Scott Sutherland School of Architecture

and Built Environment

MSc Construction Project Management

SUM304 Sustainable Development

Topic 2: Climates and Sustainable Buildings

1 Study Guide
 Topic Agenda
Read The Study Guide 20 minutes

Watch video Learning Facilitator video 20 minutes

Access Passive House Institute. 1 Hour

Access Passive House Encyclopedia. 1 Hour

Access The Scottish Ecological Design Association. 30 minutes

Read Approaches to the design of sustainable housing I Hour

with low CO2 emission in Denmark.

Read Effect of daylight saving time on lighting energy 1 Hour

use: A literature review.

Read Life-cycle energy analysis: comparison of 1 Hour

lowenergy house, passive house, self-sufficient
house.

Read Sun lighting and daylighting strategies in the 1 Hour

traditional urban spaces and buildings of the hot
arid regions .

Read The 4 lecture documents on Energy Supply, 2 Hour

Conserving Energy and Renewable Energy.

Access Moving Windmills 30 minutes

Investigate Using the internet, search for other projects 1 Hour

similar to the Moving Windmills site.

Post and Discuss Reflect and answer questions posed in this guide

and in the weekly topic discussion forum and

discuss with your fellow students

Thinking 2 Hours

Initial composition 2 Hours

Reading posts and responding to others 1 Hour

2 Study Guide
 Topic Learning Outcome
• Evaluate approaches to building design with respect to climate

• Assess the progress of sustainable energy use

Climates and sustainable buildings:

There is a plethora of material available for you this week dealing with climate and

buildings and, obviously, this represents only a fraction of other materials that are

available online for you to read. The UK government has developed a strategy for

Building Information Modelling that is ‘critical to the achievement of UK climate change

targets’ (See Recommended Reading in READING LIST, Building Information Modelling ).

And many other countries have similar initiatives as the climate change issue becomes

more critical and mainstream.

Task
To get started, watch the lecture on Buildings and Climates, the slides are available as a

pdf. Be sure to make notes so that your experience is an active one.

Post and Discuss

Do you know of a building in your country, not mentioned in the lecture, that

encapsulates all or some of the principles detailed in the lecture? Describe it for your

group. What have you, or your place of work, done about your own buildings?

Three sites are listed for you that describe climate sensitive building design.

Task
Investigate the three sites listed in READING LIST and read some of the pages/articles that

are available

Post and Discuss

The sites discuss good practice and techniques for building design, but not everyone

follows the ideas presented. Discuss the reasons why. Do you think that design changes

are accelerating now that climate change has become a more pressing issue?

Research on building design is available through the RGU library journals. A selection of

material has been listed for you in the READING LIST.

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 Task
Read at least one of the articles from the four selections in READING LIST, or find one of

your own using the library

Post and Discuss

One of the articles considers the aspect of qualitative versus quantitative considerations

for design. How would qualitative issues affect an evaluation of the conclusions reached

in the article? How do you think the emphasis should be placed between the need for

climate sensitivity and the need for quality of life? Consider the effect of your conclusion

globally, as well as locally and personally.

Energy supply is as pressing a concern as climate change and the two, of course, are

interrelated. Sustainable, renewable energy supplies have been available for some time,

but are still expensive and/or not being used as much as they could be. Many debates on

alternative energy sources are ongoing and frequently there is a lack of government

support for these sources.

Task
Read the four lecture documents on Energy Supply, Conserving Energy and Renewable

Energy from READING LIST. Access the Moving Windmills site from READING LIST. Search

for at least one other innovative idea about alternative energy. An example is listed in

Recommended Reading in READING LIST

Post and Discuss

Having read and investigated, identify what you believe is the best alternative energy

source for your location. Explain why. Identify at least one interesting/innovative idea for

energy sources and savings that you have discovered. Do you think it could be

marketable? Why or why not?

Conclusion
Well done on completing this week’s work! Do be sure to read the posts of your group

and comment on their posts.

4 Study Guide