This course introduces the concept of total building energy performance, delineating the full range of performance mandates required for today’s architecture. Students explore the relationships, opportunities, and conflicts of various performance goals, and the integration of building systems necessary to achieve high performance buildings.
Four ARCH 615 students from the Chase L. Leavitt Graduate Building Science Program – Saba Raji, Manan Lakhani, Niyoshi Sanghrajka, and Selin Guner took the Honor Award in the Graduate Category of the 2023 Architecture@Zero design competition for their design of an agriculture center and farmers’ housing in Allensworth, California.
The graduate students formulated their plan as part of professor Gideon Susman’s Architecture 615 course, who incorporated the competition into the syllabus.
Architecture@Zero is a worldwide design competition for decarbonization, equity and resilience, that engages the fields of architecture, design, engineering and planning in the pursuit of sustainable design.
Entrants were expected to produce detailed site and building plans incorporating energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy storage and carbon reduction strategies while complying with current California efficiency standards. Entrants were also required to explain building resilience through climate adaptation strategies and explain how the submission addresses and supports community equity for the people of Allensworth.