ENRG 52: Energy & Building Science Fundamentals

Program Description:

The Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) Center has developed a 4-semester program to prepare students to work as commercial building energy auditors. The Commercial Building Energy Analysis & Audits Program is divided into 15 modular courses designed for a community college level student. Courses are intended to prepare students for energy auditing, analyzing a building envelope and building systems for efficiency, employing appropriate tools for energy modeling and working with data, describing utility rate structures and demand response strategies, estimating energy savings and financial impacts, and integrating business development skills and concepts with energy audit reporting.

Content modules can be selected, recombined, or offered in a more compressed format for existing workers, or those that have some background in construction, architecture, HVAC, building operations or mechanical engineering.

Course Description:

This model course from BEST Center focuses the fundamental concepts for understanding energy use in commercial buildings. The course asks students to consider principles of energy, heat transfer, measurement and unit conversion, phase change, psychrometrics, balance point and emissivity, delta flows, solar geometry and energy efficiency improvement strategies. In completing the course, students will be able to: 1) Summarize the basic concepts of energy, including the first and second laws of thermodynamics, work, and power, 2) Measure electricity, heat, pressure, and light, and calculate unit conversions to determine energy use in buildings over time, 3) Analyze environmental conditions using the psychrometric chart and processes, and relate observations of variances in the environment to energy use in buildings, 4) Describe and compare energy concepts including heat transfer, change of state or phase change, balance point, emissivity, and delta flows, and 5) Describe concepts of solar geometry and relate them to building science.

The completion of the lesson in full takes 36 lecture hours (including 9 lab hours). Resources available as part of this course include a course outline, and 4 PowerPoint presentations.

For orientation purposes, viewers should begin with ENRG 52_Course Outline.pdf, which offers a description of the course as well as an overview of topics covered through a course outline.

Course Contents:

The 3-page course outline document includes a course description, learning outcomes, and a detailed course topics outline. Topics include: 1) Introduction, 2) Concepts and principles of energy, 3) Heat transfer, 4) Change of state (phase change), 5) Psychrometrics theory and applications, and 6) Quantifying characteristics. Sections detailing the types of in-class and out-of-class assignments required and other textbooks and resources are also included.

The “Introduction” PowerPoint presentation covers why energy auditors need to understand the concepts of energy and building science, critical terms for understanding and measuring environmental conditions and building energy use and tools used for measuring heat and light.

The 2nd presentation covers concepts and principles of energy, heat transfer, units conversion, and changes of state.

The presentation on “Psychrometrics Theory and Applications” covers understanding and reading the psychrometric chart and the psychrometric processes

The final PowerPoint covers “Balance Point and Emissivity.”

Below is a list of the files contained within the .zip attachment. The size of each file is included in parenthesis.

ENRG 52 - Energy and Building Science Fundamentals (5 files, 7.3MB)

• Energy and Building Science Fundamentals Course Outline (ENRG 52_Course Outline.docx 23KB)
• Introduction (EnergyBuildingScienceFundamentals A v1.pptx 1.1MB)
• Concepts and Principles of Energy (EnergyBuildingScienceFundamentals B C D E v1.pptx 677KB)
• Psychrometrics Theory and Applications (EnergyBuildingScienceFundamentals F G v1.pptx 3.3MB)
• Balance Point and Emissivity (EnergyBuildingScienceFundamentals H I J v1.pptx 2.6MB)