The architectural curriculum survey conducted by the ECO-III Project in 2007 revealed that one of the overarching barriers to integration of sustainability and building energy efficiency related courses in the exiting architectural curriculum was the lack of high quality reference material and building energy simulation software and diagnostic tools. The Project, therefore, has been striving to empower the architecture and engineering students by providing them access to quality technical reference material and equipping them with fundamental principles of building energy efficiency, and providing access to state of the art energy simulation tools to make India a global and intellectual leader in the fields of Building Physics and Energy Simulation by 2015.
Objectives
- Provide architectural students with appropriate reference material covering technical aspects related to building design
- Provide reliable technically robust computational tools as design aids while designing buildings
- Generate an understanding of thermal, lighting and acoustical performance of buildings using simulation and diagnostic tools
- Encourage teachers as well as students to conduct relevant research in the field
Accomplishments
- Procured and distributed “E Source Technology Atlas Series” (on Lighting, Cooling, Heating, Appliances and Drive Power) and “Window Systems for High Performance Buildings” to 35 organizations (educational institutes and non-profit organizations) in association with BEE.
- Distributed multiple licenses of DesignBuilder software (cutting edge energy simulation tool) to 29 architectural and engineering institutions in India.
- Distributed site licenses for updated DesignBuilder version to selected institutes based on evaluation of the extent of use of these tools and its impact on the academic curriculum and exercises.
- Distributed limited sets of 13 additional reference books on Building Physics, Energy Simulation and Research Methods to selected institutional partners based on their efforts to integrate the subject of Building Energy Efficiency and Energy Simulation within the existing curriculum.
- Organized 10 ‘Building Energy Simulation Software Installation and Awareness’ workshops at various institutes across India.
- Vienna University of Technology Department of Building Physics and Building Ecology
- DesignBuilder
- EnergyPlus
- Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)
- DesignBuilder
- E-Source Group
- ECO-III Project Partner Institutes
