IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL ENERGY ENGINEERING E-COURSES FOR PROMOTION OF SUSTAINABILITY BUILDINGS AND COMMUNNITIES

Buildings have an impact on long-term energy consumption and new buildings should therefore meet minimum energy performance requirements tailored to the local climate. Within the context of an Intelligent Energy - Europe, ten partners coming from four central and southern European countries have developed concrete pilot actions planned and implemented towards building integrated model of sustainable communities, based on an analysis of the local framework conditions and on data collected in energy audits. One of the most important barriers detected in promoting sustainable communities is the need of an adequate training of the engineers and technicians usually involved in the energy efficiency and renewable energy supply projects in buildings. This paper presents a case study of teaching an international, postgraduate engineering course addressed to engineers, architects and local authorities technicians who wish to become specialized in the field of renewable energy sources applications in buildings. The learning content management system of the University of Burgos for on-line teaching has been used for the delivery of the course. Besides electronic books and links to technical web sites, some multimedia presentation with interactive exercises and questionnaires, technical video and hypermedia tools were included to promote active learning. Engineers and technicians coming from Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Spain will be involved in the course. Increase of the overall energy conservation levels and of the share of the renewable energies in the overall local energy supply grid, especially in public buildings and/or industry and agriculture are the expected outcomes of the project.