Smart and Sustainable Buildings

Sustainable buildings are designed to maintain or improve: (1) the quality of life, (2) adaptation to the local climate, (3) environmental performance in the region, and (4) energy efficiency. Sustainability in buildings represents a holistic approach to design and decision-making that enhances the efficiency of resource use and minimizes the environmental and health impacts throughout a building’s life cycle.

Smart buildings, on the other hand, use technology and data to monitor, control, and optimize building systems in response to changing conditions and user needs. Since people spend more than 80% of their time indoors, good indoor environmental quality and thermal comfort are essential for health, productivity, and well-being. Smart systems enable buildings to automatically adjust their performance, improving comfort while reducing energy use and operational costs through intelligent energy management.

This course introduces the concepts, methods, and tools used in the design, analysis, and operation of smart and sustainable buildings. Students will learn how to improve energy efficiency, environmental impacts, smartness level, and thermal comfort, with a particular focus on existing buildings and renovation strategies.

• Building Physics: Fundamental principles of heat transfer, moisture, and air movement in buildings, and their impact on indoor comfort and energy performance.
• Climate and Weather Analysis: Methods for analyzing local climate data to inform building design, including the use of weather files and visualization tools.
• Building Energy Performance Simulation: Development and assessment of energy models using dynamic simulation tools using Rhino/Grasshopper with Ladybug and Honeybee, enabling analysis of energy consumption, thermal comfort, and system performance.
• Energy Performance Improvement: Identification, evaluation, and simulation of measures to enhance energy efficiency.
• Life Cycle Cost (LCC) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Introduction to life cycle thinking, related standards, and regulations. Practical training in OpenLCA software enables assessment of environmental and economic performance of buildings through assignments.
• Renewable Energy Sources: Overview of renewable energy technologies (solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, etc.), their integration into building systems, and modeling with the System Advisor Model (SAM) software. Includes parametric design exercises and a simulation-based case study of renewable energy implementation.
• Smart Building Solutions: Concepts, technologies, and strategies for intelligent control, monitoring, and optimization of building systems to enhance comfort, efficiency, and sustainability.

Students will learn to apply sustainability and smartness principles from the early stages of design, whether for new construction or renovation, while considering local climate conditions, building physics, and energy system optimization through simulation and data analysis. The course is aligned with industry standards and workflows to equip students with practical and in-demand skills for the job market.

Lectures, group work, workshops, hands-on simulation assignments, LCC/LCA analyses, digital modeling, report writing, and presentations.