Welcome to Sustainable Building Design!

As you likely know, meeting growing global energy demand, while mitigating climate change
and environmental impacts, requires a large-scale transition to clean, sustainable energy systems.
Students and professionals like yourself are needed to realize this future energy landscape.

The building sector represents a large percentage of overall energy consumption, and contributes
40% of the carbon emissions driving climate change. Yet buildings also offer opportunities for
substantial, economical energy efficiency gains. From retrofit projects to new construction,
buildings require a context-specific design process that integrates efficiency strategies and
technologies. In this course, you'll be introduced to a range of technologies and analysis
techniques for designing comfortable, resource-efficient buildings.

The primary focus of this course is the study of the thermal and luminous behavior of buildings.
You'll examine the basic scientific principles underlying these phenomena, and use computer-
aided design software and climate data to explore the role light and energy can play in shaping
architecture. These efficiency design elements are critical to the larger challenge of producing
energy for a growing population while reducing carbon emissions.

Course Learning Goals

 After these 13 weeks, you will:

● understand and apply the scientific principles underlying the thermal and luminous behavior of
buildings,
● learn to evaluate the pros and cons of a range of technologies for creating comfortable indoor
environments,
● conduct a series of design analysis workflows regarding climate, building energy use and
daylighting,
● acquire the knowledge required to critically discuss/present the environmental concept of a
building.

Please note:  In contrast to Christoph's introductory video, the course now consists of 10
weeks of content and assignments, followed by 2 weeks for the final design project and 1
week for grading the final projects, for a total of 13 weeks of work.

The course is organized into 4 modules shown below. Each consists of 2-4 weeks of content
and work.

Each module's set of weekly assignments are due at the specific Tuesday at 20:00 UTC instead
of on a fixed, weekly basis. We hope it makes the work more flexible and manageable. However,
keep in mind each "week" is approximately 8 - 12 hours of work, and manage your time
accordingly.

The full course content is released on February 28 so that learners interested in select content can
access it from the start. This also means you may complete work ahead of the module due dates
if you choose. However, if you are a certificate learner please be aware that you will not receive
your final grade until you’ve received and competed the minimum number of peer reviews for
select assignments. Please also look closely at the assignment due date timeline
below, as peer review assignment due dates (designated with an "*") may
present incorrectly on edX’s course timeline tab. It can also be accessed and
downloaded here.

*Please note this timeline is subject to change, and the syllabus will be updated.
 Course Mechanics

Each module’s content, including the weekly lectures, discussion boards, and graded
comprehension questions and assignments, will be due on specific Tuesdays at 20:00 UTC
(coordinated universal time). See timeline here.

● Lectures will provide the background information necessary to complete assignments, and are
accompanied by ungraded quizzes that will help you gauge your understanding of the content.

Lecture slides are available for review and download on MIT's OpenCourseWare. Please note
that some slides refer to residential course requirements and timetables, and do not apply to this
online course.

● Comprehension Questions are questions that will help you further consider the content
presented in the lectures, and gauge your comprehension of it. The weekly comprehension
questions are due alongside the module’s weekly assignments (specific Tuesdays, 20:00 UTC).

● Discussion Boards are available for each week for you to post questions and thoughts regarding
the content and assignments. These discussion boards are monitored periodically by course staff.
NOTE: If you have immediate questions regarding technical issues on edX, contact the edX
Help Center: https://support.edx.org/hc/en-us

● Assignments will include specific deadlines in their instructions, but most work within a module
will be due on a designated Tuesday at 20:00 UTC, along with all module weekly assignments.
Please note that some assignments require you to review peer submissions after you've submitted
your response, and a separate due date for peer reviews will be noted.

Late submissions will receive no credit. Extensions will only be granted in extenuating
circumstances, and some assignments (such as the final project) cannot be extended. However,
your lowest weekly assignment grade is available to drop (receive credit without completion). To
request an extension, please post a comment in the Extension request discussion board and wait
for a response from the course TA. Please only post your request as a comment to the thread
titled "Extension Requests". Please note that you may only receive partial credit for extended
submissions on peer-review assignments, such as in Week 2.

Note about extensions for Verified Learners registering late to the course: Extensions will
NOT be granted if they are requested after the due date of Module 1 (March 21, 2023). It is
possible to receive a passing grade or higher if you can continue with Modules 2 - 4 despite
losing out on points from Module 1. Before you enroll for this course, please take a look at
the timeline to determine if you will have enough time to turn in your work.

Important note to all learners: To keep this course accessible for all learners,
regardless of an ability to afford certificates, the 10 weekly assignments are
available to ALL learners, Audit and Verified. However, the final project (weeks 11
-13) is only open to Verified learners. Audit learners will be able to prepare and
share their own versions of a final project, but it will not be graded and a final
 grade for the course will not be issued (although it can be easily calculated). See
below for more information about Verified Certificates.

Verified Learners: Your final grade for the course will be based on:
Comprehension Questions = 10% of final grade
Weekly assignments and quizzes = 70% of final grade 
Final design project = 20% of final grade

Passing score is a 70%.

Verified Certificates

● Verified Certificates are available from edX can provide proof for an employer, school, or other
institution that you have successfully completed an online course. Verified certificates require
you to verify your identity using a webcam and a photo identification card, so employers and
schools know that you completed the course work. Click on the link to learn more.
This course's cutoff date for upgrading to a Verified Certificate is May 9, 2023. If you have
upgraded to a Verified Certificate before realizing you don't have enough time to complete the
course with a passing grade, there is a week long period after you upgrade that you can be
refunded by edX.

In addition, edX now offers financial aid for Verified Certificates!

This course's cutoff date for upgrading to a Verified Certificate is July 6, 2020. If you have
upgraded to a Verified Certificate before realizing you don't have enough time to complete the
course with a passing grade, there is a week long period after you upgrade that you can be
refunded by edX.

Important note to all learners: To keep this course accessible for all learners, regardless of
an ability to afford certificates, the 10 weekly assignments are available to ALL learners,
Audit and Verified.

However, the final peer reviewed project (weeks 11 -13) is only open to Verified learners.
Audit learners will be able to prepare and share their own versions of a final project, but it
will not be graded and a final grade for the course will not be issued (although it can be
easily calculated).
AIA Accreditation

This course offers the opportunity for learners who are American Institute of Architecture (AIA)
members to earn 22 learning units (LUs/Elective) if they purchase and earn the verified
certificate for this course.*

If you are an AIA member interested in earning LUs with a purchased and earned verified edX
certificate, you must register (in addition to registering on edX for the course) in the form
below:

https://mit.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aWyoaNy4mX5cGPA

After the end date of the course, the course team will verify whether you have
purchased and earned the edX Verified Certificate and send you a separate
AIA certificate within 10 days.
                                                                                 
*The MIT Energy Initiative is a registered provider of AIA-approved continuing education under Provider Number 10009794. All registered AIA
CES Providers must comply with the AIA Standards for Continuing Education Programs. Any questions or concerns about this provider or this
learning program may be sent to AIA CES (cessupport@aia.org or (800) AIA 3837, Option 3).
This learning program is registered with AIA CES for continuing professional education. As such, it does not include content that may be deemed
or construed to be an approval or endorsement by the AIA of any material of construction or any method or manner of handling, using,
distributing, or dealing in any material or product.
AIA continuing education credit has been reviewed and approved by AIA CES. Learners must complete the entire learning program to receive
continuing education credit. AIA continuing education Learning Units earned upon completion of this course will be reported to AIA CES for
AIA members. Certificates of Completion for both AIA members and non-AIA members are available upon request.

Course Materials

Learning Tracks: Sustainable Building Design was developed for learners interested in tackling

challenges related to energy and climate change, as well as for those interested specifically in
building design and architecture. Exercises and assignments have therefore been designed
for two different learning tracks:

Track1 Track 2

If you do not have access to licensed computer-
aided design software, or access to a Windows
computer with sufficient processing power, we
will refer you to a variety of freely accessible
online tools to complete course assignments.
ClimaPlus MIT’s ClimaPlus will be
For learners who would like to engage professional-grade
software, you may consider accessing trial versions of the
following packages.
Rhinoceros3D Throughout the course, you will be learning
how to conduct an energy and daylighting analysis of
 consistently used throughout Track 1. ClimaPlus
is a browser-based tool that allows you to
explore climate data for thousands of sites
throughout the world. NOTE: ClimaPlus has
been tested for Google Chrome and Firefox. It
is not currently compatible with Safari and
Internet Explorer.
buildings for either design or retrofitting purposes. All
example simulations are conducted using ClimateStudio.
While Rhino is available for both Windows and
Mac, ClimateStudio only runs under Windows. In order to
use the tool, you will therefore need access to a
newer Windows computer with Rhinoceros v7 on it. A
free 90-day trial version for Rhino is available
from https://www.rhino3d.com. While this class does not
provide specific training for modeling in Rhino, free training
material is available at https://www.rhino3d.com/training.

ClimateStudio is a plugin for Rhino v7 under Windows.

Compared to DIVA, which was used in previous offerings of
the course, ClimateStudio is significantly faster, easier to
learn and features advanced results visualizations. Advanced
learners are granted access to an exclusive, no-commercial 
version that will be active throughout the duration of this
class. Download the latest installer here. A temporary license
key will be provided you during the first week of class. Video
tutorials are available from
https://www.solemma.com/climatestudio-tutorial-videos.

Prerequisites: This course is open to all learners. However, as a graduate-level course from

MIT, learners will benefit from previous study of physics and advanced algebra and
trigonometry, and strong English language skills. To review such content, you are encouraged to
leverage MIT OpenCourseWare, a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content
(undergraduate, graduate, and introductory levels).

Supplementary content: To supplement your learning, you may also consider ordering
Christoph Reinhart's textbooks (below). These textbooks are NOT necessary to complete this
online course.

● Daylighting Handbook 1
● Daylighting Handbook 2