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: 2023/4

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

Type of module:

Summary module description:

The Sustainable Built Environments Module describes the interdependency between the built environment and the natural environment and explores solutions towards improving urban resource efficiency.

Aims:

1. To explain the role, practice, and application of sustainability for built environment professionals;


2. Applying the fundamentals of resource efficiency and relevant frameworks (including urban metabolism and life cycle assessment) to debate and research-based learning to better evaluate technical options; 


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


4. To enable students to apply critical thinking and problem solving to their knowledge and understanding of sustainability; including in application to current solutions being proposed for our sustainability challenge.

Assessable learning outcomes:

1. Evaluate the ways in which built-environment practitioners are reliant upon natural systems;


2. Evaluate the sustainability of resource consumption in the built environment;


3. Describe the resource cycles and material flows that influence the built environment;


4. Evaluate an urban metabolism or life cycle assessment case study;


5. Compare and contrast carbon footprints of different cities;


6. Discuss ways in which cities can be modelled after natural ecosystems to improve resource efficiency;


7. Demonstrate the limitations imposed on urban areas through thermodynamic principles;


8. Developing a deep understanding of the environment-economy relationship and imaginative approaches to reducing resource throughputs in the built environment.

Additional outcomes:

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


2. Development of teamwork skills;


3. Students should be able to present the outcome of their work to course staff and other members of the class;


4. Assignment in which students examine an urban metabolism or LCA case study and propose context-specific improvements to the resource flows.

Outline content:

1. Introduction to the Sustainable Built Environments module; aims, objectives, learning outcomes;


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


3. Urban resource consumption and its mitigation;


4. Water, material, nutrient conservation, efficiency and technologies in the built environment;


5. Greenhouse gases from cities and how they can be mitigated;


6. Solutions for urban sustainability, using natural ecosystems for inspiration.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Lectures, Debates, Group Work, Presentations, and associated Problem-Based Learning, and Private Study.

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

1 group debate, 1 teammate evaluations, 1 individual report, and a series of complementary participation (in-class or online assessments) to present engagement on the module material.

Formative assessment methods:

Students will submit a proposal in week 4-6 describing their chosen case study, why they have selected it, some of the issues the case study has with resource consumption, and a list of relevant literature.

Penalties for late submission:

Assessment requirements for a pass:
40% Overall

Reassessment arrangements:

A written report worth 100%

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books: 

2) Specialist equipment or materials:  

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear:  

4) Printing and binding:  

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification:  

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence:  

Last updated: 30 March 2023