The master course "Energy and Climate Systems III - Climate Responsive Design" addresses passive and active design strategies and methods to design sustainable and energy efficient buildings that are responsive to local climate and site conditions. The course focuses on a learning-by-doing approach using state-of-the-art computational tools.
Sustainable architectural design
This course teaches architecture and building engineering students necessary skills and tools for climate responsive, sustainable building designs. It includes microclimate analyses of the building site for utilizing local renewable energy potentials and for understanding architectural design implications that the site has on comfort and energy efficiency. Passive and active design approaches are taught, as well as simplified calculation and simulation methods. Students will become familiar with a climate focused and energy-responsible design process and will acquire the skills for using computational tools to apply these principles in their building design projects.
The major teaching innovation of this course is the learning-by-doing approach, which fosters a tight integration between exercises and classical input lectures. This is especially important in practice-oriented domains such as architecture and building engineering. Classical input lectures outline the physical mechanisms and related design strategies for comfortable and energy efficient buildings in different climate zones.
Intuitive design tools
Starting from HS 2020, these exercises will also include “Hive”, which is an ETH Innovedum-funded software tool developed by the chair of Architecture and Building Systems (A/S) for integrated building energy systems design in teaching. In this course, we teach tangible concepts of energy efficiency and systems integration to architecture and engineering students. Via interactive exercise sessions and design work, students can intuitively absorb and apply knowledge.
In such an applied domain, we experience that a multi-faceted teaching format (combination of input lectures, software exercises, applied design work) proves to be highly effective for educating the next generation of environmentally conscious building designers. More specifically, we promote student learning by providing pre-study material (courses, references, tutorial videos, software templates, etc.).
Furthermore, we divide the interactive exercise sessions in generally two parts: first, a walkthrough of the exercise material and software to use, followed by an open session where students independently work on the exercises (in groups) under the guidance of teachers and assistants. “Hive” will thereby play a central role. To identify major shortcomings and potential improvements of the teaching format, as well as understanding student preferences in learning, several feedback sessions and surveys are conducted throughout the semester.
Image sources, from left to right: (1) Larissa Strub, HS 2019; (2) Validated solar simulation tool. Image Source: Waibel, C. 2018. Simulation-Based Optimization of Buildings and Multi-Energy Systems. PhD Thesis, ETH Zurich; (3) The Hive tool in Rhino Grasshopper; (4) Charlotte Gückel, HS 2019; (5) Natalia Kobylinska, HS 2019; (6) Eugene Kua, HS 2019; (7) Lilla Szabo, HS 2019;
- EaCS3 teachers:
- What is good architecture for you?
- EaCS3 Student:
- I believe good architecture is contextual. It engages in a dialogue with its environment, becomes synergetic part of it.
- EaCS3 teachers:
- So a good architect would design a different building for Zurich than for, let’s say, Singapore?
- EaCS3 Student:
- Absolutely! While there is a clear trend for a globalized architecture, I believe we are missing on a huge potential for good designs when ignoring the local context – both culture and environment-wise.
- EaCS3 teachers:
- How do you usually start your architectural design projects?
- EaCS3 Student:
- After identifying the stakeholder’s needs and expectations, I depart on a creative journey exploring the site context; reading up on its history; discover the adjacent neighborhood; learn about individual stories. I discover features that make this site unique and which will inspire me on finding a design that can only be here and not just anywhere.
- EaCS3 teachers:
- Young people have recently been very vocal in expressing their concerns on climate related issues – which, I think, is great! What role do you see architects play in this?
- EaCS3 Student:
- The building sector is part of the problem! Buildings are responsible for 50% of all consumed materials and consumed energy; this has to change! Of course, we shouldn’t freeze in winter and be sitting in an oven in summer. But we have to stop building huge glass boxes, just because they look modern!
- EaCS3 teachers:
- Unfortunately, I am not a good architectural designer myself. But our team at the Chair of Architecture and Building Systems knows quite a bit about building simulation. What would you need from us so you can design good contextual architecture that is also sustainable and energy efficient?
- EaCS3 Student:
- I’ve taken many classes over the years of my studies, also some from your chair, such as Energie- und Klimasysteme I and II. They are all great courses and all, but I am missing the clear link to my daily work as a designer. It is very inefficient for me to keep track of all these equations, learn all these different specialist tools, understand all the physics behind the simulations, etc. In the end, my talent is in architectural design. If I wanted to become a fully-fledged engineer, physicist or mathematician, I would pursue a different degree.
- EaCS3 teachers:
- Ok we hear you! Please let us introduce you to some intuitive tools that are integrated into your CAD (Computer Aided Design) platform and that provide environmental and energy-related performance feedback in an effective and efficient way, so you can focus on what really matters: the creative architectural design process!
- EaCS3 Student:
- Bring it on then.
