Passive Solar Design, ENSP 437, Spring 2016
Instructor Daniel Soto
Office Rachel Carson Hall 12
Email sotod@sonoma.edu
Meeting Time T/Th 10:00 -- 11:50 am
Classroom Environmental Technology Center (ETC)
Units 4

Office Hours

Signup is online and can be accessed through my website at danielrsoto.com

Course Catalog Description

Fundamentals and advanced applications of passive solar design, including: site analysis and design; passive applications (sunspace, trombe wall, convective loop, direct, and indirect gain systems); passive performance predictions; and economic payback analysis. Computer applications and student design projects. Prerequisites: ENSP 337, junior- or senior-level standing or consent of instructor

Learning Objectives

  • Recommend appropriate energy efficiency measures for a building that are appropriate for its occupants and the local climate
  • Create estimates for the costs and savings of energy efficiency measures
  • Clearly explain to others the principles of efficiency measures and the costs and benefits

Class Texts

There are no required texts for this course. Any readings will be supplied online or in the course notes. The course notes are available online and can be found here.

The texts we will draw from are:

  • Hewitt, Conceptual Physics
  • Pohl, Building Science
  • Randolph and Masters, Energy for Sustainability
  • Other Homes and Garbage
  • ASHRAE Handbooks

The readings are available here.

Course Requirements

This course will have homework assignments, in-class activities, quizzes, exams, as well as readings and essays.

You are required to buy a one-semester subscription to a tool we will use called SageMathCloud.

Since we will often be meeting in different locations, we will be using a text-message service called Remind. You can sign up to receive messages without revealing your cell phone number at this link.

Classroom Work, Activities, and Quizzes

By participating in classroom work regularly, you will gain skills you need to collaborate with others on problem solving. This classroom work may take the form of writing exercises, group exercises, or quizzes. If you have an unexcused absence on the day of work, you will not receive credit for that day's assignment.

Quizzes will often be taken in groups, with the group turning in a single quiz based on consensus and receiving the same grade. We will grade the quizzes as you are taking them and give you multiple opportunities to achieve the correct answer. You will get full credit on your first try and a reduction in credit for each additional attempt.

Homework

By completing the homework regularly, you will develop skills necessary to take a question, create a strategy, and get estimate for the answer. You will also develop your ability to communicate and explain these estimates in writing. Your problem sets will be graded on the clarity of communication as much as the correctness of the result. The point of most quantitative work is not only to arrive at an answer but to communicate the answer to others.

The work you produce in this class will be practice for the work you will do in the professional world. Your homework assignments will often be typeset, printed, and turned in. Your calculations should be performed using a program where the details of the calculation are recorded. We will be using a program called Jupyter to perform these assignments.

You are encouraged to work in teams and discuss the strategies and even numerical answers you are getting. You are strongly discouraged from looking at other students completed assignments. If you look at your classmates completed work, you are denying yourself the opportunity to construct the solution on your own and this will prevent you from developing your skills.

Questions: You will often have questions on homework. Please post these to the class news forum on Moodle so that everyone can see them. It is also possible that your classmates can answer more quickly than I can.

Evaluation: It is important that you be able to evaluate the estimations that others create. To practice this skill, you will frequently read, evaluate, and provide constructive feedback on the work of others in the class as part of the grading process.

Grading: Homework will be graded pass or fail. In order to earn a pass the work must

  • Be sufficiently clear that the reader can immediately understand your work.
  • Explain with prose enough of your approach for the reader to follow your methods and reasoning
  • Follow conventions of units, scientific notation, and mathematical notation
  • Allow the reader reproduce your work and calculations

Feedback: You will often be asked to give feedback on the work of others in this class. The instructions will be posted in your homework document.

Homework Redos: If you do not pass an assignment, you have the opportunity to submit it again for credit. Do receive full credit on these redos, you must also explain clearly why your initial attempt was flawed. You must also write what you learned by doing the assignment again.

Please make it very clear in your work what was the original work and what you have added.

Project

By completing your class project, you will gain skills building a physical prototype, making predictions about its behavior, and explaining this to others. We will be building devices where we practice what we've learned in this class. You will be expected to purchase a few materials (foam, tape, wood) for this. Please see me if this creates a difficulty for you and we can look for a solution.

Grading

The letter grade in the class will be assigned according to the following criteria. Please keep an organized index and folder of all of your classwork, exams, and quizzes in case of any grading discrepancies.

A

  • Earn a 80% average on exams
  • Earn a 80% average on quizzes and classwork
  • Complete at least 10 homework problems
  • Complete a research project

B

  • Earn a 70% average on exams
  • Earn a 70% average on quizzes and classwork
  • Complete at least 8 homework problems
  • Complete a research project

C

  • Earn a 70% average on exams
  • Earn a 70% average on quizzes and classwork
  • Complete at least 6 homework problems

D

  • Earn a 70% average on exams
  • Earn a 70% average on quizzes and classwork
  • Complete at least 5 homework problems

Course Schedule

The current schedule for our class sessions is below. This is subject to change throughout the semester.

  • Tue 26 Jan 2016 -- Introduction
    • Reading Due: EFS 6
  • Thu 28 Jan 2016 -- Introduction
    • Reading Due: Hewitt 14, Notes 3.1, Notes 5.1
  • Tue 02 Feb 2016 -- Physics Fundamentals
    • Reading Due: Hewitt 15, Notes 3.2
  • Thu 04 Feb 2016 -- Physics Fundamentals
    • Reading Due: Notes 2.2, Computing Tutorial
    • Meet in Schulz 2010 Computer Lab
  • Tue 09 Feb 2016 -- Efficiency Elements
    • Reading Due: ASHRAE Thermal Transmission
    • Meet in Schulz 2010 Computer Lab
  • Thu 11 Feb 2016 -- Efficiency Elements
    • Reading Due: Notes 5.1 Baselining
    • Homework Due: 1, 2
  • Tue 16 Feb 2016 -- Efficiency Elements
    • Reading Due: Notes 5.2 Energy Modeling
  • Thu 18 Feb 2016 -- Efficiency Elements
  • Tue 23 Feb 2016 -- Passive Elements
    • Reading Due: Notes 9 Solar Energy
  • Thu 25 Feb 2016 -- Passive Elements
    • Reading Due: Notes 9 Solar Energy
  • Tue 01 Mar 2016 -- Passive Elements
    • Reading Due: EFS 7, REEPS 4
    • Homework Due: 3,4, 1 RD
  • Thu 03 Mar 2016 -- Passive Elements
  • Tue 08 Mar 2016 -- Passive Elements
  • Thu 10 Mar 2016 -- Passive Elements
  • Tue 22 Mar 2016 -- Data and Baselining
    • Reading Due: computing-tutorial CSV
    • Meet in Schulz 2010 Computer Lab
  • Thu 24 Mar 2016 -- Data and Baselining
  • Tue 29 Mar 2016 -- Data and Baselining
    • Homework Due: 5, 6
    • Meet in Schulz 2010 Computer Lab
  • Tue 05 Apr 2016 -- Data and Baselining
    • Reading Due: Pohl Chapter 4 Heat Flow
    • Meet in Schulz 2010 Computer Lab
  • Thu 07 Apr 2016 -- Data and Baselining
  • Tue 12 Apr 2016 -- Data and Baselining
    • Reading Due: Pohl Chapter 5 Solar
    • Homework Due: 7, 8
  • Thu 14 Apr 2016 -- Data and Baselining
  • Tue 19 Apr 2016 -- Data and Baselining
    • Reading Due: Pohl Chapter 2 Thermal Comfort
  • Thu 21 Apr 2016 -- Climate
  • Tue 26 Apr 2016 -- Climate
  • Thu 28 Apr 2016 -- Policy and Finance
    • Reading Due: Title 24 reading
  • Tue 03 May 2016 -- Policy and Finance
  • Thu 05 May 2016 -- Presentations
  • Tue 10 May 2016 -- Presentations
  • Thu 12 May 2016 -- Review

Final Exam

The final exam will be held on Tuesday, May 17th from 11:00 am until 12:50 pm in the ETC building.

Agreements

Excused Absences: I grant excused absences when I receive a notification before the start of class with a brief and compelling reason for the absence. You do not need to reveal any personal information in your reason. You can find a link for our absence form here.

Respectful tone in classroom: Civility is required from all students during discussions and interactions. In general, I expect students to be supportive of each others learning goals.

Minimize electronic distractions: An important skill is self-regulation against distractions. Electronic devices are a potent source of distraction. However, we will not ban their use since they can be productive. We will frequently use Internet-connected electronic devices (phones, tablets) for learning purposes. However, using devices for social networks or other uses during class time is strongly discouraged.

Willingness to take risks and experiment: I frequently try new approaches to teaching and learning that you may find unusual. These are always with the intention of making this class as beneficial to you as possible.

University Policies

There are important University policies that you should be aware of, such as the add/drop policy; cheating and plagiarism policy, grade appeal procedures; accommodations for students with disabilities and the diversity vision statement. Go to this URL to find them. http://www.sonoma.edu/uaffairs/policies/studentinfo.shtml