The Impact of a Changing Climate on Building Performance

Module Overview

In this module, you will:

• Discuss which aspects of building performance most significantly influence greenhouse gas emissions and why
• Describe the ways in which a changing climate will impact buildings and their occupants
• Identify how building design elements can be modified to both mitigate and adapt to climate change, particularly synergistic solutions

Learn more about what this module is about:

Learning Outcomes

Impact of buildings on climate change:

1. Describe the impact that building energy use has on GHG emissions nationally.
2. Explain why improving building energy performance is critical to meeting GHG emission reduction targets.
3. Discuss how the various energy end uses contribute to energy use and associated GHG emissions. 

Impact of climate change on buildings:

• Describe how extreme weather conditions will impact building operation.

Mitigation and Adaptation:

• Describe the difference between climate change mitigation and adaptation.
• Discuss how mitigation and adaptation measures may look different in buildings. 

Building Design Activity

• Describe tools that can be used to quantify building energy performance
• Explain the strengths and limitations of these tools
• Using an online interactive tool:
  • Compare the relative impacts of various building designs on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission intensity for a low-rise multi-unit residential building.
  • Identify how a changing climate alters the impact of building designs on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission intensity.

Explore Module

Please note that this preview is intended for exploration purposes only. If you'd like to use this module in one of your courses, to ensure playback and tracking, you must upload the SCORM package (downloadable below) to your institution's Learning Management System (ex. Blackboard, D2L, Moodle, etc).