teaching

48-116:Building Physics (BP)

Undergraduate Level, Carnegie Mellon University

The goal of this course to introduce students to the theoretical foundations and computational approaches in the two major fields of building physics; building lighting and thermal performance. “Lighting” part introduces fundamental lighting principles of photometric quantification of light and luminous environment with effects on human visual comfort. This part also includes characterization of light from natural sources (sunlight) and artificial sources (electric lighting systems) along with the discussion of pertinent indoor lighting performance metrics, design and benchmarking methods, building codes and standards and state-of-the-art lighting simulation methods and tools. “Thermal” part is focused on building thermodynamics (heat and mass transfer mechanisms), indoor-outdoor thermal comfort in addition to analytical and simulation-based methods for the prediction of building thermal loads and energy consumption. This section also discusses building codes and standards for building energy efficiency.

48-722:Building Performance Modeling (BPM)

Graduate Level, Carnegie Mellon University

This course focuses on conceptual foundations and practical applications of advanced and integrated whole-building energy simulation programs with special focus on building envelope systems (opaque and transparent), electrical and mechanical systems (lighting and HVAC systems) and building integrated solar power systems. Students are engaged in project-based collaborative studies with emphasis on analytical and visual methods for the interpretation of highly technical performance data for enhanced inter-disciplinary communications. BPM course includes discussions of particular high-performance design solutions which exhibit innovative approaches to the use of whole-building energy simulation methods starting from early stages of design development. BPM course also discusses the Building Information Modeling (BIM) concept and its connectivity to Building Energy Modeling (BIM) with lectures dedicated to BIM-to-BEM approaches with contemporary workflows and their challenges.

48-721:Building Controls and Diagnostics (BCD)

Graduate Level, Carnegie Mellon University

This course introduces data sensing, acquisition and systematic analysis approaches dedicated to empirical evaluation of the environmental and occupational performance (thermal-visual-acoustical comfort) of the built environment (including mechanical and electrical systems) by considering interactions with occupants. While working on actual building cases, students acquire necessary skill sets to develop interactive dashboards, to conduct post occupancy evaluation and measurement (POE+M) protocols, and to develop advanced building control logics including model-based and human-in-the-loop feedback loops. BCD course puts emphasis on empirical methods of building diagnostics and controls not only to describe technological components but also to study their real-time behavior under dynamic climatic and occupational conditions.

48-733: Environmental Performance Simulations (EPS)

Graduate Level, Carnegie Mellon University

This course aims to introduce students to a range of evidence-based design approaches and computational techniques within the theme of passive environmental responsiveness for increased resiliency for human habitability with minimum reliance on mechanical-electrical systems. Students are encouraged to work in groups to systematically evaluate multi-domain environmental performance of actual building precedents using state-of-the-art architectural design and research oriented algorithmic/parametric modeling ecosystem of Rhino-Grasshopper with physics-based plug-ins of DIVA-ArchSim-Ladybug-Honeybee. Fundamental computational approaches introduced in EPS are thematically classified into sections following different bands of electromagnetic spectrum that are most relevant to human physical interactions (such as solar, thermal, visible radiation studies) in addition to generation studies for the design of building integrated renewable energy systems. Students acquire necessary skill sets and intuition to understand, analyze, and simulate thermodynamic and photometric interactions to be able to get instant quantitative feedback for informed design explorations.