B.Arch CurriculumFree, forever
A tribute to Amogh N P
Sustainable & Resilient Building Design
Buildings consume a huge share of the world's energy, materials and water and emit a huge share of its carbon — so to design them well is now to design them sustainably and resiliently. This elective runs from the why to the how to the proof. It begins with the ethics and concepts of sustainability — carrying capacity, the ecological footprint, the climate crisis. It moves to designing for a changing, more hostile climate, and to the passive strategies that make a building comfortable with little energy. It reaches the goal of the net-zero energy building, which makes as much energy as it uses. And it ends with building-performance simulation — the software that lets you test all of this before a single brick is laid.
Course byAmogh N P· Architect & interior designer
The syllabus
5 units · 5 liveTranscribed from the official B.Arch syllabus. All 5 units are live as full interactive lessons, each with original diagrams, a self-assessment quiz and studio work.
Unit 1 — Introduction to Sustainability
LiveSustainable principles and practices; carrying capacity; the concepts, ethics and visions of sustainable development; ecosystems, food chains and natural cycles; the ecological footprint; climate change, world population, GDP and carbon emissions; the steps organisations are taking; and the importance of water, energy, materials and community in sustainable architecture.
Unit 2 — Climate Change & the Built Environment
LiveThe status, challenges and opportunities of climate change; outdoor thermal comfort; climate-resilient and low-carbon development strategies; climate and weather data; thermal comfort and adaptation in the built environment; the impact of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) on human health; ventilation and its relationship to indoor air quality (IAQ); and low-environmental-impact building materials.
Unit 3 — Passive Design Strategies
LiveThe concept of passive buildings; thermal-comfort requirements; site and microclimate; orientation and solar geometry; passive solar design; thermal mass; passive heating and cooling strategies; window placement; daylighting and shading devices; and case studies of buildings designed with passive techniques. (The physics is in the Climatology course.)
Unit 4 — Net Zero Energy Buildings
LiveNet-zero energy buildings — definitions, concepts and the classification system; net-zero energy systems, technologies and applications; net-zero ratings in India; and case studies of buildings that make as much energy as they use.
Unit 5 — Building Performance Simulation
LiveAn introduction to building-performance analysis (BPA); the impact of envelope design on performance; the methodology for BPA simulation; and the simulation software used in practice — Design Builder, Comfen, Revit 2022 Energy Optimisation and Autodesk Insight 360.
Course outcomes
What you will be able to doUnderstand climate change and the need for sustainable buildings.
Understand energy-based concepts and resource optimisation.
Understand the environmental impacts of today and follow the sustainable approach.
Gain the ability to design energy-efficient buildings.
Understand green concepts and apply them across sustainable architecture.
Understand building simulation for energy analysis and design solutions.
The author
Amogh N P
Architect, interior designer, and creative polymath. Studio Matrx began in his notebooks — his vision of design made honest, useful, and open to everyone. Its Academy is written and taught in his memory, and free, forever.
More about Amogh →Build within the planet's means.
Sustainability and resilience, passive design, net-zero energy and the simulation that proves it. Work the five units, study the diagrams, then test yourself.
The curriculum is free, forever