Testing the educational package

The main objective of the HI-SMART project is to develop an innovative educational package for higher education students and professionals in Hungary, Slovakia and Germany to support the design, construction and operation of intelligent, energy-efficient buildings in compliance with the
requirements of the energy performance of buildings (EPBD) directive of the European Union.

The Educational Package for Nearly Zero Energy Buildings and Smart Building Management was tested from September 2020 to June 2021 at BME and STU Bratislava.

In detail:

  1. Renewable Energy Systems 2020/2021 I. semester in HUN

This subject was the first pilot course of the Hi-Smart project. In total 51 students took the course and 30 of them has filled the Hi-Smart questionnaire at the end of the semester. The course was held in Hungarian based on the materials developed in the Hi-Smart project. There were 2 lectures given in English by project partners including the following topics: Living Lab in smart building course; Building shell integrated renewables. The course had a good overall rating by the students. Based on the questionnaire the course was well structured and has helped the students to significantly improve their skills in the field of renewable energy systems. The materials developed for the course were welcomed by the students and have proved to be very useful.

2. Renewable Energy Systems 2020/2021 II. semester in ENG

This subject was the English equivalent of the Hungarian course held in the previous semester. Since the subject was held in English the students have shown a great diversity for their fundamental knowledge on building energy systems, thus some of them had a hard time adjusting to the requirements of the course. During the semester additional materials have been developed to close the knowledge gap between the students. In total 36 students took the course and 6 of them has filled the Hi-Smart questionnaire at the end of the semester. The course had a good overall rating by the students. Based on the questionnaire the course was well structured and has helped the students to significantly improve their skills in the field of renewable energy systems. The materials developed for the course were welcomed by the students and have proved to be very useful, however additional material development was necessary as is mentioned above. Due to the pandemic, the group project was hard to manage for the students.

3. Dynamic simulation of building service systems 2020/2021 II. semester in ENG

In total 15 students took the course and 6 of them has filled the Hi-Smart questionnaire at the end of the semester. The course had a good overall rating by the students. Based on the questionnaire the course was well structured and has helped the students to significantly improve their skills in the field of dynamic building simulation. The subject had a strong focus on individual work during lectures, which was especially hard to manage due to the pandemic situation since there was no possibility for direct interaction between the lecturers and the students and the students were passive during the lessons. There was an individual project for all of the students which were useful for them to learn how to use the simulation tool provided for them. Overall this type is better in person since it allows better student-lecturer cooperation.