Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Building Green from Syracuse to Nanjing

Tuesday, August 12, 2014, By Matt Wheeler
Share
College of Engineering and Computer Science

This spring, Professor Jensen Zhang, director of Syracuse University’s Building Energy and Environmental Systems Laboratory, led a group of students from SU to Nanjing, China. There, they joined students from Nanjing University and Aalto University in Finland to explore the design, engineering, construction and operation of sustainable green buildings. The effort was in collaboration with Professor Michael Pelken, a former faculty member in Syracuse University’s School of Architecture.

Students in the Nanjing program, from left: Qidi Jiang, Aalto University, Finland; Xue Yang, SU School of Architecture; Nathan Taylor, Nanjing University School of Architecture; and Guanhao Huang, SU College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Students in the Nanjing program, from left: Qidi Jiang, Aalto University, Finland; Xue Yang, SU School of Architecture; Nathan Taylor, Nanjing University School of Architecture; and Guanhao Huang, SU College of Engineering and Computer Science.

The experience offered students from the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the School of Architecture the opportunity to interact and learn in a multicultural, multidisciplinary setting. Students completed a course in Virtual Design Studio (VDS) for Green Building Systems offered through a partnership between Syracuse University and Nanjing University. The class was comprised of mechanical engineering, civil engineering, architecture and building technology majors—emphasizing a concept that optimized design must be considered at every stage of a green building project.

Zhang explains the importance of extending his VDS class internationally, “It’s very important that green building is adopted everywhere. Regulations and common building practices have ensured that the way we build in the U.S. is already relatively clean. In many areas of China, there’s still a lot of work to be done. When green building is applied there, the impact is significant and the improvements can truly be seen. What happens there affects us here. The impact of a nation’s green practices (or lack thereof) doesn’t stop at their borders. It affects the entire world.”

In the VDS course, students attended lectures and worked in teams to design green building systems and evaluate their performance through computer simulations. They gained an understanding of how heat, air, moisture and pollutants flow in building energy and environmental systems; analyzed the combined effects of local climate and site, building’s form, massing and orientation, internal configuration and environmental control system on the predicted building performance; and explored integrative design approaches, creative design concepts and innovative green building technologies.

In conjunction with the course, Syracuse University and Nanjing University collaborated to offer Green Building Week of Nanjing in which over 10 invited speakers gave lectures on green buildings and sustainability.

All the while, students were immersed in Chinese culture, learning inside and outside of the classroom. Participants found the experience educational and meaningful—many wishing the experience could have been longer. As Qidi Jiang, VDS student from Aalto University describes, “It provides a good framework that opens up opportunities for people to explore and become a more well- rounded professional, a genuinely green practitioner.”

An extended version of this experience will be offered to students in the College of Engineering of Computer Science and the School of Architecture in Spring 2015.

 

  • Author

Matt Wheeler

  • Recent
  • Eugene ‘Gene’ Anderson to Depart Syracuse, Tapped to Lead University of Pittsburgh’s Business School
    Thursday, May 26, 2022, By News Staff
  • Newhouse Creative Advertising Students Win 195 Awards in 1 Year, Setting a New School Record
    Thursday, May 26, 2022, By News Staff
  • “Syracuse University to rename the Carrier Dome – what name would fans choose?”
    Wednesday, May 25, 2022, By Lily Datz
  • Digital Badges at Syracuse University: Recognizing and Authenticating Microcredential Moments in Higher Education
    Wednesday, May 25, 2022, By Lyndy McLaughlin
  • Social Work Student Bre’Yona Montalvo Receives First Sunflower Scholarship
    Wednesday, May 25, 2022, By Matt Michael

More In STEM

Matt Cufari Named as a 2022-23 Astronaut Scholar

Matt Cufari, a senior physics major in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), a computer science major in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, a Coronat Scholar and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program, has…

Dean Rajiv ‘Raj’ Dewan to Step Down as Dean of the School of Information Studies

Rajiv “Raj” Dewan, dean of the School of Information Studies, has announced he will conclude his deanship on June 30, 2022. Dewan plans to return to full-time faculty duties while continuing his research. David Seaman, dean of Syracuse University Libraries…

Biology and Earth and Environmental Sciences Departments Come Together on Diversity and Engagement Initiatives

In 1948, Professor James Hope Birnie became Syracuse University’s first African American faculty member in biology, teaching here until 1951. He was also one of its first biology faculty members to be supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)….

Black Hole Image Shows Einstein Was Right, Once Again

Today a team of astronomers announced they successfully captured the first direct image of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Duncan Brown is the Charles Brightman Endowed Professor of Physics at Syracuse University’s College of…

Biomedical and Chemical Engineering Professor’s Research Team Receives Multiple Awards at Society for Biomaterials Conference

Biomedical and chemical engineering Professor Mary Beth Monroe attended the Society for Biomaterials (SFB) 2022 meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, with Ph.D. students Anand Vakil, Henry Beaman, Changling Du and Maryam Ramezani, master’s student Natalie Petryk ’21, G’22 and undergraduate students Caitlyn…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2022 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.