Educational approaches: energy-conscious design for large buildings

To date, much emphasis has been placed on developing educational programs and written information about applying energy conservation and renewable energy to small buildings. Less emphasis has been placed on energy-conscious design and the use of renewable energy resources in large buildings (defined here as buildings where energy usage is determined by internal loads). Generally, the energy problem in a small building is substantially different from that in a large building; consequently, the approaches to using renewable resources differ. For this reason, educational materials, seminars, and workshops developed to teach architects and engineers basic design principles to integrate renewable energy into large buildings must differ from those developed for small building designers. This paper identifies some of the differences in approach between solar design for large versus small buildings, discusses the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) Commercial Buildings Group's experience with educating commercial building design professionals, and describes the American Institute of Architects' (AIA) national effort to educate architects about energy-conscious design.