Course Title: Environmental Building Design & Operation
Course Instructor: Alex Joseph (josepha @ ucalgary.ca)

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Developed and offered in 2001-2003 (discontinued by UCalgary Cont Ed. in 2003)

To achieve environmental design it is imperative that the entire design method, approach, and discipline be overhauled. Every component, every guideline, every mark of the pen must consider the implications of the adjective environmental. As such, environmental design must be thought of as an overall approach or philosophy. It's limits go well beyond the practice of design to every aspect of society and to the personal life of every designer.

This online BlackBoard course examines the impacts of buildings on human beings and the environment, identifies strategies and solutions to evolve conventional building design towards sustainable human structures.

Topics:

· Conventional building impacts (pollution <-> efficiency, role of fossil fuels)
· Sustainable building theories and practices (resource consumption, Factor 10 reduction, elimination of the concept of waste, Zero Pollution, Natural Capitalism, Biomimicry)
· Sustainable siting choices (efficient landscaping, minimizing ecological footprint, solar assets)
· Environmental design (passive solar, daylighting, low energy building)
· Alternative materials (life cycle analysis, embodied energy, local regional, recylcling, biodegradable, alternatives to conventional )
· Renewable energy (photovoltaics, wind, micro-hydro, fuel cells, insulation, passive solar, heat recovery)
· Water conservation (grey water, wastewater, composting toilets, rainwater collecting, solar hot water, water softeners)
· Indoor environmental quality (indoor air quality, sick bulding syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity, ventilation and filtration, natural lighting, emf)
· Certification systems (Built Green™, LEED, Green Globe 21, R-2000, CBIP, C-2000, EcoLeaf, Ecotel, Green Building Challenge)

Instructor:
The course developer and instructor was Alex Joseph who has a Masters Degree in Environmental Design (2003) from the University of Calgary. His thesis was an online web resource "EcoLodgical - Environmental Building Design for the Hospitality Industry" http://ecolodgical.yourhomeplanet.com. He is a U.S. Green Building Council LEED™ accredited professional. After the course was discontinued, he then taught "Industrial Water Pollution Control" in the graduate Faculty of Environmental Engineering at GuangXi University in southern China. He returned to Canada in 2005 and began working for EnerVision/SAIT as a project manager for the Building Canada (NRCan sponsored - BC, AB, SK) program working with builders to optimize conventional residential housing for environmental and energy efficiency and eventually took on the position of Executive Director of EnerVision in 2006.