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Unit of study_
DESC9067: Mechanical Services
2025 unit information
This unit reviews the need for and application of Mechanical services in the built environment - in particular commercial buildings. Mechanical services are responsible for significant portion of energy and water consumption in buildings. Thus they have become important components of most modern building complexes, with a strong influence on other services and the architecture. This unit provides an introduction to these services by experienced presenters, including from the industry, for recent graduates or diplomats in mechanical engineering and an understanding of fundamental principles and practice for people from backgrounds other than mechanical engineering. Students will acquire skills in appreciation of impact of mechanical services on the environment, including recent mandatory regulations, together with estimating ventilation, cooling and heating requirements, design of simple ventilation, air conditioning and smoke hazard management systems, combined with an overview of water, refrigerant, ducted systems, with applicable equipment, energy, noise, human comfort, air quality criteria. Principles of heat transfer and fluid flow are applied to applications of mechanical ventilation, air conditioning and smoke hazard magagement, to satisfy regulations and standards, occupant and community expectations. The practical basis of the programme leads to a design assignment involving selecting equipment and systems to provide mechanical services in a building.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning
| Study level | Postgraduate |
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| Academic unit | Architectural and Design Science |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. appreciate the building design factors that impact cooling and heating requirements
- LO2. use the load calculation software to estimate heating and cooling loads, and test the impact of these variables
- LO3. learn about the role of the various system components
- LO4. appreciate the different ways that an air-conditioning system can be configured in response to the proposed building use
- LO5. learn to appreciate and incorporate spatial requirements for each configuration in a building design
- LO6. learn about energy efficiency in air-conditioning systems and GHG emissions
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 2 2025
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Block mode | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
