Sola3010 & Sola9009 Low Energy Buildings and Photovoltaics Course Outline

SOLA3010 & SOLA9009 Low Energy Buildings and Photovoltaics Course Outline
6 Units of Credit (UOC) 4 contact hours per week Course Context and Description Building energy use comprises about 40% of the total electrical energy used in NSW. Since the advent of artificial heating and lighting methods and the modernist aesthetic, much of the traditional wisdom that informed climate-specific vernacular architecture has been abandoned. There is currently significant interest in reducing energy use in buildings and particularly greenhouse gas production in buildings, by: 1. Using intelligent building design that responds to the climatic conditions found at the site. 2. Implementing efficiency measures that reduce waste of energy. 3. Producing energy (heat or electrical) from renewable sources. PV is one of the few renewable electricity generation options that can be readily used in urban areas and has no environmental impacts at the site. PV was first used in buildings in the 1970s, usually in remote areas without access to the grid. In the 1980s, grid-connected PV modules on roofs of houses were demonstrated. The term Building-Integrated PV (BIPV) describes the integration of PV modules into building materials so that PV forms part of the building envelope such as the roof, walls or glazing elements of the building. In the 1990s, BIPV demonstration projects in the US, Europe and Japan led to BIPV construction products being developed and commercialised. BIPV is usually part of the building envelope, hence requiring no separate support structure; and replacing conventional building materials, including high-value commercial building façades which can cost as much as a PV façade. Recently, BIPV products have begun to evolve into elegant building technologies designed to also provide shading, daylighting, raincladding or noise protection for buildings (see BIPV pictures). The collection and reuse of the waste heat from PV, known as PV-T technology is also an area being

Links: While resources specific to lecture topics will be added to the Lecture Slides and Readings pages, the following resources are generally applicable to the course Recommended Texts Introduction to Architectural Science – S. Szokolay Heat and Mass Transfer: A Practical Approach – Y.A. Cengel Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach – Y.A. Cengel, M.A. Boles (useful for psychrometry) Energy Efficient Building Design – Resource Book – Brisbane TAFE – Holger Willrath A Handbook on Low-Energy Buildings and District-Energy Systems: Fundamentals, Techniques, and Examples - L D Danny Harvey Web Resources Climate Information  Australian Bureau of Meteorology - http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/  NASA eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse/ Low Energy Buildings  Australian Greenhouse Office “Your Home” technical manual - Contains info on good residential design and measures to conserve water & energy http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/technical/index.htm  Victorian Energy Smart Housing Manual http://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/html/1823-publications---c-f.asp  Energy Design Resources - http://www.energydesignresources.com/ BIPV Sites  IEA Task 7 http://www.task7.org  IEA PV Case Studies http://www.iea-pvps.org/cases/index.htm  Whole Building Design Guide - BIPV - Steven Strong http://www.wbdg.org/resources/bipv.php Design Tools  PVSYST - Software for photovoltaic Systems http://www.pvsyst.com/  Ecotect - Visual building energy analysis and design tool http://squ1.com/products/ecotect  Desktop Radiance - Imaging software for lighting analysis http://radsite.lbl.gov/deskrad/  Energy Plus - Accurate thermal simulation (without visualisation) http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energyplus/ 8 Solar Architects  Bear Architecten Netherlands) http://www.bear.nl/  Solar Design Associates (US) http://www.solardesign.com/  Kiss + Cathcart Architects (New York) http://www.kisscathcart.com/  Solarcentury (UK) http://www.solarcentury.co.uk/  Studio E Architects (UK) http://www.studioe.co.uk/  Architekturbüro Hagemann http://www.architekturbuero-hagemann.com/  RELAB LLC http://www.relabllc.com/index.html Standards and Rating Frameworks & Software  Building Code of Australia - via UNSW Library (sirius)  NABERS http://www.nabers.com.au/default.aspx  Green Star http://www.gbca.org.au/green-star/  NatHers http://www.nathers.gov.au/  Accurate http://www.hearne.com.au/products/accurate/  BASIX http://www.basix.nsw.gov.au/information/index.jsp BIPV Products  BIPV Resources including listing of Manufacturers, Products & Case Studies: http://www.pvresources.com/en/bipven.php Assistance with Report Writing, Presentations, Referencing and other Academic Skills Refer to the SPREE writing and presentation guide (www.pv.unsw.edu.au/documents/WritingGuide2006.pdf) for guidance in relation to report writing, presentations, referencing, note taking and time management. The Learning Centre website is the central University online resource for staff and student information on plagiarism and academic honesty. It can be located at: www.lc.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism. The Learning Centre also provides substantial educational written materials, workshops, and tutorials to aid students, for example, in:        Writing; Presentations; Correct referencing practices; Paraphrasing, summarising; Note taking; Time management; Appropriate use of, and attribution for, a range of materials including text, images, formulae and concepts. Individual assistance is available on request from The Learning Centre. 9