Development of a New Graduate Course on Building Simulation
IBPSA-UAE succeeded in adding a new graduate course on building performance simulation to the new graduate studies program (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) at UAE University. This 3 credit-hours course titled as ARCH-750 Building Performance Modeling was proposed by Prof. Khaled Al-Sallal; and was taught for the first time in the Fall semester of 2011-2012 to 8 Ph.D. students. The development of the course followed the footsteps of other similar simulation courses established by well-known experts in other parts of the world such as the following:
• State of The Art in Building Performance Simulation (Master’s Level) by Prof. Jan Hensen, at Eindhoven University of Technology.
• Building Performance Modeling taught by Prof. Ardeshir Mahdavi, TU Vienna.
• Building Performance Modeling and Simulation by PD Dr.-Ing. Christoph van Treeck, TUM Technische Universität München.
Through extensive list of readings, lectures, and seminar discussions students learn fundamentals and computational methods in building performance modeling. Topics include: Numerical methods in building performance simulation; performance modeling the heat, air, moisture, light, electricity, pollutant and control signal flows within building/plant systems; building performance indicators, targets, and framework; advanced computational building simulation; green building and simulation; integration of performance modeling in the design process; evaluation and improvement of building performance. The assignments help to expand the theoretical knowledge on the advances of building performance modeling research. The course is supported by many valuable resources associated with IBPSA and its wide platform of the world chapters. The course uses as text book “Building Performance Simulation for Design and Operation” edited by Jan L.M. Hensen and Roberto Lamberts, along with many other readings from scientific journals and conference papers.
