ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING CURRICULUM AND HVAC SYSTEMS CAPSTONE DESIGN

Architectural engineers apply engineering principles to the construction and design of buildings. They often collaborate with architects, who focus on function layout or aesthetics of building projects. Architectural Engineering often encompasses elements of other engineering disciplines, including mechanical, electrical, fire protection, and others. The architectural engineers are responsible for the different systems within a building, structure, or complex. Architectural engineers focus several areas, including: the structural integrity of buildings; the design and analysis of heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems; efficiency and design of plumbing, safety and fire protection and electrical systems; acoustic and lighting planning, and energy conservation. In this paper, our objective is to present the new curriculum at University of Wyoming that focuses on several disciplines: HVAC systems design, energy, plumbing, fire protection and building electricity. This multidisciplinary program focuses on the integration between architecture and engineering. It includes capstone design courses that cover the major areas. The integration aspects of different disciplines of architectural engineering will be discussed. As well as, we will discuss the integration of safety and fire protection in the curriculum. The history of the architectural engineering curriculum at University of Wyoming will be also covered. Future plans to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum in term of learning outcomes.