A Course on Computer - Aided Building Design

Computer-Aided Building Design is a final-year undergraduate course that has been offered for more than 20 years at Concordia University. Naturally, over that period the course has evolved as fast as the technology. It started from a programming course with matrix representation of view transformations to lately, the use of off-the-shelf commercial software packages and the Internet to support project collaboration and submission. This course introduces students to the process of integrated building design. It emphasizes both computer assistance (CA) and building design (BD). Students experience the design process in teams in the context of a realistic building design project. The building is designed in a holistic manner integrating related fields such as spatial layout, structures, enclosure, energy consumption, and construction cost estimation. Many computer tools are used and integrated throughout the design process. The paper provides a brief historical overview of the course and it describes the material covered, the team-design project, and the IT portion of the course.