Prospective Students >>Graduate

Sustainable Construction Concentration in the MBC/MSBC Program

1. Program Description
   The Sustainable Construction Concentration (SCN) has the goal of helping the student connect the activities of planning, designing, building, operating, and demolishing the built environment to their impacts on the environment and natural systems function. Its objectives are to address: (1) Issues of resource efficiency, waste, human health, ecological economics, ethics, environmental justice, and industrial ecology; (2) Alternative practices that can significantly reduce the environmental impacts of the built environment, and (3) Exploring past and present thinking by leading theorists and practitioners in this newly emerging discipline. The resulting degree awarded upon successful completion of the program is a Masters of Building Construction (non-thesis) or a Master of Science in Building Construction (thesis) with a concentration in Sustainable Construction (SCN). The concentration in Sustainable Construction requires the student take two courses offered by the Rinker School (BCN 6584 and BCN 6585). In addition, the student is required to take a minimum of 6 Credit hours of courses from those indicated in the list shown below. Each course indicated below contains the course number, course name, number of credit hours (Cr.), and the prerequisites.
   
   
   1. Required BCN courses (in addition to MBC/MSBC core course requirements):
      1. BCN 6580, High Performance Green Building Sys., 3 Cr.
      2. BCN 6584 Construction Ecology and Metabolism, 3 Cr.
      3. BCN 6585 Principles of Sustainable Construction, 3 Cr.
         
      4. BCN 6641, Value Engineering, 3 Cr.
         
         
2. Rationale and Need Assessments
   The rationale for a concentration in Sustainable Construction is the rapidly emerging movement both nationally and internationally that is seeking to green the built environment. New standards from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and numerous international organizations are defining the requirements for healthy, high performance, resource efficient buildings. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is producing a new standard for environmental building assessment. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is producing resource guides on green building materials. Municipalities, companies, and government bodies are beginning to demand that construction meet these new imperatives. The result is that industry is in turn beginning to demand professionals with background in sustainability as it relates to the built environment. At present there are a handful of courses on this subject taught in the College of Architecture and other departments on campus teach a variety of course on natural systems and resource economics that are related to the foundations of this area of endeavor. Additional courses that emphasize this new discipline would be helpful, to include specific courses on green building design, neo-traditional planning, green materials, sustainable development, energy efficiency, water conservation, industrial ecology, and design for the environment (DFE).
   
   
3. Supervising Faculty
   Drs. Charles J. Kibert and Abdol Chini will be the Supervising Faculty for the Sustainable Construction Concentration.
   
   
4. Admissions
   Admission will be in accordance with existing standards for the Masters Program in the Rinker School of Building Construction.
   
   
5. Examination and Masters Paper/Thesis
   No additional examination is required. The paper or thesis for the Masters Program must be on an approved subject related to Sustainable Construction.