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.

• 5 ECTS overlap with xx1050 Public Health and Health Management, 5 ECTS.
• 5 ECTS overlap with SYKK/SYKPPRA40 Promotion of Health and Prevention of Illness, 5

ECTS.

• 10 ECTS overlap with SYKK/PPRA45 Public Health, 10 ECTS.
• 20 ECTS overlap with med SYK2900 Public Health in a Global Perspective, 20 ECTS.
• SYKK2200x, SYKP2200x and SYKD2200 are fully overlapping.

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

• can describe the purpose, organisation, and coordination of health and social services and be aware of relevant laws and regulations
• can describe the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their significance for public health
• can explain how patients' health literacy affects lifestyle changes and shared decision-making
• can explain the relationship between work, social participation, and health
• can discuss factors influencing the environment in which children and young people grow up, and explain how activity and well-being affect health, well-being, and disease prevention for all population groups
• can describe key issues related to women's health
• can describe key issues related to sexual health and sexually transmitted diseases
• can explain how migration, displacement, and legal status can impact an individual's health
• can reflect on health promotion and prevention work at individual, group, and societal levels, emphasising how digital solutions can support preventive strategies and health-promoting measures
• can describe fundamental concepts, mechanisms, and tools behind digitalisation and explain how digitalisation shapes public and private life
• can describe the impact of digitalisation, technology availability, and the importance of digital competence on people's lives, public health, and social health disparities
• can describe social inequality in health and be aware of national and global consequences of inequality
• can explain how research can contribute to knowledge development to understand public health and societal needs, such as technological advancement
• have knowledge of how different issues guide relevant research methods

Skills

The student

• can reflect on ethical aspects related to public health efforts aimed at behavior change
• can identify various health promotion and preventive strategies and measures and evaluate them considering the Sustainable Development Goals
• can reflect on the Sami people's status as indigenous people related to the design of health and social services
• can provide examples of how digital solutions can affect social determinants related to health and lifestyle
• can apply professional knowledge and scientific methods to plan and execute a project in health promotion and preventive work
• can reflect on quality concepts in qualitative versus quantitative methods such as validity, reliability, validity, and reliability
• can reflect on ethical dilemmas related to the collection and use of health data in various contexts
• can identify ethical challenges in the use of health technology in the health service
• can master general first aid

General competence

The student

• can discuss factors influencing disease, health, and quality of life in groups or the population as a whole
• can discuss how technology and digital strategies can contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
• can reflect on health risks in individuals dealing with demanding caregiving tasks, family substance abuse problems, individuals who have experienced neglect and/or violence in close relationships
• can discuss how digital technologies can build and influence interprofessional collaboration in healthcare
• can reflect on how different methodological choices can yield different types of knowledge
• knows measures to preserve life and health in the event of major accidents and in crisis and disaster situations

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.

The following must have been completed and approved in order for a student to take the exam:

Part 1

• Project-based practical training, 90 % attendance of timetabled activity marked as compulsory.

Part 2

• Course i first aid

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Part 1 Pass-fail.

Part 2 Pass-fail.

Part 1 and part 2:

All answers are assessed by two examiners.

An external examiner is used regularly, at a minimum of every third completion of the course. When selecting answers for external evaluation, a minimum of 10 percent of the answers shall be included, with no fewer than 5 answers. The external examiner’s assessment of the selected answers shall benefit all students

Mehrdad Rabani