University of Colorado Boulder

Engineering Foundation for Building Energy Systems

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University of Colorado Boulder

Engineering Foundation for Building Energy Systems

Gregor Henze
Michael Brandemuehl

Instructors: Gregor Henze

Included with Coursera Plus

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Advanced level

Recommended experience

4 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Advanced level

Recommended experience

4 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Apply psychrometric principles to analyze and compare the performance of building energy equipment and systems.

  • Apply heat transfer methods to calculate steady state and transient heat transmission through building envelopes, infiltration, and ventilation.

  • Apply methods to calculate design heating and cooling loads and analyze the impact of key environmental and design variables.

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Recently updated!

January 2026

Assessments

19 assignments

Taught in English

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This course is part of the Building Energy Systems Engineering Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
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There are 6 modules in this course

Welcome to Engineering Foundation for Building Energy Systems. Building energy systems have a long history of providing a comfortable, healthy, and productive indoor environment, but at significant cost. This module describes typical system configurations and equipment functionality as well as explores design goals and strategies for design optimization for the benefit of occupants, owners, society, and the environment.

What's included

8 videos3 readings1 assignment

In this module, you will understand the thermodynamic properties of moist air and psychrometric processes and apply these principles to analyze the performance of building energy equipment and systems in response to building zone loads.

What's included

4 videos4 readings4 assignments

Building loads are driven by the external environment in the form of heat and mass exchange with outdoor air and heat gains from solar energy. In this module, you will calculate the impact of solar radiation on building heat transfer and understand the characteristics of design weather days for building energy system design.

What's included

5 videos6 readings5 assignments

In this module, you will apply heat transfer methods to calculate both steady state and transient heat transmission through opaque and transparent construction elements as well as through infiltration and ventilation.

What's included

4 videos6 readings5 assignments

In this module, you will apply methods from the previous modules to calculate design heating and cooling loads on building energy systems using alternative calculation strategies. You will analyze the impact of key variables on the design loads.

What's included

4 videos4 readings3 assignments

This final exam comprehensively tests your understanding of all five modules of this course through a set of both conceptual and quantitative questions. Specifically, you can expect 11 multiple-choice conceptual and 3 quantitative questions. Some of the conceptual questions will involve simple arithmetic calculations, while for the quantitative questions, you will need to employ your computational tools that you developed for a) the Module 3 graded assessment questions on total clear sky solar radiation incident on a vertical building surface, b) the Module 4 graded assessment questions on transient heat transfer through opaque walls using the RC thermal networks, and c) the Module 5 graded assessment questions on design cooling loads. Review these tools and have them ready before you embark on the final exam.

What's included

1 reading1 assignment

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Instructors

Gregor Henze
University of Colorado Boulder
0 Courses0 learners
Michael Brandemuehl
University of Colorado Boulder
0 Courses0 learners

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