The course will teach the fundamental principles, the quantitative assessment tools and the main reference data in the field of building physics. A focus will be dedicated to the concept of Zero Energy Building (ZEB) and strategies to improve: the energy efficiency of buildings, renewable energy sources exploitation and the implementation of passive solution technologies for air conditioning. At the end of the course, the student will be able: • To determine the requirements for the correct design of the building and technical system in order to control the internal environment and energy efficiency (thermal comfort, air quality, ventilation, requirements of the building envelope components); • To calculate the design thermal loads for both space heating and cooling; • To optimize the energy performance of buildings and the quality of the indoor environment; • To use quantitative assessment tools following the normative standards and to address the energy modeling of multizone buildings within a transient energy simulation tool. • To plan energy retrofit renovations, implementing technologies for reaching the nZEB target; • To manage and to communicate the energy design of buildings in the professional field.

It is required the ability to apply the Mathematics and Physics tools learnt during the three-year degree and to apply the knowledge gained in the courses of Thermodynamics and Heat Transmission and Building Physics and Air Conditioning.

The course programme will cover the following main topics: • The thermal and mass balance of the single enclosures and of the whole building; • The solution of the thermal balance in winter condition - determination of the design load (according to the procedure in UNI EN 12831); • The solution of the thermal balance in summer condition - determination of the design load (through the use of simulation software and simplified methodologies); • Transient energy simulation software for the assessment of buildings energy performance and their application for design purposes (basic principles for the calculation of thermal loads, geometric modeling and thermal zoning, input data management and schedules, boundary conditions, analysis of results, simulation-based optimization processes). • Thermo-energetic analysis of the performance of the envelope components (opaque, transparent components and thermal bridges); • Innovative technologies and materials for envelope components (opaque elements, transparent components and thermal bridges); • Weather data for the energy design of buildings and air conditioning systems: the Typical Meteorological Year (TMY), the winter and summer design day conditions • Fundamentals of thermo-hygrometric comfort: thermal balance of the human body, PMV method, adaptive thermal comfort, UNI EN ISO 7730 and ASHRAE 55 standards; • Introduction to the assessment of the quality of the indoor environment (IEQ - Indoor Environmental Quality): the standard EN 16798-1; • Indoor air quality: classification of pollutants and main pollutants indoor/outdoor, assessment of air quality with objective and subjective methods, prescriptive and performance regulatory approach: UNI EN 16798-3, UNI 10339 and ASHRAE 62; • Air quality control techniques and ventilation fundamentals; • Ventilation strategies and systems: technologies and methods of analysis; • Strategies and technologies for passive heating and cooling of buildings; • Development of experimental measures in relation to: IAQ, ventilation, thermos-hygrometric comfort, thermo-physical performance of building envelope components; • Development of a design exercise in conjunction with the course "Design of thermal systems" - 01TWHND (in the first half of the next year).

The course exercises are characterized by a design-oriented approach and consist in the development of a thermophysical project of a new building and/or of an existing building by means of a software tool and simplified numerical models. On the case-study building, it will be requested to develop: the thermophysical design of the envelope components, the calculation of the winter and summer thermal loads needed for the sizing stage, the evaluation of the thermohygrometric comfort and the IAQ assessment. The design exercise is strongly integrated with the course "Design of thermal systems" - 01TWHND (taught in the first semester of the second year) and will be the starting point for the development of the corresponding exercise within the same course. Experimental exercises will focus on: measurement of PMV and indoor microclimate variables, air quality/ventilation, tracer gas techniques, pressurization tests to measure the airtightness of the building envelope. These design and practical experiments must be collected - at the end of the course - in a "book" that the student must bring at the oral test. The project report must be prepared having in mind that it will be considered as a "calculation report accompanying the project", thus including in the appendices also the technical illustrative material of all the products/components that have been chosen for the development of the project itself. The experiments reports should contain a brief but comprehensive description of the test/measure procedures, a description of the data processing procedures, the presentation of the results, and a brief critical discussion.

The course is made up by 80 hours, divided into theoretical lessons, design exercises, experimental exercises, and practical exercises with the use of simulation software (freeware), seminars on specific topics.

Material, slides, references to technical standards and handouts provided by the teaching staff. Slides of the IDES-EDU (http://proftrac.eu/training-material/search-training-material.html) project. Material for in-depth analysis and review: • Corrado V., Fabrizio E., “Fondamenti di Termofisica dell’Edificio e Climatizzazione”, CLUT, 2012, Torino • Stefanutti L., “Manuale degli impianti di climatizzazione”, ISBN 978-88-481-1884-2, Editore Tecniche Nuove, 2007. • ASHRAE, “Handbook of Fundamentals”, ASHRAE, 2017. • Spietler J., “Load Calculation Applications Manual”, ASHRAE, 2009. • EnergyPlus, “Getting started with EnergyPlus” – Documentation of the software tool • AICARR, “Manuale d’ausilio alla progettazione: Miniguida AICARR (III Edizione)”, ISBN: 978-88-95620-56-5, MILANO: AICARR, 2010. • Capozzoli A., Corrado V., Gorrino A., Soma P., “Atlante nazionale dei ponti termici”, Edilclima, 2011 • Corrado V., Paduos S., “La nuova legislazione sull’efficienza energetica degli edifici. Nuova edizione”, Editore CELID, 2010. • http://download.rockwool.it/media/115586/brochure%20dm%20web.pdf

Exam: Written test; Compulsory oral exam; Individual project;

The exam consists of a written test and a compulsory oral test. The written test consists of: I) a part of theory with open questions with synthetic answers on topics taught during lesson and exercise lectures; II) a numerical exercise with several points to answer. The theoretical part (part I) lasts 30 min. During this part, the use of any kind of support (text, notes, books, standards, ....) is not allowed. The numerical exercise (part II) lasts 1 hour and 30 min. During this part, students may use: notes, slides, text books and standards, .... (we warmly suggest students to take with them standards and all the material that they consider helpful for doing the exercise). Each part is evaluated maximum 16 points (total 32 = 30 cum laude). If the total score of the written part is equal or higher than 15/30 the written test is considered passed and the student can access to the oral examination. During the oral text the students will illustrate and explain the design exercises and the relations of the experiential tests done during the semester, justifying the outcomes on the base of the knowledge acquired during the lectures (during the oral examination some insights of theory and clarification about the written tests may also be asked to the students). Part I and II must be - mandatory - done simultaneously during the same exam round. The final score of the exam results from the weighted average between the written part and oral part ( Final score = 2/3 Written Part + 1/3 Oral Part). Should the oral part not be sufficient (less than 15/30), then the exam is failed and the student must repeat again also the written part. At the oral test the student must come with her/his copy of the “book” (described in detail in the "Note" section) that collects all the relations on numerical and design exercise, experimental/lab tests assigned during the course. This book will be used as the basis to conduct the oral dissertation .

In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.