Enroll Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/comfort-in-buildings
In today’s world, the construction industry faces a critical challenge: how to build sustainably without compromising on occupant comfort. Coursera’s ‘Comfort in Buildings’ course dives deep into this complex topic, offering a comprehensive and insightful exploration of green development principles and their practical application.
The course begins by laying a strong foundation in sustainability, highlighting the depletion of natural resources and global energy consumption. It thoughtfully examines site selection parameters, emphasizing the environmental impact and methods for preserving valuable resources like topsoil and water bodies. The introduction to an integrated design approach is particularly valuable, showcasing its benefits for both the environment and project efficiency. The module also touches upon the importance of basic amenities and the often-overlooked urban heat island effect, providing a holistic view of sustainable building considerations.
One of the most engaging aspects of the course is its detailed exploration of ‘Heat Transfer in Buildings’. Understanding how thermal energy moves through a building’s components – roofs, walls, and fenestration – is crucial for energy efficiency. The course breaks down conduction, convection, and radiation with clear examples and calculations for both internal and external heat gain, as well as how to determine heating and cooling loads for optimal comfort.
‘Thermal Comfort’ delves into the subjective experience of occupants, explaining the key parameters that influence how we perceive heat and cold. The module’s focus on psychrometry, using the psychrometric chart to understand air-water vapor mixtures, is incredibly useful for grasping the principles behind heating, cooling, humidification, and dehumidification processes. It also contrasts comfort models for both air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned spaces, offering practical insights.
Finally, ‘Visual Comfort’ addresses the often-underestimated aspect of lighting. The course provides a solid introduction to lighting design, covering both natural daylighting strategies and artificial lighting. The detailed explanation of daylighting controls and the breakdown of artificial lighting types, along with design parameters aligned with the National Building Code and Energy Conservation Building Code, are highly practical for anyone involved in building design.
Overall, ‘Comfort in Buildings’ is an exceptional course for architects, engineers, students, and anyone interested in creating more sustainable and comfortable built environments. It strikes a perfect balance between theoretical knowledge and practical application, equipping learners with the tools to design buildings that are both environmentally responsible and pleasant to inhabit. I highly recommend this course for its clarity, depth, and relevance.
Enroll Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/comfort-in-buildings