Fall 2023. Subject to refinement/updating.
Course Number: ARCH 51600-B/61600-B/SUS 7300A
Course Title: Low Energy Building/ High Performance Architecture
Instructor: Alan Barlis and Ben Leer
Credits: 3 Credits
Class Schedule: Tuesdays 5:00 pm to 7:50 pm
Room: SSA 127
Contact Info: abarlis@ccny.cuny.edu bleer@ccny.cuny.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays 4-5 pm (by appointment)
Semester: Fall 2023
Course Description
This course introduces students to fundamental concepts affecting the energy performance of a building,
including thermodynamics, building science, construction, and design. This course utilizes historic and
modern passive design principles as a primary framework for these concepts. These fundamentals
concepts are introduced in lecture and reinforced through practical experiences. Students will explore
material through readings, presentations, field trips, energy modeling exercises, and architectural design
projects. The course culminates in a final project where students design and model a residential building
to meet Passive House Certification.
Course Overview
The emphasis of this course will be on the energy usage of buildings, and the necessity to reduce this
energy usage in order to mitigate anthropogenic climate change. The performance of a building is affected
foremost by its envelope, and so this course focuses on methods for optimizing performance of the
building envelope in order to reduce the energy requirements of heating/cooling systems. Additional
concepts include innovation in building technologies and methods to ensure quality control. Together,
these concepts provide the framework for sustainably informed architectural design.
Particular emphasis will be placed on the Passive House approach to energy reduction in buildings, as
outlined by the Passive House Institute (PHI). We will cover in detail the five main principles of Passive
House design: airtightness, insulation, thermal bridging, high performance fenestration, and ventilation.
We will also provide context for these principles through case studies, historic precedents, site visits, and
product/project presentations. Students will be asked to look at the buildings that they occupy and
observe most often through the eyes of a sustainably minded building professional in order to think
critically about strategies, methods, and materials utilized in building construction. These critical analysis
skills will be evaluated by the instructors through in-class conversations and assigned research projects.
Finally, the importance of quality control through energy auditing and modeling will be highlighted as an
essential element of ensuring sustainability in design. Through a series of cumulative exercises, this
course will familiarize students with the basic tools that building professionals use for quality control.
The Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) will be featured in these exercises culminating in the
students building and presenting a simplified PHPP model for a building of their design.2
Course Readings and Other Resources
Required readings are noted in the schedule and are available in the Google Drive or on reserve in the
architecture library. The list below is for additional reading as for your interest and for context for class
discussion.
• Moskovitz, Julie Torres. The Greenest Home.
• James, Mary. Recreating the American Home.
• Heschong, Lisa. Thermal Delight.
• Moore, Fuller. Environmental Control System.
• Lechner, Norbert. Heating, Cooling and Lighting.
• Grondzik, Kwok, Stein, Reynolds. Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Building.
• Bielefeld, Bert. Detail Green Books, Passivhauser entwerfen.
• IBO. Details for Passive House.
• Anderson, Ray C. & White, Robin. Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People,
• Purpose—Doing Business by Respecting the Earth.
• Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next
• Industrial Revolution.
• Benyus, Janine M. Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.
• McDonough, William & Braungart, Michael. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We
• Make Things.
• David Wallace-Wells. The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming
Learning Objectives
To provide students with a framework for considering sustainability in design. To provide students with a
fundamental understanding of strategies, tools, and materials available to reduce the operational and
embodied energy of buildings. To familiarize students with the Passive House design principles and test
their application through design exercises.
Breakdown of Course Grade
Class Participation:
• Your participation grade will be based on attendance and participation during class
discussions. Class participation should reflect an understanding of the assigned
readings and previously discussed concepts. Attendance and value of participation
will be worth 20% of your course grade.
• There will be two case studies - one solo presentation and one group presentation -
each worth 10% of your course grade.
40 pts.
Homework/Assignments:
• For assignments submitted after the assigned due date, the best possible grade a
student can earn will be lowered by one tier for every day late that the assignment is
submitted (ex. after 1 day a student can only earn a B+, after two days a C+, after 3
days a D, after 4 days an F)
• There will be 5 assignments each worth 5% of your course grade, and a Final
Assignment worth 15% of your course grade.
40 pts.
Final exam: 20 pts.3
Course Policies
Attendance is required and will be taken in class. Each unexcused absence will lower your grade by 1/3
of a letter (B+ to B, for example.) Excused absences must be reported by email 24 hours before class,
with exceptions for emergency situations. Note CCNY’s policy on absences:
“Each instructor has the right to establish his/her own attendance policy, which will be announced
in class or given in the syllabus. It is your responsibility to become familiar with and follow this
policy, and you should find it out on the first day your class meets.
In general, you are expected to attend your section and to be on time. An instructor has the right
to drop you from a course for excessive absence, and to treat lateness as equivalent to absence.
No distinction is made between excused and unexcused absences. Each instructor retains the right
to establish his or her own policy.”
Following CCNY’s policy, you will fail this course if you miss more than four classes. Missing classes
for religious observance or jury duty are exceptions to this rule. Your instructor will monitor your
attendance and you are responsible for notifying your section leader prior to the absence whenever
possible. In notifying your instructor about an absence or another issue, please append a copy of a
doctor’s note or other written proof of the seriousness of the situation at hand.
All assignments must be completed in order to pass the class. All work must be handed in before the last
day of class; no late work will be accepted after this date.
No incompletes will be granted except in the case of an extreme medical or family emergency, supported
by a doctor’s note or other written proof of the seriousness of the situation at hand. These materials must
be processed by the academic advisor in concert with the instructor.
Use of Electronic Devices. All students are expected to engage in active learning during class time,
including during remote Zoom instruction. The use of mobile phones, texting, and social media can be
very distracting for both students and the instructor. Please turn off and put handheld devices away and
out of view during class, in order to be fully present. The appropriate use of laptops will be discussed. The
instructor will provide periodic breaks; if needed, devices may be used during this time.
Classroom Civility. All students are expected to participate in class discussions. Meaningful and
constructive dialogue is encouraged; however, discussion should be civilized and respectful to everyone,
as well as relevant to the topic being discussed. This requires a willingness to listen, tolerance for
different points of view, and mutual respect from all participants. All students will be expected to show
respect for individual differences and viewpoints at all times.
Academic integrity. All assignments must be your original work, produced for this class and no other.
You will fail this course if you: 1) submit work, used for another course; 2) copy material and submit it as
your own, without using quotations and citing your source, or in any other way represent the work of
another person as your own; 3) submit the same work as another student. Plagiarized work will be
reported to the CCNY Academic Integrity Committee, as per the CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity.
Academic dishonesty, defined within this Policy, is prohibited at the City University of New York and is
punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion.
CCNY Academic Integrity Policy: https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/about/integrity
For citations, the Chicago Manual of Style is recommended:
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html4
AccessAbility Center (Student Disability Services):
The AccessAbility center (AAC) facilitates equal access and coordinates reasonable accommodations,
academic adjustments, and support services for City College students with disabilities while preserving
the integrity of academic standards. Students who have self-identified with AAC to receive
accommodations should inform the instructor at the beginning of the semester. (North Academic Center
1/218; 212-650-5913 or 212-650-6910 for TTY/TTD). For further information, go to
http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/accessability/ or email disabilityservices@ccny.cuny.edu
Health And Wellness Support:
City College’s Office of Health and Wellness Services offers free and confidential counseling. Contact:
Health and Wellness Services, Marshak Science Building, room J-15: counseling@ccny.cuny.edu .
Gender Based Violence Resources
I encourage you to share with me concerns or issues that are affecting your schooling. However, please be
aware that if you disclose experiences of gender-based violence I am required to share that information
with our Interim Title IX Coordinator. City College has resources to support you if you have experienced
sexual violence, intimate partner/domestic violence, gender-based discrimination, harassment or stalking.
For confidential support, you can contact the Student Psychological Counselor: Confidential Advocate at
(212) 650-8905 or the Gender Resources Program at (212) 650-8222. If you would like to report sexual
misconduct, you can contact the Chief Diversity Officer and Title IX Coordinator, Diana Cuozzo, at 212-
650- 7330 or dcuozzo@ccny.cuny.edu . If there is an emergency on campus, you can call Public Safety at
212-650-777 and off campus call 911. Https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/affirmativeaction5
Semester Schedule – CCNY Low Energy Buildings – Fall 2023
Class Date Topics Learning Objectives Readings/Exercises
1 8/29 Class Intro
Climate Change &
the Role of Buildings
-Describe how design can inform our
sensory experience
-Recommend energy conservation
measures and understand their design
implications
-Summarize the consequences of
climate change and the contribution
that building make to greenhouse gas
emissions
-Readings: 2020 NYC
Benchmarking Report (Urban
Green Council)
2 9/5 How Buildings Use
Energy
-Define important energy terms,
principles, and metrics
-Identify how energy is generated and
consumed
-Distinguish between operational
energy and embodied energy
-Explain the different types of heat
transfer
-Apply heat transfer principles to
buildings
-Explain how heat transfer affects
comfort
-Assignment #1: Historic
Precedents
-Readings: Primitive Architecture
and Climate (Marston); Thermal
Delight Ch. 1-2 (Heschong),
MEEB Chapter 4.1 and 4.2
3 9/12 How Buildings are
Designed and Built
-Define important design/building
vocabulary
-Explain construction methodologies
-Identify construction methodologies
in real-world buildings
-Summarize the design process
-Present architectural drawing set,
highlighting common
architectural drawing types and
details
-Demonstrate understanding of
design/build principles
through a drawing exercise
-Readings: Environmental Control
Systems Ch. 1-2 (Moore)
-Exercise: Drafting
4 9/19 Strategies for
Reducing Energy in
Buildings
-Review how buildings use energy
-Identify opportunities for reducing
energy in buildings
-Introduce frameworks and
certifications for energy reductions in
buildings
-Analyze frameworks and
certifications to determining which
are most effective.
-Assignment #1 due before class
-Readings: Greenest Home
(Moskovitz); Recreating the
American Home (James); Intro
to Passive House (Bere)
5 9/26 475 Field Trip -No Readings
6 10/3 Introduction to
Passive House
-Define passive house principles
-Introduce requirements for Passive
House Certification including PHPP
-Explain how form affects
performance and highlight the benefits
of compact form
-Sustainable Building Case Study
-Readings: NYC Passive House
Briefing (pg 1-10); Passivhaus primer;
Shape Factor (Lylykangas)
Assignment #2
Measuring Building Performance6
- 10/10 NO CLASS
7 10/17 PH Technique #1
The Role of Form
-Passipedia Article “Energy Balances”
8 10/24 PH Technique #2
Insulation &
Thermal
Bridging
-Readings: ARCH140 #9 - Heat
transfer mechanisms; Insulation
materials from an ecological viewpoint
9 10/31 PH Principle #3 -
Airtightness
-Passipedia Article “Passive House
windows – not just for Passive Houses”
10 11/7 PH Technique #4 –
Windows
-Final Assignment
-Readings: ARCH140 #14 - Thermal
and Atmospheric Control
- Readings: Rolfsmeier: Air Tightness
in Passive Houses
11 11/14 PH Technique #5 -
Ventilation &
Mechanical Systems
- Readings: HCL Chapter 15
12 11/21 Passive House Field
Trip
-No readings
13 11/28 Final Presentations -Final Assignment due before class
14 12/5 Exam prep, recap of
class
Architecture Studio Finals week
- 12/12 Reading Day No
Class
15 12/19 Final Exam
Last Updated: 08/20/2024 09:29