CE3SBE: Sustainable Built Environments

Module code: CE3SBE

Module provider: School of Construction Management and Engineering, School of Built Environment

Credits: 20

Level: Level 3 (Honours)

When you'll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Eugene Mohareb, email: e.mohareb@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

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. 

The Module Lead at the University of Reading Malaysia is Dr Mustafa Klufallah (m.klufallah@reading.edu.my).

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. Evaluate the ways in which built-environment practitioners are reliant upon natural systems and assess the sustainability of resource consumption in the built environment; 
2. Describe the resource cycles and material flows that influence the built environment and evaluate an urban metabolism or life cycle assessment case study; 
3. Compare and contrast carbon footprints of different cities and discuss ways in which cities can be modelled after natural ecosystems to improve resource efficiency; 
4. Demonstrate the limitations imposed on urban areas through thermodynamic principles, with a deep understanding of the environment-economy relationship and imaginative approaches to reducing resource throughputs in the built environment 

Module 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 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures, debates, group work, presentations, and associated problem-based learning, and private study. 

For students studying at our campus in Malaysia: This module may be taught in a different semester and the breakdown of study hours may differ to those set out in the Study Hours table (please refer to the Module Handbook for the correct breakdown). In addition, you will be required to complete an additional 40 hours of study, taking the total number of study hours to 240 for this module. This is to comply with the Malaysian Quality Agency (MQA).

Study hours

At least 25 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Students may 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 citations of relevant literature. 

Reassessment

Additional costs