Abstract:

Environmental, economic and social impact of energy use widely known as the global energy footprint needs to be addressed by the designers of all professions involved in the construction of buildings. Therefore, it is important not only to build awareness about it but also to implement it interdisciplinary in the curricula of higher education institutions in order to educate student on how to reduce the energy needs of the building, but also to produce the necessary energy on the spot, mainly from renewable energy sources. While the use of simulations for assessing impacts in this field is common practice in teaching courses, we present experiences in using actual equipment in the laboratories of renewable energy sources for learning by example.

The European Commission has adopted the directive on Energy Performance of Buildings. This directive requires all new buildings to be nearly zero-energy by the end of 2020 especially new public buildings by end of 2018. With the aim to contribute to the implementation of this goal we are running a cross-border project for developing guidelines and suggesting a curriculum for educating students in professions related to architecture, construction, mechanical and electrical engineering about the nearly zero-energy buildings (NZEB). Experts from various engineering and related professions from Croatia and Hungary were involved in developing of this curriculum. The developed interdisciplinary curriculum will first be performed as a pilot programme in the form of a summer school for at least 20 students of different professions, including theoretical and practical teaching. In the second stage, the curriculum should be improved and adapted for implementation in undergraduate professional studies of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering.

In this paper, different experiences, effects and styles of teaching that were influencing our curriculum proposal are shortly described. The methodology of our curriculum development process is presented as well as the results of developing our curriculum proposal. Finally, the planned learning outcomes are explained in order to show how it is planned to educate and help build awareness about this topic.

Keywords:

Curriculum, energy, interdisciplinary, renewable sources.