RESOURCES

Our course modules contain many highly relevant technical references to each topic. This webpage provides additional resources that are potentially useful for students to learn high-performance building design. Priority is given to the resources that are freely accessible.

Glossary

Glossary website recommended by FOBM

Design Guides

  • Advanced Energy Design Guides (AEDGs). AEDGs are a series of publications that provide easily understandable and actionable prescriptive recommendations for achieving higher energy performance than the minimum code requirements of ASHRAE Standard 90.1. There are three series of AEGDs. The first series (i.e., 30% Energy Guides) have an energy savings target of 30% over ASHRAE Standard 90.1-1999. The second series (i.e., 50% Energy Guides) have an energy savings of 50% over ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004. The third series (i.e., Zero Energy Guides) provide recommendations for achieving zero energy buildings. Each series covers a number of budling types. The AEDG series have been developed by ASHRAE in collaboration with the American Institute of Architects, the Illuminating Engineering Society, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the U.S. Department of Energy. All AEDGs are freely downloadable.
  • ASHRAE Design Guides include many design guides for a variety of topics. All these design guides are available for purchase from the ASHRAE Bookstore.

Standards

  • ASHRAE Standards and Guidelines. Many popular ASHARE Standards and Guidelines for high-performance building design and operation (e.g., Standard 55 for thermal comfort, Standard 62 for ventilation and indoor air quality, Standard 90.1 for minimum energy code requirements) can be viewed (read only) at https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/standards-and-guidelines/read-only-versions-of-ashrae-standards.

Education Materials

  • IBPSA Education Webinar Series hosts many recorded webinars and keynote presentations from previous IBPSA Conferences. In particular, Webinar Series 1, 2016-17 includes a number of webinars for many chapters of the book Building Performance Simulation for Design and Operation.
  • MIT open course “Sustainable Building Design” offered by Professor Christoph Reinhart covers thermal and lighting/daylighting technologies and analysis techniques for comfortable indoor environment while observing energy and resource efficiency principles. Students can access lecture slides, videos, and assignments for free.
  • Solar Decathlon Building Science Education Series. This education series includes 8 modules covering topics on Planning and Setting Goals, Passive Design, Building Envelope, Lighting, Plug Loads, Mechanical Systems, and Renewable Energy.
  • Trane HVAC Education & Training offers many freely accessible educational videos, newsletters, and published articles on HVAC equipment and systems. Trane Engineers Newsletters & Live are highly recommended. A collection of industry articles published by Trane Application Engineers can be found here at https://www.trane.com/commercial/north-america/us/en/education-training/ashrae-articles.html. Most materials are oriented to mechanical engineers. Registration may be needed.

Knowledge Portals

  • Better Buildings Initiative is an ongoing effort that the US Department of Energy partners with leaders in the public and private sectors to make homes, commercial buildings, and industrial plants more energy-efficient by accelerating investment and sharing successful best practices. The website has many solutions on energy efficiency, decarbonization, resilience, renewables, combined heat and power, etc.
  • Building Research Information Knowledgebase is a knowledge portal that offers online access to peer-reviewed research projects and case studies in all stages of building.
  • The American Institute of Architects (AIA) maintains rich resources on AIA best practices, architectural research, business development and so on.
  • The Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) is an online portal providing numerous resources on design recommendations, up-to-date federal criteria, new technology information, and workforce development training from a ‘whole building’ perspective. In particular, there are many online courses towards earning continuing education credits. WBDG is maintained by National Institute of Building Science.

ASEAN-Specific resources