The architectural engineering program at the University of Wyoming offers several courses in the areas of HVAC, Plumbing, Fire Protection, Energy and Building Electricity. Plumbing is a discipline founded in hydraulics and legal issues governed by codes and standards. This discipline includes, but is not limited to, the design of hot and cold water, storm, drainage and venting systems. Many documents, books and references are available covering the topics associated with plumbing. However, the majority of them are oriented toward plumbing techniques and practical issues. Within this paper we discuss the integration of plumbing into the Architectural Engineering curriculum, as well as how high-rise plumbing can be taught for engineers. We also discuss how to combine the fundamentals, such as hydraulics, and different codes and standards, to create a successful class. A comprehensive capstone project that will integrate various components of plumbing will be discussed in this paper. The particularity of high-rise plumbing vs. low-rise plumbing is also discussed. Also, this paper describes the experiences we encountered over the past several years while developing and teaching the plumbing curricula in the Architectural Engineering program. In addition, we describe the history of the architectural engineering curriculum at the University of Wyoming, the plumbing design project, and the building design process. Most importantly, project methodology will be discussed, including the design of various systems, system selection and commissioning, and will culminate with administrative topics. We demonstrate this methodology through the use of a comprehensive design project. We discuss this design course from the students' point of view, focusing on the experience gained in design, codes and safety, as well as in written and oral communication skills. We also describe the methods we use in terms of learning outcomes to evaluate the effectiveness of the capstone design program.
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