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Unit of study_

DESC9147: Sustainable Building Design Principles

Many buildings claim to be sustainable, but what are the design principles that allow them to achieve this? This unit aims to develop a critical understanding in students of building design principles that reduce the impact of the built environment on energy and other resource flows. Students will gain an overview of technical strategies that reduce the environmental impact of buildings and develop an awareness of the benchmarks and metrics used to judge the implementation of environmental design principles. The unit pays particular attention to design principles that relate to the environmental performance of the building fabric and the thermal systems of buildings.

Code DESC9147
Academic unit Architectural and Design Science
Credit points 6
Prerequisites:
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None
Corequisites:
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None
Prohibitions:
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None
Assumed knowledge:
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Fundamental knowledge of building design

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. relate buildings to their climate and place
  • LO2. evaluate sustainable design strategies against a set of design principles
  • LO3. be aware of claims made about the environmental performance of buildings
  • LO4. demonstrate knowledge of the relevant properties of building form, materials and construction elements which impact on the environmental performance of buildings
  • LO5. use early design stage environmental evaluation tools
  • LO6. work collaboratively with others on a project
  • LO7. communicate sustainable design principles and strategies for building design.