A full integrated teaching method. The experience of a postgraduate master's degree in building energy efficiency design

Teaching sustainable and high energy efficiency building design, facing against climate change, requires nowadays a well structured multidisciplinary expertise which needs to be transferred to graduate students and young architects, who in turn will have to be able to manage a large number of aspects at different levels and contexts. The paper describes a multidisciplinary teaching approach, supported by a coordinated and extensive use of energy design tools and Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools. The postgraduate master's degree in building energy efficiency is based on a consistent methodology, carried on and implemented during years, providing a fully integrated teaching method. As a fundamental part of the master is the coupling of building design workshops and energy design support tools, applied as widely as possible into the entire design process, from urban planning to building components. Architecture, climate, building technology, building physics and environmental-energy building certifications are take into consideration at once. The postgraduate master aims to encourage students into an integrated design approach, brings together all these aspects. The overall framework, contents, and design support tools are illustrated, linked to some relevant outputs and results produced by students, with which show applicability of the fully integrated method in practice. A critical review on the effectiveness of this integrated teaching program, which tries to address students to a comprehensive preparedness, is described, highlighting remarks, limits, advantages and possible advances.