SENV 7100 Dissertation (6 units)

(Professor Edward Ng, CUHK; Prof Ren Chao, CUHK; and guest reviewers)

The written dissertation allows student an opportunity to conduct a scholarly investigation into a chosen aspect of sustainable and environmental design.

SENV 7200 Bioclimatic building Design (3 units)

( Professor Adrian Pitts, University of Huddersfield, UK)

This course introduces the principles of Bioclimatic building design, so as to maximize thermal comfort and minimize the need for energy for heating and for cooling of the buildings. The effect of various architectural decisions on the indoor climate is discussed in details. The effect of any design feature, such as that of building’s orientation, is not “fixed” but depends on the design details of other design features, such as walls color and windows shading conditions. These quantitative interactions between the effects of the various design details will be discussed in details in the class.

SENV 7300 Daylighting & Lighting Design (3 units)

(Dr Magali Bogart, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium)

This course introduces the principles of designing with daylight and then discusses how the use of daylight in buildings is part of an overall approach to sustainable design. After reviewing basic principles of lighting, the syllabus covers the concept of a daylight climate and its relationship with other environmental factors; it describes how electric lighting, control systems and windows are interlinked and considers these together. Design exercises cover several building types and a range of climates, with a special emphasis on urban buildings in warm regions. The practical work ranges from visual design and quick calculations to the use of computer software for lighting.

SENV 7400 Building Environmental Performance Assessment (3 units)

(Professor Raymond Cole, UBC, Canada)

The past decade has seen increasing interest in building environmental performance assessment. This course will characterize the fundamental differences between "green", "sustainable" and “regenerative” buildings and introduce some of key methods currently used to assess their performance. It will examine the underlining principles, scope, structure and limitations of these methods and provide students with a working knowledge of their application both as design and assessment tools.

SENV 7500 Urban Climate for Design and Urban Planning (3 units)

(Professor Lutz katschner, Kassel University, Germany; Dr Ren Chao, CUHK)

This course introduces the principles of Urban Climatic Mapping (UC-Mapping) as part of an overall approach to sustainable city design. After reviewing basic principles of UC-Mapping, the course covers the concept of UC-Mapping and its relationship with other climatic factors; it describes how city morphology and urban climate interlinked and considers these together. Design exercises cover urban design and a range of climates, with a special emphasis on urban design in warm regions.

SENV 7700 Design Project / Independent Studies (3 units)

(Professor Edward Ng, CUHK)

The Design Project encourages students to apply their knowledge of the subject to real design problems. Students may use their working projects of their office as the basis of this in-depth environmental design investigation. Alternatively, student may select to conduct a supervised written independent study approved by the Programme Director.

SENV 7005 Topical Study I in Environmental and Sustainable Design (3 units)

The course consists of directed investigation into selected current issues and practice in Environmental and Sustainable Design in Architecture.

SENV 7006 Topical Study II in Environmental and Sustainable Design (3 units)

The course consists of directed investigation into selected current issues and practice in Environmental and Sustainable Design in Architecture.

SENV 7007 Topical Study III in Environmental and Sustainable Design (3 units)

The course consists of directed investigation into selected current issues and practice in Environmental and Sustainable Design in Architecture.

SENV 7008 Topical Study IV in Environmental and Sustainable Design (3 units)

The course consists of directed investigation into selected current issues and practice in Environmental and Sustainable Design in Architecture.

The followings are possible offerings for SENV7005, SENV7006, SENV7007 and SENV7008

(not an exclusive list)

BEAM Plus

(Benny Au and C F Leung, HKGBC, HK)

BEAM Plus, the comprehensive environmental assessment scheme recognized by the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC), has been officially launched since 1st April 2010. The course introduces BEAM Plus. The framework and the various aspects of BEAM+, the credit weightings and the overall process, the assessment procedure of BEAM+ will be explained and elaborated. Refer to: http://www.hkgbc.org.hk/eng/beamplusmain.aspx

Building & Urban Acoustics

(Dr Jian Kang, Sheffield University, UK)

Designing buildings for sound and acoustics involves an empirical appreciation of sound and music as well as the technicalities of hearing and acoustic modeling. This course introduces the fundamentals of room and space acoustics. Various acoustic testing, evaluation and monitoring techniques will be discussed. This is followed by an examination of design techniques (for example room geometry, reverberation time, use of acoustic materials, noise buffer and barriers, building geometry and configurations and so on) for various building types and urban spaces.

Computational Energy Stimulation

(Professor Joe Clark, Strathclyde University, UK or Dr Andrew Marsh, Cardiff University, UK)

The course first looks into the theoretical framework of an integrated approach to performance based building design. A brief introduction to technicalities of the modeling structure as well as the simulation engines will lay the foundation to how the tools could be applied in practice. The rest of course focuses on methods to apply these tools to design studies, and how useful information could be interpreted from the simulation results.

Total Building Performance

(Professor Lam Khee Poh, Carnegie Mellon University, USA)

According to World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), buildings account for 40 percent of the world’s energy use (mostly derived from non-renewable fossil fuels) with the resulting carbon emissions substantially more than those in the transportation sector. Energy use is increasing by an annual rate of more than 3% in the U.S. alone, and is growing rapidly in countries such as China and India. Worldwide energy consumption by buildings is expected to grow 45% over the next 20 years. The global building sector needs to cut energy consumption in buildings by 60 percent by 2050 to help meet global climate change targets.

In the 21st Century, the Asia Pacific will be the world’s fastest growing region, and it is anticipated that over half of the world’s mega cities will be in Asia. While the globalization trend has created opportunities and challenges for every nation, Hong Kong and other major cities in Asia are well poised to play a significant role in these major developments within the highly competitive construction and real estate sector. To ensure business success in this economic sector, it needs more than just good routine practices. Companies must avoid obsolescence and stay ahead of their competitors by accurately identifying future trends and adopting advanced technologies and innovative management techniques for establishing best practices.

This course introduces the Total Building Performance and Diagnostics concept as one which can contribute to best practices in sustainable and green architecture and position the building industry in the fore-front of a knowledge-based approach to the entire building delivery process.

Total Building Performance and Diagnostics (TBPD) is an integrated and holistic framework for conceptualizing, specifying, designing, analyzing and commissioning a building project and may even be extended to post-occupancy management and maintenance. TBP is not just about the application of “hi-tech building systems and/or materials. TBP seeks to rationally and systematically exploit the synergy of the various relevant technologies and management know-how to bring about desirable building performance at a reasonable and affordable price tag.

The TBPD concept embraces six principal performance mandates, namely, spatial, acoustical, thermal, visual, indoor air quality, and building integrity. Each mandate comprises a set of performance targets and pertinent diagnostic tools. The targets are occupant-oriented deliverables that pertain to the environmental or physical attributes of the building which impact the physiological, psychological, social and economic well-being of the occupants. The diagnostic tools are methodologies developed for the appraisal of the building design in terms of the various performance indices.

TBPD can facilitate optimization of the design for performance, avoidance of conflicts, elimination of omissions and abortive work, and wastage of resources. This is because the key emphasis of TBPD is integrative design and synergy amongst various building systems. This is achieved through the “building performance matrix” which is an important diagnostic tool. It can be used to guide and monitor the achievement of the design team, giving the client an objective and balanced overview throughout the implementation of the project.

Selective Environment Case Studies

(Professor Dean Hawkes, Darwin College, Cambridge University, UK)

The art of architecture not only embraces the fundamental need for shelter from the natural elements, it also has other purposes and meanings. The selective environment is an approach to environmentally responsive architectural design that seeks to make connections between the technical application of building sciences and the sustenance of cultural identity during rapid global changes. Through a number of critical case studies of buildings worldwide, the course aims to explore a number of themes and to relate theory to practice.

Environmental and Sustainable Design in Practice

(Dr Raymond Yau, Ove Arup & Partners HK Ltd., HK)

Case studies in Hong Kong and the surrounding areas will be used to dissert environmental and sustainable design. Issues and problems in practice will be revealed by the person doing on. First-hand experience by pioneers in the field will be shared. Site visits may be arranged to buildings under construction.

Green & Sustainable Architectural Development

(Professor Brenda Vale, Auckland University, New Zealand)

This course is designed to reveal the effect that individual behavior has on the environmental impact of living in the built environment. The concept of the sustainable building is explored and how such buildings can be made and assessed for their impact on the environment. The environmental impact of the building is then compared to environmental impact of how people live in buildings so that the relative impacts can be compared. Using the concept of ecological footprint this comparison is given a quantitative basis and the environmental impact of a western life style is examined in more detail.

Building Construction and Façade Design for the environment

(Prof. Minjung Maing, CUHK, HK; Prof. Francesca Madeo, CUHK, HK)

The course introduces the principles of climate responsive design, and encourages application of key concepts learnt during the course through development of group design projects. The design project will be used to allow students to investigate design theory and performance-driven design validation approach and how to use both simultaneously to make informed design decisions. Strategies concerned with the overall building configuration, the organization of space and the design of the building envelope will all be critical determinants towards achieving a sustainable and climatically responsive design solution. The coursework will focus on developing better understanding of: i) design issues related to site and climate through case studies; and ii) conceptual design strategies to develop proposals addressing site-specific design problems.

Building Performance Sciences and Technologies

(Prof. Leslie K. Norford, School of Architecture + Planning, MIT, USA)

The aim of this course is to introduce the principles of building performance science and technologies, i.e. the identification of important criteria and the integrated decision making in the particular design process, the expressions of the simulated building performance to compare the design options, understandings about the potential role of uncertainties in performance simulation results. The particular topics will include the building thermal load and energy performance prediction, indoor ventilation performance, thermal quality performance prediction, moisture phenomena, and effects of occupants` actions and presence on building performance. The world foremost organizations in the building performance simulation, e.g. IBPSA and ASHRAE, will be introduced in this course.

Urban Performance Sciences and Technologies

(Prof. R.E. Britter, Engineering Department, University of Cambridge, UK)

The signs of inadvertent climate modification are clearly exhibited at the urban areas. The rapid urbanization significantly change the nature of the environmental properties of a region. After reviewing the transformation of the radiative, thermal, moisture and aerodynamic characteristics in the urban area, this course will introduce the modeling methods to evaluate urban performance and discuss the relative application on the practical urban planning and design. The outdoor thermal quality performance will be introduced as a criterion in the evaluation of the urban performance. The particular topics will include the energy balance of an urban canyon, urban heat island, wind within the urban canopy.