Residential Building Science Fundamentals

Residential Building Science Fundamentals introduces professionals to essential building science principles and the “House as a System” approach, showing how water, air, heat, and vapour interact to affect home performance. This microcredential course explores material selection for climate-resilient construction, strategies for passive heating and cooling, indoor environmental quality, and methods for measuring and reducing operational and embodied carbon. Building a strong foundation in residential performance is the first step toward successful deep energy retrofits.

Learners will engage in 24 hours of learning over three weeks, combining instructor-led virtual sessions with online self-study. Interactive discussions, assignments, and practical exercises help you connect technical knowledge to real-world residential projects.

By taking this course, students learn to understand and apply the fundamentals of deep energy retrofits. The majority of existing homes in Canada come from older stock, and they are one of the key sources of greenhouse gas emissions, even after standard renovations intended to achieve energy savings. Deep Energy Retrofits (DER) lead to a 50% or more decrease in household energy use and directly support Canada’s climate and housing goals, especially when paired with electrification strategies (Natural Resources Canada, 2023). Students study the history of Canadian housing and how it is linked to climate change, which reinforces why household upgrades to deep energy retrofits are important for working toward net-zero targets.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Integrate building science principles and house-as-a-system considerations into residential project planning
• Integrate key aspects of Indoor Environmental Quality in residential building designs
• Analyze carbon emissions in residential construction by differentiating between operational and embodied carbon, utilizing available tools, and understanding the role of materials in deep energy retrofit envelope upgrades

This course will prepare you to contribute meaningfully to Canada’s low-carbon transition by equipping you with system-level thinking about how homes perform, strategies for reducing carbon emissions through design and retrofit, and the ability to assess trade-offs in materials, ventilation, moisture control, and energy flows. The microcredential aligns closely with the mission of Canadian Colleges for a Resilient Recovery to upskill workers in energy security and sustainability across Canada. By embedding climate resilience, equity, and industry-informed practices, it supports C2R2’s vision of a climate-focused recovery and builds capacity for a just, inclusive, low-carbon economy.

• Assessing Homes for Deep Energy Retrofits