Renewable Energy & Sustainable Building in a Global Context

Learning throughout the programme is mainly self-led, as expected at postgraduate level. A combination of multiple delivery modes are used such as lectures by internal staff and external speakers, workshops and site visits. Peer learning is encouraged through presentations prepared by students and group work.

One-on-one supervision of your dissertation in semester three by a single tutor is designed to promote continuity in the learning experiences provided.

The programme is taught over three semesters. It consists of five core modules and one elective which you choose from a list of three possible modules, as follows:

Semester 1: September – December:

• Sustainable Building in Context (30 credits)

A sustainable building is one that responds to the biological, psychological and socio-economic needs of its users and effectively utilise the free energies of the environment surrounding it. The process of doing so involves the consumption of substantial amount of energy and material throughout the life cycle of the building. It is thus imperative to understand the flow of different types of energies in and around buildings and the use of material throughout the life cycle of buildings. This module will introduce the students to those topics in order to be able to design, assess, maintain and manage sustainable buildings.

• Renewable Energy in Buildings (30 credits) (extend to end of semester 2)

This module aims to introduce the students to the theory and practice of integrating renewable energy technologies in the built environment. This includes a wide range of related practical skills such as the ability to assess the potential of sites and the initial cost of installing renewable energy generation and distribution systems.

Semester 2: January - April

• Ways to Study Built Environments (15 credits)

This module aims to introduce the students to a wide range of basic research skills necessary for successfully carrying out the research elements throughout the programme including the research project. This includes both research techniques and other related generic skills as indicated below.

• Sustainability Monitoring, Prediction and Assessment (30 credits)

The module aims to promote critical exploration of the factors affecting building performance within the context of sustainable design of buildings. In doing so, students will be able to use a range of tools to monitor, predict and assess various aspects of buildings performance.

• Elective (30 credits)(choose one of the following):
  • Zero-Carbon and Low Energy Housing Development

  This module aims to introduce the student to the challenges in addressing the future of sustainable housing development as set out in the UK Government’s 2016 Housing Action Policy for Zero-Carbon Housing. It is designed to enhance students understanding of sustainable housing development from Macro to Micro scales, and also aims to develop students qualitative and quantitative analytical skills pertaining to sustainable housing design.

  • Intelligent Buildings: Strategic Design and Management

  The module provides the overview of intelligent buildings necessary to appreciate the major significance of the subject and to take informed decisions on future intelligent sustainable buildings. It aims to give an introduction to all aspects of intelligent building design, management and operation within a systematic and coherent framework.

  • Sustainability in Contemporary Cities

  This module aims to discuss sustainable development in its wider theoretical, political and regulatory and historical context, and to use this understanding to examine how actors use a range of strategies to promote the sustainability of our cities and regions. It also engages with the question of how and whether the growth of cities is compatible to the achievement of sustainable development goals. Last but not least, it aims to develop a comparative understanding of the challenges for city management and governance practices across the globe as regards the sustainable provision of infrastructure and future land uses.

 

Semester 3: May - August

• Research Project (45 credits)

The research project is the largest module across the programme. It is the opportunity that will allow the students to work independently on solving real life or theoretical problems that relate to their geographical background. Building on the knowledge acquired earlier through the core and the elective modules, the students will aim to conduct a primary research independently. They will have to find a topic for their dissertation in the field of sustainable building and/or renewable energy which is related to their geographical background. They then have to focus their research question, device a research methodology and execute the research project in terms of data gathering, handling and analysis, and to be able to draw up conclusions based on the discussion of their results, and finally write up a clearly structured argument in the form of an academic dissertation.

Assessment is based on problem solving, innovation and creativity. This is done through multiple individual and group work assignments based on real life problems that vary in complexity and nature to cater for the students’ different backgrounds, abilities and skills. In some cases, students will sit online open book exams. Students from architecture or design background will be given the opportunity to take the route of design based research to complete their research project. All the assignments are design to encourage the students to apply the vocational skills they will acquire throughout the programme in an integral manner.