Interactive Teaching through Simulation Environments

Spurring new and innovative building design will be critical to the urban energy and economic future of the nation. The operation of completed buildings account for 48% of the nationis annual greenhouse gas emissions, and 76% of all electricity generated by U.S. power plants goes to supply the building sector. Therefore developing and applying new and innovative sustainable building design will have a measurable impact on the environment. Recent studies show sustainable building design is closely linked to system integration, where various components of a building work in confluence to produce synergetic benefits. As a result, a critical component of sustainable design involves a clear understanding of building systems operation, interaction, and the selection parameters. A consideration of suitable building systems, gauging their interaction, and proposing well integrated systems can lead to producing efficient models of sustainable buildings with minimal impact on the environment. The following paper outlines the progress on a project entitled “Building Literacy: the Integration of Building Technology and Design in Architectural Education.” The project develops a digital tool for teaching/learning architectural technology from an integrated systems perspective. The project attempts to immerse students in a simulated environment that is based on the real life practice of architecture. The project accomplishes this by harnessing the capabilities of simulation and dynamic modelling programs, as well as the state of art graphic media, to create compelling and rewarding reasons for students” engagement in the lear ning process. The project involves a multidisciplinary team of faculty from Florida International University, University at Buffalo the State University of New York, and Iowa State University and is funded by the US Department of Education for the period of 2007-2011.