Program Overview

Program Overview

The Heat loss in buildings and sustainability: local approaches to global problems - E+ BIP is a Blended Intensive Program (BIP) open to 1st and 2nd year Bachelor students in Engineering and Architecture. The program is coordinated by Politecnico di Torino and includes partner universities such as Umeå University and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.

Partner Universities

• Politecnico di Torino - Department of Architecture (coordinator)
• Umeå University
• Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Dates and Location

• Virtual part: July 13-14, 2023
• In-person training: July 20-28, 2023 at Politecnico di Torino, Torino (Italy)

Course Activities

The program includes group discussions, collaborative work, practical experimentation, cutting-edge labs visits, social activities, and more. Courses and activities will be held in English.

General Information

• The program is open to 1st and 2nd year Bachelor students in Engineering and Architecture.
• Students completing the program will achieve 3 ECTS.
• Participation in the BIP is free of charge, and mobility could be funded through the Erasmus+ program.

Programme Description

The main goal of this program is to spread a systems-thinking and sustainability mindset among students. The program aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills required to understand and promote sustainable development in their field of future professional development.

Expected Learning Outcomes

Students who have successfully completed the program will be expected to:

1. Learn how to extend numerical results from experiments on simplified models to quantitative estimates of global-scale quantities.
2. Explore an innovator's mindset and a technology transfer attitude through a visit to a research centre where fundamental research and applied science meet.
3. Describe and understand the complexity of energy use and the environmental problems connected to it, and the drivers of and societal solutions to global environmental change.
4. Describe and understand concepts and theories that are central to the study of environmental governance, including sustainable development, multilevel governance, and the importance of institutions.
5. Discuss the design and implementation of governance on different political levels, including the politics, polity, and policy behind governing societies and the uncertainty behind (policy) solutions.
6. Briefly describe the political system in the EU and explain how political decisions are made in a complex multilevel system.

Pre-requirements

Students who are enrolled in the first or second year of Bachelor programs in Architecture or Engineering are eligible to apply for the BIP. Apart from motivation to think critically and creatively, there are no additional pre-requisites to attend the program.

Course Topics

1. General introduction on the physics of the heat flow through the walls.
2. (LAB) Experimental activity: measuring the Thermal Transmittance of a building model.
3. From the experiment to global conclusions about CO2 emission and energy dispersion. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the impact of different insulation materials via toy-models.
4. Design strategies to control energy performance of buildings
5. Policy and global governance for sustainability: energy efficiency in buildings
6. Multilevel governance: Role Play Game on decision making at the EU level.
7. Visit to a laboratory engaged in innovative and cutting-edge technologies.
8. Visit to PoliTo Facilities on thermal insulation research: DENERG HySyLab and CO2 Circle Lab: integrated laboratories for H2 and CO2 processes and technologies. DENERG HTC Lab (Lab for hygrothermal properties characterisation of materials and systems) and TWINS (Testing Window Innovative Systems).

Course Examination

The learning outcomes will be assessed through assignments that students will complete during the course by meeting and collaborating both in virtual and in-person modalities, plus an individual written assignment that the students must submit after the in-person part of the program has ended (deadline for submission: August 25th, 2023).

Sustainable Development Goals

The course connects to the following United Nations' Sustainable development goals:

• 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
• 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
• 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
• 13: Climate Action
• 17: Partnerships for Goals

Course Structure

Students will be organized in transnational teams equipped with different skills and competences and will be engaged in small challenges/tasks (2 autonomous tasks and 1 final assignment). All the teams and the teaching staff will form an international and multidisciplinary research/learning environment that will face the tasks and the challenges along the course. Students will have the opportunity to interact with the cutting-edge knowledge and laboratories of the Universities involved in the program.