ARCHTECH 210 Environmental Design 1 - Course Outlines

Course Prescription

Climate, context and energy consideration in buildings. Heat transfer and energy balances. Thermal comfort through passive solar systems, materials and building services in small-scale and residential buildings. Integrating renewable energy sources in building design. Indoor air quality and natural ventilation. Air-tightness and moisture control. Daylight performance of buildings and visual comfort. Behaviour of sound and noise and their control for human comfort.

Course Overview

ARCHTECH 210 is focussed on small-scale buildings (residential, educational, etc.) and on how to achieve high environmental performances and high levels of comfort and well-being for occupants through a sustainable, regenerative and integrated design process.

The course builds upon the knowledge received in ARCHTECH 108 in regard to sustainability and resilience principles and climate-sensitive design, and on the knowledge received in both ARCHTECH 108 and ARCHTECH 207 in regard to architectural technology and construction materials.

The course addresses small-scale and residential buildings and the progression to ARCHTECH 314 will expand the scale to large and complex buildings and toward the urban level.

Future studies include the professionally accredited Master of Architecture (Professional) as well as the research-oriented Master of Architecture (Sustainable Design).

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: ARCHTECH 108 Restriction: ARCHTECH 208

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the complex relationships between natural and anthropogenic factors and of basic principles of building physics and building performance control through designs. (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 3.2)
Demonstrate an understanding of relevant parts of the New Zealand Building Code (Capability 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3)
Use and apply fundamentals of indoor and outdoor environmental quality to inform the design process (Capability 3.2 and 3.3)
Approach the design process considering mutual impacts between natural and built environments (Capability 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1 and 3.3)
Demonstrate the ability to incorporate environmental sustainability, energy efficiency and human comfort considerations and their applications through various design strategies (Capability 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 and 3.3)
Communicate principles of environmental sustainability, daylighting, thermal comfort, ventilation and acoustics and their applications to designs (Capability 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3)
Use and apply the appropriate disciplinary vocabulary to discuss and present design choices and information (Capability 6.1 and 6.2)
Display the ability to reflect on one's own and group's ideas, concepts, arguments and designs in a critical manner (Capability 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 8.1 and 8.3)
Demonstrate good judgement and ethical behaviour in individual tasks and group works (Capability 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 8.1 and 8.3)
Demonstrate a deep understanding of the need for architecture to address not just contemporary demand, but also future needs in regard to climate, environmental and cultural considerations, from a local, regional and global perspective (Capability 4.1, 4.2 and 8.2)

Assessments

Assessment Type	Percentage	Classification
Assignment 1 (Canvas quiz)	10%	Individual Coursework
Assignment 2 (Detail)	10%	Group Coursework
Assignment 3	40%	Group & Individual Coursework
Final Exam	40%	Individual Examination
4 types	100%

Assessment Type	Learning Outcome Addressed
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Assignment 1 (Canvas quiz)
Assignment 2 (Detail)
Assignment 3
Final Exam

PASS REQUIREMENTS

Sitting the final examination is compulsory. Not sitting the exam will lead to a DNS in your academic record and to the automatic failure of this course.

Submitting Assignment 3 is compulsory. Not submitting Assignment 3 will lead to a DNC in your academic record and to the automatic failure of this course.

Extensions of time for Assignment 1 and 2 are not possible as these are related to scheduled face-to-face activities. Not submitting Assignments 1 and/or Assignment 2 will lead to a zero grade for the relevant assignment. Please contact the course co-ordinator as soon as possible and before the deadline for the submission if you experience any issue with attending the activities leading to the submission of Assignment 1 and/or 2.

Late submissions will be considered on medical and special grounds and when the application is made according to the following procedure. Requests for extensions of time must be submitted and approved at least one week before the due date, unless there are exceptional circumstances. Students applying for an extension of time must complete the required details in the School of Architecture and Planning Exension of Time request form (you can find this in the Modules section on Canvas) and submit it to the course co-ordinator. Late submission forms must be signed by the appropriate School staff. Coursework not received by the due date, and for which no extension of time has been approved, will receive a ‘DNC’ (Did Not Complete) for Assignment 3 and zero grade for Assignment 1 and 2.

Teaching & Learning Methods

The course will be delivered through a mix of lectures, tutorials, workshops and discussion of case studies in order to support and facilitate a variety of learning approaches.

Lectures consist of oral presentations by the instructor and, occasionally, by guest lecturers, and are intended to introduce information on a particular subject. These will be supported by presentations and discussions on real case studies in order to see built applications of the principles introduced during the lectures. Students will be involved via Q&A and problem cases in which they will discuss and share information found on a common problem.

Tutorials are activities complementary to lectures to provide more opportunities for student-tutor and student-student interaction focussed on problem-solving and critical thinking activities. Students will be organised into groups to work on a design proposal. Tutorials engage students in the production of an integrated design proposal for a small-scale building in response to a set of constraints and requirements. Teaching and learning are conducted through weekly tutorials sessions in which students will discuss their design proposals with their tutor in a studio setting. The development of the design proposal will be a step-by-step process based on the theoretical knowledge received during the lectures implemented through design activities. This pedagogical approach is intended to strengthen the relationship between environmental design theory and design practices, so that students can transfer this approach and knowledge easily in their design studios and in future professional activities.

Workshops consist in more applicative activities involving building industry partners to deliver practice-oriented knowledge, in order to expose the students to materials, technologies and solutions that will increase the understanding of the multiple factors involved in environmental design processes and real-life professional problems.

Case studies presentations will be offered to complement the theoretical knowledge from an architectural practice perspective, by analysing how renowned architectures were informed by environmental factors and human comfort objectives, thus providing a number of built examples that can inspire the development of the students’ work.

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 26 hours of lectures, 18 hours of tutorials and workshops and 106 hours of work on assignments and exam preparation.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

Attendance is required at scheduled activities including workshops and tutorials to complete the course. A weekly track record will be maintained by each tutor.
Lectures will be available as recordings. Guest lectures may not be entirely recorded upon guests' request to protect intellectual property of shown material. Other learning activities including tutorials and workshops will not be available as recordings.
The course will not include live online events including group tutorials.
Attendance on campus is required for the exam.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Please see the Talis reading list for important and suggested resources. This will be available two weeks prior to the semester.

All resources will be available at the Campus library or as online resources.

Recommended magazines to consult on a regular basis are Detail (http://www.detail-online.com/) and The Plan (http://www.theplan.it/eng).

Health & Safety

Not applicable.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Over the past years, this course has been progressively improved based on students' feedback. Constructive comments received through SET have been considered and led to the introduction of the Materials Forum, the Case Studies Forum and a more holistic yet varied types of assessment. All students are therefore warmly encouraged to complete the course and teacher sections in SET. A respectful and constructive language is expected at all times.

In 2023, a hands-on workshop on detailing was introduced to support the development of technologies for Assignment 3. This will continue to be part of coursework activities in 2024 as it has resulted in a greater level of development of the project by the end of the class contact period.

Other Information

The lecture time is generally arranged in two slots of 50 minutes each with a 5-minutes break between topics. However, it is possible that the lecture time will be arranged differently, in order to suit the different topics to be delivered. A detailed course agenda will be provided two weeks before the start of the semester.

For the tutorial, students will be divided in small groups of 4/5 students each. Students are encouraged to set-up their group independently at the beginning of the course and then to communicate their choice to the course co-ordinator. If students will not be able to arrange their own group, they will be allocated in a group by the course co-ordinator. It is not possible to work in groups of less than 4 people as one of the goals of the assignment is to promote collaborative activities and a positive dialogue and reflection among students on the environmental design subject.

The tutorial time is arranged in a two-hour design review with the tutors. Each tutor will be in charge of 7/8 groups of students. Changes of tutors will not be possible. All groups must discuss their improvements with their tutor every week during the tutorial session, addressing the topic defined for the week in the agenda in section 6.0 of this document. Tutors will track the group’s presence every week, taking notes on participation and contribution of each member of the group and the overall development of the assignment.

Attendance in class, workshops and tutorial sessions, as well as engagement with course activities, modules and readings, supports academic success. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that students make every effort to attend class and complete all the necessary in-class and post-class requirements. Please note that participation to Tutorial sessions will be tracked by Tutors each week and will contribute to the assessment of the individual contribution to groupwork.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Contract cheating (or ghost-writing) is a form of academic dishonesty where students submit course work for assessment authored by another person - friends, family or ‘essay mills’ which advertise online or trawl for students via social media. The consequences of engaging in this practice are serious and can lead to the failure of assignments and courses. Contract cheating services are a form of organised crime and illegal under the Education Act. Students can be blackmailed for large sums of money and have their professional reputations threatened for the rest of their lives. Contract cheating organisations can masquerade as proofreading services and subsequently demand payment for writing an assignment, often with threats. While third-party proofreading is acceptable, students must ensure that the service is legitimate, and will not endanger academic integrity, or their safety. Under no circumstances should students give proofreading or contract cheating organisations their UPI or password. This is forbidden by the University and can enable criminals to access their details, and the University’s intellectual property on Canvas.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.

Capability 1:	People and Place
Capability 2:	Sustainability
Capability 3:	Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4:	Critical Thinking
Capability 6:	Communication
Capability 7:	Collaboration
Capability 8:	Ethics and Professionalism

ARCHTECH 210 : Environmental Design 1

Creative Arts and Industries

2024 Semester Two (1245) (15 POINTS)