Energy efficiency and solar energy in European office buildings: a mid-career education initiative

This EC ALTENER programme project sought to develop an integrated package of teaching materials on solar energy and energy efficiency in office buildings. The ultimate audience is a multi-disciplinary one, including architects, building services engineers, building economists and building energy managers. The project focused on mid-career education and the primary audience targeted by the project consists of the organisers and instructors of mid-career courses for these four professions in the 15 EU member states. The paper describes the process undertaken by the four collaborating organisations, and the resulting educational material. The package includes eight technical modules, with four exemplar case studies, one of which covers the refurbishment of an existing building, and a training software program. Finally, the package also includes four instructor's modules, one for each of the four target audiences. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.