Welcome to the course Buildings as Sustainable Energy Systems.

This course, Efficient HVAC Systems, has been developed to give you a basic understanding of the processes used to distribute and control heat, cold, and air and its humidity, whilst minimizing carbon emissions and optimizing thermal comfort. HVAC is the designated term for Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning and it comprises of all indoor climate systems and energy systems in a building.

Buildings and their energy systems are responsible for around 40% of the worldwide energy consumption and carbon emissions. Therefore, they have an essential role to play to achieve carbon reduction targets and increase the sustainability of the built environment.

With this course you will acquire knowledge about thermal processes in buildings, the generation of heat, cold and electricity, and the interactions between buildings, occupants and energy systems. This course will support you in making sustainable HVAC designs. We have a tremendous task to achieve to make the world’s building stock sustainable and I hope this course will contribute to it by giving you the tools you need in order to address this challenge.

I hope you will enjoy the coming 6 modules and wish you good luck with the course!

Prof. dr. L (Laure) C.M. Itard and the BSES (Buildings as Sustainable Energy Systems) team