Fundamentals of Building Energy and Sustainable Design

Every building interacts constantly with its environment, consuming energy to maintain comfort. Understanding how heat, air, and moisture move through structures is essential for creating sustainable, low-carbon architecture.\n\nThis text-based course guides you from foundational physical principles to practical, modern design applications, enabling you to evaluate and optimize building energy performance.\n\nWhat you'll learn:\n- Understand the core principles of thermodynamics and heat transfer in built environments\n- Analyze how insulation, glazing, and building envelope design impact energy consumption\n- Evaluate modern heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems alongside heat pump technology\n- Apply passive solar design strategies to minimize reliance on active mechanical systems\n- Explore modern decarbonization goals, energy codes, and smart building efficiency concepts\n- Practice calculating heat loss and estimating energy loads through written examples and exercises\n\nYou will begin by learning key terminology, foundational physical definitions, and thermal comfort standards. As you progress through the written explanations, you will explore building envelope performance, ventilation strategies, and modern sustainable design frameworks.\n\nThis course is designed for beginners, including aspiring architects, builders, and sustainability enthusiasts, with no prior engineering or thermodynamics background required.\n\nStart building your foundational knowledge of energy-efficient architecture today.