CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING, CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
BLDG 6951 Passive Solar Building Design
Section VV, Winter 2016
Tuesday 17:45-20:15, H-401
Instructor:

Bruno Lee, PhD, CEng, LEED AP

bruno.lee@concordia.ca
EV-15.103, Office hours: Wednesday, 15:00-17:00 or by appointment
_________________________________________________________________________

Course Objective and Scope:

Passive solar buildings consume much less energy by reducing energy demand through better
construction, and making use of direct and indirect solar gain. While the main focus of the course is on
passive solar building design, active solar technologies are also introduced and discussed. The course is
organized into three themes: 1) the building science (behind that of passive solar building design), 2)
passive and active solar building systems and technologies, and 3) corresponding modelling and
simulation techniques. Through revisiting the building science, the mechanisms of different systems and
technologies are illustrated. The approaches to evaluate the solar availability and determine the
feasibility of different systems are demonstrated. Both analytical and numerical modelling techniques
are explored. At the end of the course, each student will work on a project and demonstrate his / her
skill in designing passive solar buildings.
Course Materials:
1. Lecture slides, available on Moodle/ BLDG-6951-2154-VV
2. Recommended readings suggested for each lecture
3. Athienitis, A. K., W. O'Brien (editors) et al., 2015, Modelling, Design and Optimization of NetZero Energy Buildings, J. Wiley.
4. Athienitis A.K. and Santamouris M., 2002, Thermal Analysis and Design of Passive Solar
Buildings, Earthscan Publishers. (reprinted 2013)
5. Athienitis, A.K., 2007, "Building Thermal Analysis", Electronic Mathcad Book, Mathsoft Inc.
(available on Moodle)
6. J.A. Duffie and W. Beckman, 1991, Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes, J. Wiley & Sons.
7. Neil.B Hutcheon, 1983, Building science for a cold climate, Wiley.
8. Software: TRNSYS (download and install instruction, available on Moodle)
Course Outline:
Theme 1 Building Science
Weather and climate
Solar availability
Thermal analysis of buildings

Theme 2 Passive and Active Solar Building Systems and Technologies

Fenestration components and systems, and airflow window
Photovoltaic (PV) system / BIPV
Solar thermal collectors
Heating and cooling system, and ERV
Thermal storage
Theme 3 Analytical and numerical modelling
Heat transfer in solar buildings; thermal network models (by Dr. Athienitis)
Numerical modelling and building performance simulation
Case studies
Evaluation Scheme:
1. Midterm examination (during class time, Feb 16)
2. Final examination (during class time, April 5)
3. Assignments
4. In-class presentation
5. Individual project:
[Proposal submitted before March 22:
5 %]
[Presentation (during class time, April 12): 5 %]
[Final report due April 15:
20 %]

15 %
25 %
20 %
10%
30 %

Examinations:

Open book (e.g., textbook, notes, solution to problems, crib sheet, or any paper-based materials;
however, NO electronic devices or access to internet).
If a student does not write the midterm exam due to a reason beyond his/her control (e.g.,
hospital, serious sickness, car accident etc.), supported by legal documents, his/her final
examination may count for 40% of the total mark.

In-class presentation (make a presentation of 5 mins on a passive solar building)

5 mins persuasive presentation showcasing the features of a passive solar building of your choice
(the building must be located in a city with the first letter the same as either your last or first name).
Answer why such features are the best options (w.r.t. energy design) for your building of choice due
to its climatic location and architectural design. (starting from Jan 26, approx. 3 students to present
every lecture)
Individual project
Design project based on integrated design approach (guideline will be given on the 3rd class)
Plagiarism (http://provost.concordia.ca/academicintegrity/plagiarism) The most common offense
under the Academic Code of Conduct is plagiarism, which the Code defines as the presentation of the
work of another person as ones own or without proper acknowledgement. In Simple Words: Do not
copy, paraphrase or translate anything from anywhere without saying from where you obtained it!