Conference Presentation

Dr. Juntae Jake Son presented this project to Interior Design Educators Council in March 2022.

Interior Design students suffer difficulties with the energy concept and green building design as well as the students and educators have not sufficiently communicated energy-related concepts (Goldring & Osborne, 1994; Ruff & Olson, 2009). Many students have knowledge of sustainable methods and products to design residential and commercial projects (Ruff & Olson, 2009), but they are not aware much of how energy works in the built environment.

Therefore, this project challenges undergraduates to master specific energy assessment knowledge, skills, and tools and engage in real-world opportunities to assess building energy systems in residential settings. Students can actively discuss and determine the methods to test energy efficiency and conduct energy assessments in a total of five single- and/or multi-family homes, processes that include airtightness, heating and cooling, and ventilation; they can develop the contact and format of summary reports for each home and determine the most effective method of presenting the final energy assessment analysis to the community partner and homeowners/caretakers. Following initial instruction by the faculty, each team can develop a plan detailing how to conduct the initial site visit to its home.  This visit will prepare the homeowner/caretaker for the energy assessment; they will discuss project goals, energy testing procedures, and strategies, setting the client at ease with the overall process.

This project will prepare the ground for the development of a recurring annual course offering for students in the Interior Design program, helping the faculties to develop and enhance the course content based on the assessments’ technical results, student learning assessments, student feedback, and feedback from the community partner. The project also will enable participating students to develop new technical knowledge, improve their ability to work successfully with institutional and individual clients in a professional manner, improve study and work habits, and broaden their knowledge and experience to compete in a future job market.