Assessment and Design of Sustainable Constructions

Recommended Prerequisites

The pre-requisites of this course are those corresponding to the application for the MSc course CMM.

Teaching Methods

Lectures, with problem solving. Development of a group for final evaluation. Tutorial lessons (22.5 hours) will be to answer questions and to help in the final project.

Learning Outcomes

To provide a clear understanding of the concepts of Sustainable Development (SD) and Sustainable Construction (SC);

To understand the challenge of the application of the principles of SD to the construction sector;

To identify the advantages and disadvantages of steel and steel construction in the context of SC;

To take advantage of steel structures in the pursuit of SC;

To provide essential knowledge in relation to methodologies and tools for the assessment of sustainability;

To apply these skills in the promotion of steel buildings in the context of SC.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

MODULE A – Sustainability of construction

A.1 – Concepts and general framework of sustainable development and sustainable construction.

A.2 – Assessment approaches and tools.

A.3 – Sustainability of steel constructions.

MODULE B – Design guidelines for sustainable construction

B.1 – Life Cycle analysis.

B.2 – Lifetime performance of structures

B.3 – Case studies

B.4 – Assessment of the Sustainability of Buildings

MODULE C – Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

C.1 – Mechanisms of heat transfer

C.2 – Numerical simulations of heat flow and heat transfer

MODULE D – Thermal Behaviour and Energy efficiency in buildings

D.1 – Energy consumption of buildings

D.2 – Tools for prediction of energy consumption in buildings

D.3 – Energy consumption in buildings – key factors

D.4 – Energy efficiency of steel buildings

D.5 – Building services

MODULE E – Acoustic design of buildings

E.1 – Basic theory on sound and vibration.

E.2 – Sound absorption.

E.3 and E.4–Sound insulation.

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Exam: 50.0%
Project: 50.0%

Bibliography

-Bruntland, G (ed). 1987. Our Common Future: The World Commission on Environment and Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

-Meadows, D.H., Meadows, D.I., Randers, J., and Behrens III, W. 1972. The Limits to Growth. A report to the Club of Rome.

-U.N. 1992. Agenda 21: Earth Summit – The United Nations programme of action from Rio. United Nations publication.

-United Nations – Millennium development goals: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ (last accessed in 20/08/2008)

-COM(2001)264 final. 2001. A Sustainable Europe for a better world: A European Union Strategy for Sustainable Development. Communication from the Commission. Brussels.

-P. SANTOS, L. SIMÕES DA SILVA & V. UNGUREANU, “Energy Efficiency of Light-weight Steel-framed Buildings”. European Convention for Constructional Steelwork (ECCS), Technical Committee 14 - Sustainability & Eco-Efficiency of Steel Construction, ISBN 978-92-9147-105-8, N. 129, 1st edition, 2012.