgrounds from other bachelor's programs, such as those in construction or electrical engineering, are recommended to read 'Energy Efficiency in Buildings' book in advance, focusing particularly on Chapters 4, 5, 6.1, 6.3, 6.5, 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3.

None other than admission requirements

After completing this course, the student has achieved the following learning outcomes, defined as knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student has in-depth knowledge of

• official requirements, regulations, rules and industry standards for indoor climate and environmental goals for buildings
• thermal, atmospheric, acoustic, actinic and mechanical environment in buildings
• optimal state of thermal comfort in buildings depending on activity level and clothing, and the indoor climate's effect on human performance
• the importance of, and measures to control air humidity
• the relationship between heat gains, heat losses, and indoor climate in buildings
• basic principles for physical and mathematical modelling in indoor climate and energy simulation tools
• calculation of building energy demand in accordance with standard NS 3031
• factors of uncertainty in simulation of indoor climate and energy consumption in buildings
• what can, and cannot, be simulated in various tools for predicting indoor climate and energy use
• building energy management and energy-enonomizing measures
• methods for evaluating profitability of alternative energy measures
• fundamental methods for greenhouse gass accounting
• environmentally sound building materials, considering indoor climate, energy use and GHG-emissions in a life cycle perspective

Skills

The student is capable of

• carrying out independent work on modelling of buildings on such factors as optimum indoor climate, power and energy demand, using the SIMIEN tool or equivalent
• analysing the quality of indoor climate and energy consumption in a building, considering current laws and regulations, using both measurements and simulations
• analysing the thermal environment in terms of metabolism, radiation temperatures, air temperature, operative temperature, clothing and activity
• analysing the profitability of indoor climate and energy saving measures in buildings
• assessing assumptions and calculating probable real energy use in buildings
• analysing data on indoor climate and energy consumption during the operation phase of buildings, e.g. temperature-energy curves
• choosing suitable materials to achieve the intended indoor climate quality and environmental impact
• conduct basic GHG-emission assessment

General competence

The student is capable of

• calculating and analysing the energy consumption of buildings
• determining which methods are most appropriate for conducting indoor climate or energy analyses
• applying their knowledge and skills to evaluate and choose the right tools for the problem
• planning and performing indoor climate analyses in buildings and provide relevant advice on indoor climate

Lectures, calculation exercises, laboratory exercises and project work

The following required coursework must be approved before a student can take the exam:

• Five milestone meetings for the project, in plenary or in groups.
• One laboratory group exercise, subsequent reporting of approx. five to ten pages. Laboratory time approx. two hours.

Part 1 Individual written exam of three hours, which counts 70 percent.

Part 2 Project work in a group of 3-5 students which counts for 30%. Written report of 20-30 pages, process and presentation are assessed. Possibility of individual grading if different work effort can be documented, or different levels of knowledge about the content of the report are evident from the presentation.

Exam part 1) Exam results can be appealed. Exam part 2) Project result cannot be appealed.

Both parts of the examination must be graded pass/E or better in order to pass the course.

In case of a new and postponed individual written examination, an oral examination form may be applied. If an oral examination is applied for a new and postponed examination, this cannot be appealed.

Exam part 1) Support materials attached to the examination paper. Handheld calculator that does not communicate wirelessly. If the calculator has internal memory, the memory must be empty before the exam. Random controls may occur.

Exam Part 2): Any support materials.

Graded scale A-F

Part 1 An internal examiner.

Part 2 An internal examiner.

Additional external examiners will be used with regular intervals.

Mehrdad Rabani