Current courses
AE 301 Building Enclosure Systems
Typically held in Winter.
A review of the functions of the building enclosure, and materials, systems and sub-systems used in modern construction of new buildings and the retrofit of existing buildings. Interaction of the enclosure, mechanical systems, and structure, the importance of the construction process and quality control, as well as sustainability implications, will be considered.
CivE 507 Building Science & Technology
Typically held in Winter.
This course is directed at upper-year undergraduate and graduate engineering students who intend to make a career in the building industry. Architecture, mechanical engineering and graduate students with the appropriate background and intentions may also take the course for credit or audit. The major goal of the course is to impart some knowledge of the basic physics (especially regarding heat, air, and moisture) that governs the performance of the building enclosure.
Arch 673 The Science of the Building Enclosure
Typically held Winter in Cambridge
This course builds on the 2nd year undergraduate building science course. The building envelope has become the single most significant and element within the contemporary economy of building. It bears much of the identity and amenity of buildings, is the site of significant expenditure, the occasion of environmental concern and attention, the object of much technological innovation, and the locus of entropy. This course provides an advanced study of the building envelope as the place where design, technology, building science, and environmental concerns converge. It discusses matters such as natural light and ventilation or the short- and long-term behaviours of building materials, and assesses the use of new generations of "smart" mechanical environmental devices. Consent of instructor required for those outside of the M.Arch program.
Technical Resources - for Architecture and Engineering Students
Check out building details for durable, functional, and green building design.
My links and photos may also be interesting to some students.
Recent Past Courses
Arch 364 Building Science
Typical held in the Fall in Cambridge.
The physio-technical factors that influence building design for performance: durability, efficiency, health and sustainability will be explored. Common building design construction problems, their causes and solutions, will be examined with the aid of case studies. Using the principles of building science, good details of masonry, wood, steel and glass will be developed.
CivE 708 Building Physics and Modeling
Held depending on demand and professor availability. Tentatively winter 2005.Course ID 000535.
This course covers methodologies for the quantitative prediction of building enclosure and building system performance. Issues considered include heat conduction, radiation, and convection; air flow through cracks, openings, vents, and porous media; and moisture transport by diffusion, convection, capillary action, adsorbed flow and osmosis. Students are introduced to research-quality formulations, commercial models, and simplified methods.
CivE 707: Advanced Building Science
Held depending on demand and professor availability.
This course deals with the science of heat and air flow, moisture storage and transport, and psychrometrics. Through the use of worked examples, these principles are applied to the analysis of typical building enclosure systems. Basic concepts are developed for the design of building details that are effective in the control of heat, air, vapour, rain, and that accommodate building movements. Various case studies of problems and solutions will be used.
CivE 265 Structure and Properties of Materials
Usually held in the Fall.
An introductory course in the structure, behaviour and uses of engineering materials. Topics include monotonic and cyclic stress-strain behaviour of metals, phase diagrams, diffusion, nucleation and the growth of grains. Metallurgy and mechanical properties of irons and steels. The structure and mechanical properties of wood, plastics, cements and concrete. Material degradation mechanisms, esp. corrosion and fatigue.