The course syllabus presents all the important elements of a course before its start. It’s providing a course overview. You can use it as a guide for this course.

Learning Objectives

The main aim of this course is to learn how to assess and achieve comfort and health in
buildings, and how energy and building technologies impact comfort and health.
By the end of this course you will be able to:
1. list and explain the determinants of indoor environmental quality (IEQ);
2. to reflect on the quality of lighting in buildings and how this affects health and
comfort;
3. identify and reduce sources of noise in buildings and their technical installations, and
reflect on their related health and comfort effects;
4. list and explain the parameters influencing thermal comfort;
5. apply different theories (Fanger’s model and adaptive theory) to design a thermally
comfortable building, to assess thermal comfort during building operation, and to
relate it to comfort complaints;
6. describe which indoor air pollutants (e.g. particles, gasseous pollutants and SARS-
CoV-2) you can encounter indoors, and what their sources are
7. choose and implement the best way to control these indoor air pollutants (e.g.
source control and ventilation);
8. alter and improve building energy systems and ventilation designs in order to create
a healthy and comfortable indoor environment.

Course Structure

The course starts with an introduction module, in which you will be introduced to the course,
its structure and the course team.
The first module then introduces the meaning and importance of Indoor Environmental
Quality, including lighting and noise. In the second module you will learn about thermal
comfort. The third module is devoted to air pollutants, sources of poor indoor air quality and
ventilation. During the last module you will learn how to use your knowledge to design
healthy buildings.
Below, you will find a more detailed overview of the content of each module.

Module one

Indoor Environmental Quality
In module one, you will discover what Indoor Environmental Quality is, and why it is
important. Then, two specific aspects of Indoor Environmental Quality will be taught:
lighting quality and sound quality. For each you will learn about reception and health as well
as their parameters indoors. Then, you will learn about how to assess Indoor Environmental
Quality in buildings, and which indicators are available for that purpose.

Module two

Thermal Comfort
In module two you will discover the two main theories of thermal comfort, learning which
measurable physical parameters and combinations of parameters impact people’s thermal
comfort. You will understand why it is so difficult to create indoor environments that are
able to satisfying everyone, and which main parameters to tune to make buildings
comfortable. You will discover how to measure, analyze and solve existing comfort
complaints.

Module three

Indoor Air Quality
In module three the focus will be on indoor air quality. You will learn more about reception and
health effects of indoor air, the parameters of indoor air, particles and gaseous pollutants
that you can encounter indoors and their sources, and strategies to control indoor air
pollutants. Specific attention will be given to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that has ruled our lives
for over a year now. Finally, in the last lecture you will learn about health and comfort at
home.

Module four

Design of Healthy Buildings
In the final module you will learn how to design healthy and comfortable buildings. Based on
several cases and guided examples, you will learn how to integrate the knowledge you
acquired in the previous weeks to assess the indoor environmental quality of buildings and
to design improvements of the building envelope, the ventilation systems and the building’s
energy system

Learning Activities

In this course, we will use a mix of methods to help you to understand the subject and to
integrate and apply your knowledge in practice.

Online video lectures
In every module, you will be able to view several video lectures, generally 5 to 7 videos of 6-10
minutes. In these videos the core of the theory is explained and concrete guided examples
are shared, that give you an impression of real situations.