Collaborative teaching to create integrated building envelopes

Industry trends in the United States have started to recognize the value of collaborative efforts in producing buildings, thus the growing popularity of design build and integrated practice models. In an academic setting there are no economic forces driving disciplines to unite in order to create more efficient and effective delivery models, but the rewards of teaching in a collaborative model are professionally fulfilling and ultimately better prepare students for the future. The idea of infusing a multi-disciplinary approach in the classroom is not new to academia, but using professors and students from multiple disciplines is unique. The key to the course was finding viable projects, identifying the appropriate learning outcomes, and most importantly finding professors who shared the same vision and approach to design - much like team building in the real world. The idea of offering a building envelopes course started as an idea to expose students to design and construction issues dealing with the facade; massing, materials, attachment, day lighting, thermal comfort, sequencing, and fabrication. But as the course has evolved, it has become an experimental course in building information modeling (BIM) where students can explore there designs in 3D from inception to fabrication by creating a virtual model which is used to collaborate during design and compare construction alternatives.