The course consists in lessons, in which the theoretical topics are dealt with, along with numerical examples and exercises, during which practical problems will be solved, and experimental work.

At the end of the course the students will be able to understand the main principles of building physics and thermal comfort. He will be able to know the methodologies to disaggregate typical energy costs in buildings and adopt cost-benefit analyses to evaluate the most promising areas of intervention both at a building and at the building stock scales.

At the end of the course students should be able to evaluate, design and apply the best available techniques in order to design more energy efficient new buildings, and to adopt suitable retrofitting technologies to existing ones.

Basic knowledge about Physics, Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, and Thermal installations (HVAC systems) are required.

Building level

The first part of the course will be devoted to the building as a single object. The following topics will be studied:

1. Energy demand of a building - heating conditions. Components of energy balance: transmission and ventilation losses; internal and solar gains. Climate data (temperature, solar radiation,..) and parameters: degree-days.

2. Existing standards and Energy policies with particular emphasis on buildings will be described, such as the European Directive on energy efficiency in buildings (EPBD and EPBD recast), Standard UNI/TS 11300, National regulations: DL 311/06, regional Energy certification laws

3. Thermal bridges. Condensation risks inside walls. Indoor environment: thermal comfort. Human body balance. Fanger’s theory: PMV and PPD indices. Local discomfort. ISO 7730.

4. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). Perceived air quality. CO2 concentrations. Contaminants. Sources of pollution. Emission rates. Control by dilution and removal. Ventilation strategies (mixing, displacement). Heat recovery systems

5. Energy demand of a building - cooling conditions. Latent heat gains. Dynamic factors. Simplified methods for air conditioning energy calculations. Air conditioning load calculation. Hour by hour dynamic calculation methods.

6. Energy efficient new buildings, complying with new standards and regulations. Integration of RES towards a Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB)

7. Audit and monitoring of existing buildings. Benchmark definition. Field monitoring of building components and installations. Main data to be collected. Sensors and measuring apparatus.

8. Building Retrofits. Actions on building envelope and on mechanical systems. Economic and environmental evaluation of retrofit actions. Ranking of solutions.

Urban level

The second part of the course will be devoted to the analysis of energy efficiency and comfort at the urban level.

9. Energy balance of a city. Main factors: natural energy flows and human-related energy flows. The Urban Heat Island effect. Causes and remedies.

10. District heating/cooling networks. Networks systems: technologies and costs. The district heating system of Torino. Concept of "smart thermal grids": district cooling; waste heat from industries; storage systems for peak shaving.

11. Retrofit of buildings at the urban level. Reading a large-scale energy balance. Disaggregation of the demand. Statistical information. The methodology for ranking the actions.

12. Integration of renewable energies in cities. Solar, geothermal and biomass. Ground-coupled heat pumps. Analysis of pros and cons.

Numerical exercises will be regularly proposed in order to apply the concepts and methodologies explained during the lessons.

Moreover, special laboratory experiments will be carried on, such as:

• In situ experimental evaluation and assessment of thermal comfort

• In situ experimental evaluation and assessment of indoor air quality

• Visit to district heating facilities

• Presentation of the Smartcities project