D-ARCH - Bachelor

Currently offered courses

FS Frühjahrssemester - Spring Semester

Building Physics I: Heat and Acoustic

Heat

Basics of stationary heat transport and application to the design building envelopes.

Goal is that students acquire the basic knowledge of stationary heat transport and are able to apply this knowledge for the design and performance analysis of energy efficient building envelope components. Students make simple exercises to practice this design process.

Acoustics

Basics of noise protection and room acoustics.

The students acquire a basic knowledge in the following fields: description of sound, the human ear, properties of sound waves, propagation of sound, legal and planning basics, airborne sound insulation, structure-borne sound insulation, room acoustics.
Students can make simple calculations to proof sound insulation and calculate the reverberation time of a room.

Content:

Description of sound, sound perception, properties of sound waves, propagation of sound. Architectural acoustics: legal and planning basics, noise protection, airborne sound insulation, structure-borne sound insulation. Room acoustics: sound absorption, sound reflexion, reverberation, planning of room acoustics.

Check the updated information on the ETH Courses Catalogue

Building Physics III: Building Energy Demand and Urban Physics

Basics and application of thermal comfort, building energy demand and urban physics.

The students acquire basic knowledge in building energy demand and urban physics and apply the knowledge to the design of low energy buildings and mitigation of urban climate.

Topics of the course are:

• climatic change & energy
• thermal comfort and transparent envelopes
• stationary energy demand
• dynamic heat transport
• urban physics: urban heat island, wind, rain
• durability

Check the updated information on the ETH Courses Catalogue

HS Herbstsemester - Autumn Semester

Baumaterialien I

Introduction to the most common building materials.

Origin + Production
Properties + Application
Ecological footprint + Recycling

The lecture develops an understanding of different building materials and its reasonable and appropriate application for construction under the aspects of material properties and ecological aspects.
The lecture introduces the most common building materials concrete, steel, masonery and timber, but also clay, glas and polymers in a historical context. The fabrication processes are described and the most important properties regarding construction explained. A special focus is on the ecological aspects such as availability of raw materials, effort for production, emission of hazardous substances, disposal and recycling.

Check the updated information on the ETH Courses Catalogue

Building Physics II

Moisture related problems are common in buildings leading to costly damage and uncomfortable indoor environments. This course aims at providing the necessary theoretical background and training in order to foresee and avoid these problems.

Objective:

• to develop a basic understanding of mass transport and buffering
• to become aware of potential moisture-related damage and health risks
• to learn how to (i) design building components and (ii) assess their hygrothermal performance

Content:

• hygrothermal loads
• conservation of mass (dry air, water vapor, liquid water)
• moist air: constitutive behavior, transport, potential problems and solutions
• liquid water: constitutive behavior, transport, potential problems and solutions
• exercises

Check the updated information on the ETH Courses Catalogue

Moisture Transport in Porous Media

(Offered in Technology in Architecture only)

Moisture transport and related degradation processes in porous materials; experimental determination of moisture transport properties; theory and application of pore network model for two-phase transport in porous media; flow in cracked and deformable porous media.

Basic knowledge of moisture transport and related degradation processes in porous materials
Knowledge of experimental determination of moisture transport properties
Knowledge of pore network model and application to two-phase invasion percolation simulation
Application of knowledge to moisture transport in cracked materials and flow in deformable porous media
Content:

1. Introduction
Moisture damage: problem statement, durability
Applications: building materials, soil science, geoscience

2. Moisture transport: theory and application
Description of moisture transport
Determination of moisture transport properties
Liquid transport in cracked materials, flow and transport in deformable porous media

3. Pore network model: theory and application
Single- and two-phase pore network model: quasi-static and dynamic
Exercise on quasi-static two-phase pore network model: invasion pattern, capillary pressure curve
Application of pore network model in two-phase transport

Check the updated information on the ETH Courses Catalogue