This module includes the following…
Introduction to sound insulation measurements and performance monitoring
Sound transmission pathways and mechanisms
Designing for School, Hospital buildings and other Civic and commercial buildings
Designing and performance of rooms for the control of ambient noise
Designing and performance of rooms for the control of reverberation time
Assessing the implication of external noise sources on the design, orientation and layout of buildings
Designing and performance for timber frame attached houses and apartments
Designing and performance for blockwork and masonry attached houses and apartments
Designing and performance for steel frame and in-situ concrete attached housing
Understanding pre-conversion acoustic testing and refurbishment developments
Innovations in acoustics and sound insulation

Further information

Building Thermal Performance:
Building Heatloss
Detailing for Energy Efficient Construction
Sustainable Design Strategies:
Software Tools for designing Energy Efficient Buildings
SAP/SBEM compliance and Energy Performance Certification
Modelling Sustainable Construction
Low and Zero Carbon Technologies (LZCT):
Renewable Energy Technologies
Integration of LZCT in Buildings
Zero Carbon Buildings
Testing Building Performance Targets:
Airtightness Testing
Infra Red Thermography
Building Energy Monitoring

Further information

BIM Introduction, standards and legislation
Lectures on this topic will address the concept and principles of BIM including the current legislation and standards.
Open sharable project based design and construction
Lectures will cover methodologies on how to create suitable, disciplined and collaborative ways for managing the production, distribution and quality of construction information and from CAD systems.
Software facilitating collaboration between project professionals
Lectures and practical sessions will analyse a set of BIM models using BIM software that represent different perspectives of a construction project.
Demonstrations of examples of hardware and techniques to strengthen the implenetation of BIM
Practical sessions and demostrations will show the student how BIM assisted hardware can facilitate BIM collaborations and open sharable information of buildings.
Design of a project implementing BIM practices
An opportunity to develop a small building project using BIM software which will improve project communication, facilitate changes and create synergy between design, construction, handover and Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE).

Further information

The module is design studio based and is largely problem based student centred learning. Throughout the module students will be supported by a series of design tutorials. At the start of the module these tutorials will be group tutorials wherever possible with individual tutorials being more common towards the end of the module.
There are two elements to the module, a technical report and a design project. The technical report will be based on research undertaken by the student on an area that is relevant to the design project. The design project will be subdivided into two main parts – the design and the detail design. The design phase will require students to critically appraise the design brief and to reflect on their findings and to develop their own individual response to the design programme and the findings of their technical report. It will require students to prepare individual design solutions including technical design solutions for their designs and to evaluate them. The detail phase will involve the preparation of a series of detailed drawings of the building and students must justify the decisions that they have made.

Further information

Historical UK building context:
Archetype, age and period of existing building stock in the UK
Building features typical of existing buildings – floor, wall, roof type
Traditional materials and methods of construction:
Traditional building materials properties, limitations and behaviour in existing buildings
Traditional building methods of construction in existing buildings
Sustainable building retrofit methods and standards:
UK Building standards and its context towards building retrofit
Addressing fuel poverty in domestic buildings and economically/ environmentally unviable non-domestic buildings
Sustainable evaluation of building retrofit
Methods of best practice retrofit of buildings
Examples of different building retrofit methods, case studies, trials and new materials
Social considerations in building retrofit
Traditional building services, ventilation, heating and cooling

Further information

Environmental Sustainability:
Energy and Environmental issues; the global and local imperatives;
Renewable technologies;
Sustainable Design Strategies:
Brownfield Site Redevelopment;
Materials and waste strategies;
Low carbon building designs;
Environmental assessment;
Implementation & Performance Targets:
(building regulations, LCA, performance rating systems)

Further information

This module includes the following…
Historical overview of domestic timber construction – western and eastern traditions
Contemporary timber frame construction and MMC
SIPS construction
Cross Laminated Timber construction
Performance of timber dwellings – acoustic, air tightness, thermal, timber cladding
Relationship between structure and form
Contemporary non domestic timber buildings and structures
All of the topics above are discussed within a social, cultural and historic context

Further information