SO.6 OBLIGATORY SEMINAR
DESIGN ASSOCIATIVITY

Tutor: Luis Fraguada
Assistant: Rodrigo Aguirre

Even with all the technological improvements in building materials and systems, environmental design (as a part of sustainable design) continues to provide a robust methodology for appropriately using advances in technology and applying them on building design. A building design that has been conceived and then informed by environmental performance analysis will always outperform any other building in the long term, as the basis of it is the exploitation of available natural sources and sinks of energy and the minimisation of fossil fuel usage.

In order to achieve an environmentally friendly design, certain principles need to be applied and a deep understanding of performance is required throughout the building design process, with building performance simulation tools playing a critical part in this process.

In this course we will look at the principles of environmental building design, starting with the basics of theory in climate analysis, environmental site analysis, the environmental design process and passive solar design. The aim is to provide an introduction into the field for student to further explore on their own in their projects.

Together with the theoretical classes we will be using specialist simulation software to evaluate the performance of buildings in terms of Shadowing, Solar Performance and Daylight Performance. This knowledge will enable students to further explore these principles in their projects, as well as expand into this field.