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Admission to AHO and successful completion of three years bachelor level studies (180 ECTS).
The course is open to students from: Architecture
The seminar introduces practice-oriented strategies that can assist design development towards emissions reduction (climate mitigation) and minimal waste production (circular economy). Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all life cycle stages of a material/product, process or service. The assessment method provides transparency to the way design decisions are made and opens up for discussions on how to improve societal and/or commercial systems to meet the UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). Building upon their studio projects, the course theoretical set-up and associated design assignments will provide an opportunity for in-depth investigation that can further lead to innovative results across studio environments and institutes. The course outcome is an illustrated report documenting the actual assessment (comparative study) and a reflection upon the potential for systems improvement.
Illustrated report (A4) documenting an extended LCA assessment of common building components. The chosen elements should be relevant for the students studio project. The exercise will address an experimental build-up of a wall/roof assembly, foundation or other relevant component and compare this to a more conventional building systems of today (linear economy). The report will include investigations of the material resources in use, inherent cultural aspects and concerns in the case of re-use, and finally; environmental footprint.
Knowledge:
- Knowledge on historical background (environmental history) and todays geopolitical agenda in relation to UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs).
- Knowledge on climate mitigation strategies as resulting policies applicable for the building industry – nationally and internationally.
- Knowledge on design strategies to lower up-front carbon emissions; assessment of material properties and environmental impacts, circular design strategies and use of lifecycle methodology as guideline to assess environmentally sound result (LCAs).
Skills:
- Framework, vocabulary and references relating to the LCA methodology.
- Use of LCAs as design drivers in iterative design development processes.
General competence:
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Assessment of material properties and environmental footprint as an integrated part of design development – decision making tool
- Studio project as case
- Report – template – catalogue
Course literature will be available in Leganto.
| Form of assessment | Grouping | Grading scale | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Report | - | Pass / fail | The course outcome is an illustrated report that documents the environmental footprint for the selected building part – wall, roof or foundation. The students do the analysis based on their studio project. Final assessment is based on the report that counts for 100% of the grade. |
| Workload activity | Comment |
|---|---|
| Attendance | Students are expected to attend all course days and be active participants in the seminar activities. |