Learning programme  MEP skills for nZEB execution (white collars-execution engineers)
Goals/Objectives
Total number of hours 14 Total number of credits  N/A
Minimum EQF for participants 6-7
Pre-curriculum conditions  Degree in MEP engineering

 

Learning Outcomes

 

Learning unit/ topic Knowledge Skills Responsibility & autonomy
1 Energy efficiency and building renovation policies (EU and national)
Specialized knowledge on EU

legislation relevant to energy

efficiency policy (EPBD and EED,

EcoDesign)

Specialized knowledge on

national energy efficiency action

plan

Knowledge on maximum level of primary energy consumption required to achieve nZEB

·  Definition of ‘Primary Energy’

·  Definition of ‘Delivered Energy’

Knowledge on key units used to define the energy efficiency of buildings including kWh/m2.year and kgCO2/m2.year

Specialized knowledge on energy performance certificates and energy audits requirements

 

Ability to identify EU legislation acts related to energy efficiency and explain their main goals

Skill to link energy demand and consumptions in buildings with CO2 emissions and climate goals

Ability to understand requirements of national programmes supporting energy efficient renovations

Ability to understand the results and recommendations of energy

audits of the buildings

Autonomy in considering and selecting appropriate guiding documentation for NZEB and DER design Taking responsibility for implementation of the recommendations related to energy efficient renovation support

Explain the link between energy demand and consumptions in buildings with CO2 emissions

 

2 Principles of NZEB
Specialized theoretical

knowledge on the energy

balance in both winter and

summer season. 

Knowledge on facts, principles,

processes and general concepts on the five passive house pillars:

· Highly insulating envelope

· Thermal bridge free construction

· Airtightness

· Windows and solar gains

· Ventilation with heat recovery

General knowledge on existing

renewable and non-polluting

energy sources

Knowledge on possibilities of integration of renewable energy technologies in buildings

 

Cognitive and practical skills

required to formulating tasks and activities related to the design process of energy saving buildings

Cognitive skills to explain how building envelope affects possibilities of use of RES

Ability to explain the

importance of comfort in

buildings and healthy indoor

climate, and describe the main criteria and factors that affect human comfort in buildings

 

 

Responsibility for identifying and assigning

tasks related to the design process of energy saving building and DER

Responsibility to check the

design of RES systems against the guidance and approved

documentation

Autonomy when answering questions from users/owners regarding Comfort, health and safety requirements in buildings and DER context

 

 

3 Comfort, health and safety requirements in buildings, incl. indoor air quality
Knowledge on facts and

principles of comfort in

buildings and healthy indoor

climate, including indoor air

quality, thermal comfort,

daylight and lighting, noise,

connection to the nearby

landscape

·  Indoor air contaminants and recommended levels for acceptable indoor air quality (including condensation, humidity and mould appearance, CO2 levels, radon, VOCs),

·  Criteria for thermal comfort and relevant applicable regulation and standards, including adaptive thermal comfort,

·  Criteria for acoustic indoor environment comfort, including noise and vibration generation and accepted levels,

Knowledge on facts and

principles of key-factors

influencing indoor comfort during summer (qualitative

understanding)

Knowledge of general concepts and building regulation regarding safety requirements

in buildings and renovation

process:

·   General awareness of environmental regulations affecting building system design and occupancy health and safety;

·   General awareness of the applicable regulations pertaining to safety issues, involving hazardous materials in buildings

·   General awareness of emergency operations and safety plan

·   General awareness of the interface / links with various professions in the construction process

 

Ability to explain the

importance of comfort in

buildings and healthy indoor

climate, and describe the main criteria and factors that affect human comfort in buildings

Identify the main factors

influencing indoor comfort

during summer and describe

their importance

Identify key safety requirements in buildings and renovation process and

responsible specialist

Taking responsibility for the identification of indoor environment related issues and appropriate measures for their correction

Responsibility for comfort and safety compliant design strategy of building systems

4 Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system
Knowledge on facts, principles,

processes and general concepts

on the benefits of including a

controlled ventilation system in

a NZEB

Knowledge on the role of mechanical ventilation in maintaining high quality indoor air, with special regard for appropriate levels of CO2 as well as relative humidity

Knowledge about use of MVHR’s in NZEB and DER in terms of noise levels, electrical energy requirement for the fans and impact on reduce heating and / or cooling demand

Comprehensive range of

cognitive and practical skills to appropriately dimension and locate duct sizes (cross-

sectional areas) to minimize

pressure losses whilst

maintaining modest air speeds to reduce risk of irritating noise for occupants

comprehensive range of

cognitive and practical skills in order to select an appropriate MVHR unit for the project considering the key objectives 

Self-management and/or management and upervision

related to ensuring that the MVHR system proactively

contributes towards

comfortable indoor

temperatures and relative humidity in buildings

5 Heating and cooling/ DHW
Knowledge on different

heating and cooling systems

such as boilers, heat pumps,

mini-split systems and district

heating

comprehensive and theoretical

knowledge on the sizing of

heating and cooling systems

suitable for NZEB projects 

comprehensive knowledge on both latent and sensible cooling, including ability to interpret a

psychrometric chart

Specialized knowledge on facts, principles, processes and general concepts on insulation of pipework and the significant

influence of this on energy

consumption

Specialized knowledge on the typical losses from hot water

circulation systems, hot water

connections to taps and

storage tanks.

Knowledge on dimensioning

insulation thickness for DHW

pipes for the purposes of

minimising heat loss

Knowledge on the energy consumption of DHW circulation pumps

cognitive and practical skills to interpret the performance specifications of and test data for heating and / or cooling equipment in order to determine their ecoefficiency of performance (COP) and to ensure selection of optimal equipment for the climate and needs of the dwelling

cognitive and practical skills in order to design a heating and / or cooling system including the generation and distribution system

cognitive and practical skills in order to integrate the heating and cooling system into the fresh air (MVHR) system

cognitive and practical skills in choosing the optimum DHW circulation system for different residential building type scenarios

management and supervision related to the selection of the most optimal heating and cooling system for a project bearing in mind such issues as available services (electricity, gas, wood, oil) and costs

 

  Lighting, electrical systems and automation regulation
6 Knowledge on facts, principles,

processes and general

concepts on low energy

lighting systems and on use of passive infrared sensors

(PIR) in automating lighting in

infrequently used spaces and

circulation zones

Specialized knowledge on the difference between key concepts of lux, lumens and watts

Knowledge on range of lighting

colours available (cool white

versus warm white)

Knowledge on facts, principles,

processes and general

concepts on the advantages of

home automation and

regulation systems

Knowledge on the key energy

uses which should be governed

by home automation and

regulation, including DHW and

space conditioning as well as

CO2 and humidity levels

 

 

Cognitive and practical skills in preparing a lighting design for different residential spaces based on availability of natural daylighting as well as room function and lux levels

Cognitive and practical skills

required to sketch a home

automation and regulation

system indicating the location of key sensors and highlighting which features they regulate

 

Responsibility for overseeing lighting design with regards to low energy and comfort parameters

Responsibility for considering and applying automated regulation scheme for optimizing energy use in building systems

7 RES and RES in building renovation
Knowledge on the definition of renewable energy and types of renewable energy sources and systems

Knowledge on existing HVAC technologies with the use of RES

knowledge on photovoltaic systems

knowledge on requirements to drawings for the building equipment with use of renewable sources

knowledge on renewable energy technologies

appropriate to reach nZEB or DER standard

knowledge on existing systems of short- term and long- term energy storage

Skills on application of principles of integrated design to RES building systems

cognitive and practical skills on collection of relevant information to check the design of RES building systems against the

guidance and approved

documentation

Skills to list and describe the available tools for design of RES building systems

cognitive skills to explain how building envelope and heat distribution systems (inlet temperature) affect possibilities and design of RES use 

Responsibility to assess the

possibilities for integration of

technical systems that use

renewable energy into building

Responsibility to check the design of RES systems against the guidance and approved documentation

Responsibility to design the heat supply of a building in line with n-ZEB standards  

8 Airtightness
Knowledge on facts, principles,

processes and general concepts

on the necessity of airtightness,

vapour control and windtightness in a building and the multitude of benefits they bring

knowledge on facts, principles,

processes and general concepts

on the critical importance of

coupling airtightness with

ventilation (“build tight-ventilate right”)

knowledge on facts, principles,

processes and general concepts

on typical weak points in the case of airtightness, vapour control and windtightness 

 

cognitive and practical skills

required to explain the

importance of airtightness,

windtightness and vapour control in buildings

cognitive and practical skills

required to identify the airtight layer and its constituent parts in

drawings and buildings

Understanding for formulating a logical procedure/sequence of work with reference to airtightness

 

9 Planning and design instruments
Knowledge of nationally

recognised and available software tools for design of NZEB projects

Knowledge on available BIM tools and their application

Theoretical knowledge of

application of specialised

software for design and planning

of energy efficiency (Passive House Planning

Package (PHPP))

Knowledge of possibilities of data exchange between software tools for planning and design

Identify and explain software tools for assisting NZEB design

Practical skills to apply software tools for specialised parts of design of energy efficient projects

Responsibility for application of nationally recognized software tools for specific design tasks related to energy efficiency

 

Detailed content of the topic (module)

Learning unit/topic Teaching methods (classical, video presentation, ppt presentation) Type of activity (course, applied activity, practical activity) No. of hours
1. Energy efficiency and building renovation policies (EU and national) classical, digital/  webinar, interactive,  powerpoint presentation Course 1
2. Principles of NZEB Course, Applied activities 1
3. Comfort, health and safety requirements in buildings, incl. indoor air quality  Course, Applied activities 1
4. Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system Course, Applied activities 2
5. Heating and cooling/ DHW Course, Applied activities 3
6. Lighting, electrical systems and automation regulation Course, Applied activities 2
7. RES and RES in building renovation Course, Applied activities 2
8. Airtightness Course, Applied activities 1
9. Planning and design instruments Course 1
Total no. of hours 14
References: Fit-to- NZEB, Catalogue of Learning Outcomes D2.3 (December 2017)  available at http://www.fit-to-nzeb.com/uploads/9/8/8/4/9884716/d2.3_catalogue_of_lo.pdf

CraftEdu, ULOs for Developing Curricula D2.1 (May 2019) available at: https://www.craftedu.eu/uploads/9/8/8/4/9884716/d2.1_ulos_for_developing_educational_curricula.pdf

CraftEdu, Curricula for 9 training programmes for targeted craftsmen and on-site workers, D2.5 available at: https://www.craftedu.eu/uploads/9/8/8/4/9884716/d2.5_curricula_for_9_training_programmes_for_targeted_craftsmen_and_on-site_workers.pdf

 

Contact the nZEB Ready partners to find out more about available trainings in: Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Portugal and Romania.

Full contact details.

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