Skills in Sustainability
Head of the Sustainable Design of the Built Environment Programme at the British University in Dubai (BUiD), professor Bassam Abu-Hijleh, says there is a growing demand for industry courses offering sustainability Are engineering students interested in sustainability? Yes, the issue with sustainability is that it covers many aspects and disciplines. How does the university currently […]
Head of the Sustainable Design of the Built Environment Programme at the British University in Dubai (BUiD), professor Bassam Abu-Hijleh, says there is a growing demand for industry courses offering sustainability
Are engineering students interested in sustainability?
Yes, the issue with sustainability is that it covers many aspects and disciplines.
How does the university currently cater to this demand?
BUiD offers an MSc in Sustainable Design of the Built Environment, which specifically deals with this topic.
When was the course introduced?
The programme was first offered on September 2005. There are two intakes to the programme each academic year (September and January). how has the course been received? It had a slow start as at the time few people in the UAE were interested in this area. Since 2007 the programme has seen a strong and steady increase in the number of students.
What are the core modules involved?
The programme comprises four core modules and two elective modules. The core modules cover human environmental needs, energy requirements, types and uses of different renewable resources and integrating them into the design, research techniques for a critical assessment of the design of the built environment. And the need for a symbiotic and functional relationship in which ecology, culture and technology evolve and adapt to minimise the negative impacts on the environment.
The elective modules provide a greater understanding of the sustainability implications and the environmental impact of buildings, the large-scale influence of urban design, the increasing importance of the internal environment and its design, interaction with the surrounding landscapes and techniques used for energy conservation in buildings.
Who is the course most suitable for in your opinion?
The programme is suitable for junior to mid-career professionals in fields related to the built environment such as architecture, building services, landscaping, urban design, interior design, civil engineering building technology or environmental studies and will appeal to professionals from private consultancy business, construction firms and governmental regulatory institutions.
Do you plan to introduce any new related courses in line with the changing marketplace?
The current Sustainable Design of the Built Environment programme is more design-oriented so we are now working on a new MSc programme that is geared to the technical aspects of engineering.
The new programme is entitled Intelligent Building Design and Automation (IBDAA) and it is expected to be on offer from September of this year, just subject to final approval by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
