Teaching

REGULAR COURSES:

Urban settlements are complex human-made systems where interaction between the outdoor environment, structures, and humans follow physical laws of thermodynamics. Therefore, this course introduces the analysis of urban neighborhoods from a thermodynamics perspective considering the heat exchange of buildings with the environment (air, soil, etc.), direct and indirect effect of the outdoor environment on the comfort of humans. In addition, thermal energy sources within a neighborhood scale are analyzed with their potential to facilitate the zero-energy design of buildings and cities.

More details: coursebook CIVIL-450

The course presents the fundamentals of operational energy management in buildings while emphasizing the need for comfort of occupants (thermal and air quality). The learning is supported by exercises that offer an opportunity to understand interactions and trade-offs between energy use and comfort requirements.

More details: coursebook ENG-445

The course provides an integrated approach to analyzing indoor thermal comfort by examining the correlation between indoor thermal environment, building envelope performance, and thermal conditioning systems (HVAC). Particularly, thermodynamics of heat flows that an occupant is exposed to along with thermodynamic processes happening across the building envelope and within the mechanical HVAC system are analyzed.

More details: coursebook CIVIL-450

SPECIAL COURSES:

This ENAC week provides BS students from ENAC the opportunity to conduct an analysis of the interior conditions of an analog lunar base used by Asclepios to conduct simulated space missions, and to learn more about the challenges of designing controlled interior spaces in extraterrestrial environments. The course proposes to first study the design and requirements of the rooms within a simulated lunar base. This will be done through a state of the art analysis taking into consideration the current conditions of the base at Sasso San Gottardo such as low temperature and high humidity. With the help of on-site measurements and adapted software, the study will focus on comfort provision by balancing minimal energy use, human well-being and building resilience. For this, design ideas for ventilation, thermal flows, energy conservation, comfort and material selection will have to be justified within a reduced budget in order to be implemented during the mission. The project will take into account the conditions of an environment such as the Moon. The implementation of a controlled artificial light environment and the optimal occupation of the space will also be considered in order to improve the realism of the mission.

More details: presentation and coursebook PENS-226

The Swiss-Korean Academic Exchange Program ARC-HEST: Architecture for Human Environment with Smart Technologies was launched in 2018, and it is a joint pedagogical program of 3 Swiss universities (EPFL, HEIA-FR and UNIFR) and 3 South Korean universities (EWHA Womans University, Hanyang University, and SungKyunKwan University). It is an interdisciplinary program for MS students focusing on the study of the synergy of architectural design, human factors, and technologies in the office buildings and their combined effect on the indoor environmental quality and human-building interaction in the context of the local culture and architecture. It is organized in the framework of two-week long Exchange Schools. In 2019-2020 edition, the Summer School took place in South Korea, and the Winter School occurred in Switzerland.  In the 2022-2023 edition, the locations of the Schools was swapped. The focus of both editions as on co-working spaces.

More about the program: LINK