CE3CS1-Sustainability

Module Provider: School of Construction Management and Engineering, School of Built Environment
Number of credits: 10 [5 ECTS credits]
Level:6
Terms in which taught: Autumn term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2021/2

Module Convenor: Dr Eugene Mohareb
Email: e.mohareb@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

The Sustainability Module challenges students studying Construction Management and Engineering to develop their understanding of the meaning of sustainability in the context of interdependent built and natural environments. The Module prepares students for the day-to-day challenges of implementing innovative and sustainable infrastructure, buildings, technologies and mitigation, and exploring solutions towards improving urban resource efficiency. Case studies are included in the Module that are developed during individual and/or group work.

Aims:

1. To explain the role, practice and application of sustainability within construction and the built environment, applying problem-based learning to better evaluate technical options; 


2. To demonstrate the role of natural systems & processes in cities and how they affect the sustainability of urban areas;


3. To provide the background and tools to enable students to evaluate aspects of environmental management and competitiveness; and to apply economic appraisal tools in environmental decision-making;


4. To enable students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of sustainability through the planning of design, construction and operation;


5. To enable students to apply critical thinking and problem solving to their knowledge and understanding of sustainability; including application to real-life design and building projects, and the mitigation of pre-, during- and post-construction impacts.

Assessable learning outcomes:

1. Articulate and explain the broad environmental, energy and sustainability requirements for construction, buildings and development, including impacts arising from climate change, and the avoidance of penalties and fines by complying with environmental legislation;


2. Evaluate the sustainability of resource consumption in the built environment; describe the resource cycles and material flows and evaluate an urban metabolism case study;


3. Analyse and quan tify the energy requirements for buildings; explain the role of energy efficiency in domestic and non-domestic buildings; compare and contrast carbon footprints of different cities; demonstrate the limitations imposed on urban areas through thermodynamic principles.


4. Explain the Environment-Economy relationship and trade-offs between environmental management and competitiveness;


5. Analyse economic appraisal tools in environmental decision-making;


6. Expl ain the fundamental concepts of water conservation; evaluate design and technologies for water efficiency in buildings;


7. Explain the rationale behind urbanisation and its associated environmental impacts, and how these can be mitigated.

Additional outcomes:

1. An assignment in which students examine social, economic, and environmental impacts of advancements in urban systems


2. Development of group teamworking skills.

Outline content:

1. Introduction to the Sustainability Module; aims, objectives, learning outcomes;


2. Energy requirements and the role of resource efficiency in buildings, including domestic buildings;


3. Guiding Concepts: Understanding the Environment-Economy relationship;


4. Trade-offs between environmental management and competitiveness;


5. Economic appraisal tools in environmental decision-making;


6. Urban resource consumption and its mitigation;


7. Water conservation, efficiency and technologies for water systems in buildings;


8. The Sustainability agenda – how does it fit in the built environment and imagining future sustainable cities.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Lectures, Seminars, Group Work, Tutorials, Site Work and associated Problem-Based Learning (where relevant), and Private Study.

Summative assessment- Examinations:

2 hour examination in May/June.

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

1 group presentation

Formative assessment methods:

Penalties for late submission:

Assessment requirements for a pass:
40% Overall

Reassessment arrangements:

One two-hour re-examination for failing the examination and/or one assignment for failing the coursework

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books:  Reading list :

Allaby, M 2010. Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ecology. 3rd edn, Oxford University Press. July 2010. ISBN-10: 9780199567669
 ISBN-13: 978-0199567669

Highways Agency, revised February 2013. Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB),; http://www.dft.gov.uk/ha/standards/dmrb/vol11/index.htm In particular, see Volume 10 Environmental Design, and Volume 11 Environmental Assessment.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Climate Change 2014. Synthesis Report. Fifth Assessment Report.

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/syr/SYR_AR5_LONGERREPORT_Corr2.pdf

Morris P. and Therivel R,(Eds) 2009. Methods of Environmental Impact Assessment, 3rd Edition. London, Routledge, 2009. ISBN 9780415441742 or 0415441749. Shelf mark 301.3 MET in Reading University Library.

www.endsreport.com/ Available in Whiteknights Library on-line.

2) Specialist equipment or materials:  None

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear:  None

4) Printing and binding:  None

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification:  None

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence:  None

Last updated: 1 December 2021