Energy Demand in Buildings

PCP Buildings as Sustainable Energy Systems

Prof. Dr. L.C.M. Itard & Dr. Ir. P.I. van den Brom
Table of contents

Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 3
Learning objectives.................................................................................................................................. 4
Course structure ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Learning activities .................................................................................................................................... 6
Grading .................................................................................................................................................... 8
Certificate ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Deadlines ................................................................................................................................................. 9
Course expectations .............................................................................................................................. 10
License ................................................................................................................................................... 11
Attributions ........................................................................................................................................... 11

Photo by Pickawood on Unsplash

Introduction
Welcome to the TU Delft course Energy Demand in Buildings! Thank you for joining us. In this
syllabus you will find all the important information for this online course.

This MOOC is the first course in the Professional Certificate Program Buildings as Sustainable
Energy Systems, in which you will learn how to design energy efficient, sustainable buildings
whilst improving their thermal quality and indoor environment. The Program consists of four
courses: Energy Demand in Buildings (MOOC 1); Energy Supply Systems for Buildings (MOOC
2) in which you will learn how to choose low carbon energy supply; Thermal Comfort in
Buildings (MOOC 3) in which you will learn how to create a comfortable indoor environment;
and Efficient HVAC Systems (MOOC 4), which is about designing, controlling and optimizing
HVAC systems. All four courses can be followed independently; however, knowledge is built
up from MOOC 1 to MOOC 4.

All courses are based on a classic system engineering approach, meaning that you will also
learn about the interactions between the different components of the building’s energy
system. The system we look at is the physical building with its energy systems, occupants and
HVAC systems. A classic system engineering approach also means that requirement analysis,
modelling, and simulation play an important role. Once you’ve got a good understanding of
the system itself and the interactions between components, you will be able to model it and
simulate its functioning, in order to create and analyse alternative design concepts in terms of
performances. This is our end goal for the full Program.

In the present course, Energy Demand in Buildings, you will discover how building design and
occupancy determines the energy demand in buildings and learn how to (re)design low energy
buildings. We will focus on the energy needs and thermal behavior of buildings. You will learn
to answer questions like:
 how does solar radiation impact the heating and cooling needs of a building?
 is there such a thing as an optimal window size, or optimum insulation or orientation?
 what is the impact of ventilation on a building’s energy needs?
 why do architects sometimes design fully glazed atria oriented to the north?
Learning objectives

This course’s main aim is to teach you how to increase the energy efficiency of new and
existing buildings. Building design strongly influences the quantity of heating, cooling and
electricity needed during building operation. Therefore, a correct thermal design is essential
to achieve low energy and low carbon buildings, with good indoor air quality.
By the end of this course you will be able to:
1. Use the energy chain approach to understand policy documents and energy efficient
building concepts.
2. Master the demand side of the energy chain to design buildings with a low energy
demand.
3. Estimate the most important heat losses and gains in a building.
4. Determine energy demand for space heating and cooling using the energy balance
approach.
5. Estimate the heating energy demand for hot tap water and the electricity needs for
appliances and lighting.
6. Achieve a low energy demand by optimizing window size, insulation, orientation and
ventilation while taking into account building occupancy.
Course structure
The course consists of 6 weeks in total. Weeks 0 and 6 are opening / closing weeks, and the 4
middle weeks are course content weeks. After the course launch, new week modules will
release weekly on Tuesday at 14:00 CEST (12:00 UTC).

Week 1
Introduction, Energy chain and application to buildings
This week starts by introducing the current context and main challenges relating to energy use
in buildings, as well as design principles and building concepts based on the energy chain. After
the first week you will be able to understand the basic principles of the energy chain: demand,
supply, and distribution; and how they relate to design principles for sustainable, comfortable
and energy-efficient buildings and related policies. You will also be aware of what indoor
comfort entails and will know about most important energy-efficient building concepts.

Week 2
Heat losses and gains, and energy balance

Weeks 2 and 3 are devoted to constructing knowledge about all steps needed to estimate
buildings’ energy demand. In this week you will discover what type of heat losses and gains
take place in buildings’ operations. You will learn how to estimate these energy flows using
simple meteorological data and construction properties. You will acquire knowledge on how
to estimate heat transfer caused by construction, ventilation, solar radiation, internal sources
or heat storage in the construction. Finally, you will learn how to make an energy balance
based on these energy flows to estimate heating and cooling demands on an hourly basis.

Week 3
Yearly energy demand and peak load
After the third week you will be able to understand the difference between peak load and
energy use and discover how to estimate the yearly energy demand for heating, cooling, hot
tap water and the electricity demand for appliances. You will learn how to make hourly energy
profiles and to determine the size of the needed heating and cooling equipment, which
determines the costs of equipment.

Week 4
Optimization of building design

In the final week you will learn how to apply the concepts introduced in previous weeks, and
optimize building design. You will find out about optimal window size and optimum insulation
thickness in different climates. You will understand the thermal interactions between building
components and be able to make informed decisions on how to increase the energy efficiency
of new and existing buildings.
Learning activities
In this course, we use a mix of methods to help you to understand the subject, to practice with
concepts and calculations, and to integrate and apply your knowledge in practice. Here is an
overview of the types of content you will encounter.

Online video lectures

Every week, you will be able to view several video lectures, mostly 5 to 7 videos of 10-15
minutes each. In these videos the core of the theory is explained and guided concrete
examples are given, that give you an impression of real situations.

Quizzes
After almost each video lecture, there will be quizzes/short exercises (including hints and
feedback) to help you make sure you have understood the main elements of the lecture.

Guided examples

When the subject matter becomes a bit more complex, and you need to integrate various
theories and practices, guided examples will show you the way first.
After these guided examples, you will be given a new case to work on yourself; these will be
in the form of a multiple choice quiz with hints and feedback.

Assignments
There will be two assignments, one in week 2, one in week 4, accessible to both audit and
verified learners. These assignments will take approximately 1 hour to complete. After the
deadline for uploading, a self-reference document will be made available. Audit learners can
check their work independently on the basis of this document. Verified learners will grade
each other by peer-reviewing each other’s work.

Peer feedback
The peer feedback is linked to the grade, and is available to verified learners only. It is
mandatory for the verified learners and will be organized twice, after upload of the
assignments.

Discussion forums

Beside weekly Q&A threads, we have created specific threads in which you can have a
discussion with your peers on certain weekly topics, exercises and assignments. We encourage
you to help each other out and answer each other’s questions. Let’s have an active discussion
forum where we hear from everybody, not just from the course staff! Staff will step in right
away for errors and technical questions, but will allow you some time to brainstorm and
interact before answering content-related questions. Be sure to pitch in if you know the
answer to a peer’s question.

Course Reader and additional materials

Of course, the slides supporting all videos are available for download, as well as the transcripts
of the videos. In addition to this, a course reader will be available as a reference. When
needed, links to other MOOCS or videos will be provided.

Need help?
If you have any questions regarding the content of the course, you should go to the
discussion forum. Click on the 'Discussion' tab, in the upper menu, here you can find
discussion threads for each course week (Q&A Week 1, Q&A Week 2, …).

We will scan through these forums once a day and we will try to answer your questions as
quickly as possible. Please check whether your question has not already been asked before.
Grading
For verified learners the two assignments in Weeks 2 and 4 will be peer-graded by at least 2
peers, on the basis of the self-reference document provided. The grades will be available one
week after the deadline for the assignment’s submission.
The first assignment counts for 40% of the final grade, the second one for 60%. For a
certificate, a total score of 60% is needed for the final grade.

Certificate
But what do we mean by verified and audit learners? If you are interested in a certificate you
can pay to upgrade to a Verified Certificate. Upgrading to a verified Certificate gives you:

- Access to graded assignments;

- A certificate if you successfully complete the course assignments (with a total score of 60%
minimum);
- Access to the archived course after the end date.

Working towards a certificate has proven to keep students more motivated.

Course certificates will indicate that you have successfully completed the course, but will not
include a specific grade. Certificates will be issued by edX under the name of DelftX,
Designating the institution from which the course originated.

An ID verified Certificate of Achievement is available for 83 EUR. You can upgrade to ‘Verified’
on your edX dashboard during the course run, until September 19th, 2020 at 23:59 UTC.

The certificates will be issued at few days after the final course deadline (October 6th, 2020
2020), to all paid participants who achieved a score of at least 60%. The certificate can be
downloaded from your Student Dashboard.

Once produced, a certificate cannot be reissued; hence it is very important that you verify
the way in which your name appears. Check that, in your edx.org account, your name is
correctly spelled, since it will appear on the final certificate. Please note that no Honour Code
certificates will be given out by edX for this course.

Do you need financial assistance? EdX offers up to a 90% discount on our verified certificates
to learners who cannot afford to pay full price. Check the edX support page for financial
assistance.
Deadlines
The course contains activities, some with recommended deadlines, and some with hard
deadlines.

Recommended deadlines are the moments that we suggest you to finish the course activities
(quizzes, exercises, discussions); this will help you to keep on track and to allow you to discuss
course content with others, and get more timely answers to your questions. We recommend
both verified and audit learners finish each week’s activities before the start of the next
week. However, there are no immediate consequences if you miss these deadlines.

The hard deadlines are only applicable to verified learners; they are the last possible moment
to hand in your main assignments for grading. It is not possible to hand in assignments after
a hard deadline has passed, so be sure to take note of them and enter them in your agendas
or calendars.

Overview of deadlines (hard deadlines in blue):

 Quizzes and exercises week 1: September 8th , 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
 Quizzes and exercises week 2: September 15th , 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
 Assignment week 2 (submit): September 15th, 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
 Quizzes and exercises week 3: September 22st , 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
 Assignment week 2 (peer review): September 22nd, 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
 Quizzes and exercises week 4: September 29th , 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
 Assignment week 4 (submit): September 29th, 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
 Assignment week 4 (peer review): October 6th, 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
 Course closing: October 6th, 2020 12.00 hrs UTC
Course expectations
This MOOC was developed to give you the opportunity to learn what tools and theories to use to
reduce the energy demand of buildings, and thus their impact on the environment during
operation. Another course focus is to make buildings ready to be powered by renewables. This
course is based on years of practice, research and education and it offers the basics of what every
designer, policy maker or energy specialist should know on the thermal behavior of buildings.

You may expect from us the timely delivery of weekly content, and a fully functioning academic
course. We will offer daily discussion board moderation. We aim to answer questions within 48
hours; however, we also encourage learners to help each other out and answer each other’s
questions where possible, and will wait for this to occur when we think it best.

We expect you to be an active participant in this course, not only by completing assignments but
also by sharing your knowledge with us and your peers and by helping others in the discussion
forums and within the peer feedback.

We expect you to keep on track and submit assignments in a timely manner, as we cannot offer
deadline extensions. Verified learners are expected to give feedback on their peers’ work when
required to in an assignment. When you give feedback on the work of your fellow students please
be respectful and give the feedback in a constructive way.
License
The course materials of this course are Copyright Delft University of Technology, and are
licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – Share Alike 4.0 Unported
License.

If you choose to reuse or repost DelftX course materials you must give proper attribution to the
original TU Delft faculty author(s). Please utilize the following citation "This material was created
by or adapted from material posted on the Delftx website, delftx.tudelft.nl, and created by TU
Delft faculty member (Name), (Title), (Year). DelftX is not responsible for any changes made to the
original materials posted on its website and any such changes are the sole responsibility of [name
of user/adapter]."

You must also include a copy of the Creative Commons license used by DelftX, with every copy of
the TU Delft materials or the derivative work you create from it.

Attributions
Course reader:

The course reader is based on the pre-edited version of chapter 5 of the book ‘Sustainable
Urban Environments: An Ecosystem Approach’, 2012, Springer Netherlands, Editors: van
Bueren, E.M., van Bohemen, H., Itard, L., Visscher, H. . DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-1294-2.
Chapter 5 was written by L.C.M. Itard. The book is available at:
https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789400712935#aboutAuthors

Additional materials:
MOOC DelftX ZEBD01x Zero-Energy Design: an approach to make your building sustainable,
edX