Environmental Quality and Well-being

Course Syllabus

1. Course Name:

Environmental Quality and Well-being

2. Course Hours and Credits:

48 hours and 3 credits

3. Target Students:

All students major in built environment

4. Department:

Faculty of Urban Construction and Environmental Engineering, Chongqing University

5. Objectives:

This course aims to help students develop a full understanding of environmental quality and its relation to human health and well-being in buildings. The course is designed to cultivate students’ abilities to do comfortable and healthy built environment design through the comprehensively professional training. It focuses on the concept, measuring methods, standards and assessment, technology and improvement of indoor environmental quality, as well as some extensions to outdoor environment.

6.Main contents:

§1. Introduction

● The development of city and its built environment

● Key issues of built environment during development

● Concept of environmental quality and well-being

● Main problems of indoor environmental quality

● Relation between environmental quality and human health

● Importance of developing good environmental quality

§2.Built Environment and Measurement

● Evaluation standards on environment quality

● Indoor thermal environment

● Indoor air quality

● Acoustic and light environment

● Other factors

§3. Assessments on Built Environmental Quality

● Assessments on thermal environment

● Assessments on air quality

● Assessments on lighting and noise

● Assessments on outdoor environment

§4. Environmental Design and Improvement

● Design of built environment and energy efficiency

● Indoor air quality improvement and technologies

● Natural ventilation and day lighting

§5. City Environment and Human Health

● Water environment and treatment

● Air pollution and health

● Smart City

● Prospect to future: climate change, environmental quality and human well-being

7. Basic Teaching Requirements:

This course aims to develop students' awareness to environmental quality, especially the indoor environmental quality, and help them evaluate and design good built environments. Students will have the opportunity to get full understandings of the concepts and issues on environmental quality, know about the fundamental approaches to evaluate the built environment, including measuring methods and instruments, evaluation standards, design, the possible improving measurements in buildings, and so on. The course is designed with an emphasis on interdisciplinary reflection, systems analysis and sharing of students' own experience. The teaching/learning will be supported by lectures, video presentations, seminars, web-based resources and group investigations/discussions. There are no prerequisites for this course and all graduate students who are interested may take part in this class.

8. Practical Teaching Contents:

1. Assignments

2. Group Project

9. Hours Distribution:

10. Testing:

Seminar and workshop (60%)+final paper(including Presentation)(40%)