Sustainability challenges in architectural education: assessment of an architectural technology course on the bioclimatic redesign of existing buildings in Greece

During the last decades, the sustainable redesign of existing buildings has been gaining importance in both architectural practice and education. While based on the knowledge of the basic principles of bioclimatic design, it also requires a quantitative evaluation of the buildings' energy performance. This article aims at presenting the set-up, methodology and results of an undergraduate architectural technology course, which attempts to educate students on assessing the thermal characteristics and bioclimatic performance of existing buildings, proposing low-tech and low-cost interventions, and quantitatively evaluating their effect using energy simulation software. The applied strategies include thermal insulation, shading combined with natural ventilation for the summer period and their effect on the improvement of diurnal, inter-seasonal and annual thermal performance is evaluated. The results involve the assessment of the course set-up, the evolution during the five-year period that it has been taught, the teaching outcome, as well as the future progress and possible alterations.