ARK415 - Design and performance optimization for buildings

Study Period: LP1 August to October
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The content of the course is adapted to a specific design problem and the case study that is selected each year. In general, the course consists of three parts. First, the course starts with a joint introduction in energy, climate and daylight modelling and simulation in the form of lectures including many real-life examples. Second, the students are expected to learn the required simulation software for energy, daylight, and other performance criteria by using the pre-recorded tutorials with limited support by the teachers in special tutorial classes and using other resources available on the internet. The third part is the main part consisting of the group work on a specific design problem and documentation of the optimisation process. The project work is evaluated based in the final hand in and the final presentation.

After attending the course, the students should be able to:

• apply simulation software in the early phases of the design process to answer specific design questions
• structure and document their optimization process of the design solution
• through several design iterations describe and evaluate design choices and their outcomes in terms of their visual and technical qualities, using results from simple architectural visualization and simulation of building physics
• present their proposal in a digital hand-in
• describe, argue for, evaluate and discuss their own and others’ proposals during a final critique together with university faculty and external reviewers.