Cardiff University

MSc Environmental Design of Buildings

Our MSc Environmental Design of Buildings is delivered in two stages. Stage one (two-thirds) is comprised of taught and project modules totalling 120 credits. The final third is your dissertation (stage 2).

As a full-time student, you will take both stages in one year.

Within Stage 1, you will undertake five taught and three project modules before commencing your dissertation in Stage 2. All modules will approach environmental design from a different angle, while focusing on specific themes, such as heating, lighting and sustainability. Throughout the course, we will address good practices in relation to the environmental design of buildings in climates around the world. We will explore:

• Current issues facing environmental building designers and how the profession may be impacted by climate change
• Environmental standards - their prediction, measurement, and legislation
• Ways of achieving high standards of environmental performance, including user comfort and health, making appropriate use of building fabric, mechanical services and renewable energy generation and storage
• Broader sustainability issues that environmental designers should be aware of in order to practice in a sustainable way

The taught modules in this course provide a grounding in environmental design and architectural science within the context of sustainable development and the environmental performance of buildings.

The project modules focus on specific themes in building design, such as climatic environment, internal building environment and passive design strategies. In these modules, you will have the opportunity to apply taught design ideas to real-world scenarios.

After completing the modules, you will prepare a dissertation, where you will analyse a subject of environmental design that interests you in more depth.

Core Modules for Year One

• Context of Environmental Building Design
• Enclosures in Environmental Building Design
• Specifying Environmental Buildings
• Earth and Society
• Low Carbon Buildings
• Climate Comfort and Energy
• Investigation of the Built Environment
• Architectural Science Research
• Dissertation

How Will I be Assessed?

Taught and project-based modules are assessed in a variety of different ways depending on the module content and learning outcomes (found in the module descriptions). We use class tests, coursework assessments (such as written assessments and portfolios), or a combination of these to assess your progress on the module.

In the dissertation stage, your dissertation is the sole object of assessment. The dissertation is a written report on a piece of research which you have carried out in an agreed subject area under supervision.

What Skills Will I Practise and Develop?

The Learning Outcomes for this Programme describe what you will be able to do as a result of your study at Cardiff University. They will help you to understand what is expected of you.

The Learning Outcomes for this Programme can be found below.

On successful completion of the Programme you will be able to:

Knowledge & Understanding

• Appraise the role of built environment professionals in supporting holistic sustainability at a range of development scales
• Examine the key climatic and behavioural parameters which influence occupant comfort, air quality and the energy/carbon performance of the built environment
• Summarise how buildings use energy and emit carbon and explain how this can be minimised while maintaining human comfort in the built environment

Intellectual Skills

• Synthesise complex data to facilitate decision-making
• Design, evaluate and develop creative solutions to complex problems in the context of the built environment

Professional Practical Skills

• Investigate complex real-world problems in relation to the built environment and holistic sustainability
• Critique existing information and justify decisions made while creating a design solution

Transferable/Key Skills

• Create and defend complex ideas, principles and theories
• Select and justify appropriate methods for solving problems

Students in this course frequently go back into their original profession with the advantage of having a new specialism in environmental and sustainable design. Following their completion of the course, some of our students with sufficient prior career experience have gained leading roles in their respective professions.

The programme has helped a large number of professionals to pursue a career in a broad range of sectors such as (but not limited to):

• Practice of architecture or engineering, with a specialism in environmental design
• Consultancy (building environmental analysis and building performance evaluation)
• Academia (teaching and/or research)
• Policy (in the UK and abroad)

How will I be Taught?

The methods of teaching we employ will vary from module to module, as appropriate depending on the subject matter and the method of assessment. We teach using a mixture of lectures, seminars, workshops, study visits, project work, and group tutorials.

In lectures and workshops, we aim to make appropriate use of audio-visual support, animated demonstrations, and interactive exercises to aid the learning and development of subject-specific skills.

You will be given access to relevant teaching materials through the University’s virtual learning environment, Learning Central. Through Learning Central, you will have access to recordings of lectures and demonstrations to support your studies.