Building Materials and Sustainability
Language of instruction: English
Link to Course Catalogue
After a presentation of the general environmental context and sustainability issues, this course will present practical example that help to promote sustainable practice in the built environment.
A particular focus will be done on the question of material and energy savings in regards to future urbanisation and climate challenges.
Lecture notes are on ILIAS.
The lecture series is divided as follows:
Lectures 1 to 5: In a first phase, the students study the basics of sustainable construction. They learn about General environmental context and sustainability issues. They learn also about assessment methods and sustainability certificates. The fifth lecture closes with a graded test. This accounts for 50 percent of the total grade for the semester.
Lectures 6 to 11: In the main block, the different constructive techniques are presented and discussed. An attention is paid to highlight the consequences of using one constructive technique in term of construction process as well as maintenance aspects during all the service life of the structure. Conventional (concrete, steel, precast, fired clay bricks) as well as non-conventional (organic fibres, bamboo, earth, stone) techniques will be studied.
Lecture 12: The final phase summarizes the lecture series and provides the possibility to discuss the main findings and conclusions.
Additional lecture: An excursion to a site where one of the presented constructive technique will take place.