Syllabus Methodology of Environmental and Related Climatic Planning

Instructor: Dr. Oded Potchter

Course Objectives: To understand the links between environment, climatic factors, urban form and the outdoor/indoor microclimate and how they can be influenced by appropriate design strategies.

Description: The aim of the course is to study how to integrate climatic factors and environmental elements in the planning process, starting from national planning, continuing at the regional, the settlement and residential neighborhood level and down to the level of house design. The course will show how climatic and environmental elements can be used as a renewable energy sources in order to improve climatic quality in the living environment and a reduction in the use of conventional energy. In addition, the course will present a methodology, strategy and tools for the implementation of climatic and environmental planning in different climatic regions.

Topical Outline:

1.            Introduction: environmental damage, waste of energy and increasing of human stress due to ignoring environmental and climatic factors. Definition of the climatic quality, the role of climatic planning.

2.            The impact of climatic parameters on planning and building: the process of climatic planning, typology of climatic planning in different climate zones.

3.            Climatic stress and human comfort:  Thermal comfort, heat stress, cold stress, indices for assessing human thermal sensation. 

4.            The history of climatic planning: vernacular architecture in different climatic zones, The concept of environmental and climatic planning in the classical world, Greek and Roman solar architecture.

5.            Integrating of climatic planning in state level: Geo-climatic mapping, strategies of climatic planning, criteria for buildings heating and cooling.

6.            Regional climatic planning: topo-climatology, location of land uses, settlements sites selection, mitigation of environmental hazards.

7.            Urban climate: factors that governing the urban climate, urban heat island, urban wind field, urban air pollution.  

8.            Urban climatic planning: the impact of climate on urban land uses, urban form and morphology, urban heat mitigation.

9.            Climate and buildings design: passive methods for cooling and heating, solar houses, ventilation, underground building.

10.        Urban greening and forestry: the use of vegetation for climate mitigation, urban parks and gardens, street trees and open spaces.

11.        Climatic planning in arid zones:  Nabatean, Roman and Byzantine buildings in the Negev, Oasis in the Middle East , IDF desert base, Neva Zin neighborhood.

12.         Climatic planning – theory and practices:  analysis of climatic planning in the reality, explanation for successes and failures.      

Course Requirements: Students will be required to attend at least 80% of lectures. Students will participate in final exam

Bibliography

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