SUSD0003

Energy and the Built Environment

The Red Centre, UNSW, Source: http://www.fjmt.com.au/projects/projects_red.html, Accessed 19/06/2014

Course Outline (Session 2, 2017)

1
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. General Information 3
2. Course Staff 3
3. Course Details 4
Description 4
Aims 4
Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) 4
Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) 5
Alignment of CLOs, PLOs, and Assessment 6
4. Teaching Strategies and Approach to Learning 6
5. Expectations of Students 7
6. Assessment 7
Assignment 1 7
Assignment 2 8
Assignment 3 8
Method of Submission 8
Criteria of Assessment 9
Feedback Strategy 9
7. Course Schedule 10
8. Course Improvement and feedback 11
9. Administrative Matters 11

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1. GENERAL INFORMATION

Faculty: Built Environment

School: Architecture Program
Campus: Sydney
Career: Postgraduate
Units of Credit: 6
Indicative Contact Hours: 3/week
Teaching Times: 6pm – 8pm (All except week 6); Week 6: 10am – 5pm
Locations: Lectures (all except weeks 6 & 13): Room G17, Tyree Building
Lecture (week 6): Room 103, Square House
Presentations (week 13): G16 and G17, Tyree Building
Online – SUSD0003 on Moodle

2. COURSE STAFF

Course Convenor:
Malay Dave
Email: malay.dave@unsw.edu.au

Tutor:
Christopher Lockhart Smith

Guest Lecturers:
Experts from industry and academia as listed in course schedule

Please use appropriate online forum on Moodle to ask general questions relating to the
course content, assignments or any other general enquiries. Any such queries sent via email
will not be responded to. All queries on Moodle will be responded to within approximately 48
hours; all questions and answers on Moodle will be visible to all course participants for the
benefit of all.
For personal concerns please email the course convenor directly.

Email Protocol: Please use professional email etiquette when contacting lecturer or tutor.
Always include your course code, student full name & number and tutorial group if any. All
specific tutor or guest lecturer queries must be first directed to the course convenor who will
pass them onto the tutor or guest lecturer should it be deemed appropriate. Tutor or guest
lecturer email addresses are to be disclosed at their own discretion.

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3. COURSE DETAILS

Description

This course provides an overview of energy related issues in the built environment –
demand and supply solutions, technologies and infrastructure, greenhouse gas/carbon
emissions, transportation – and how the issues of energy relate and interact with other
aspects of sustainable development. Various systems and tools for assessment and rating
the performance of the built environment are introduced and explored. The course is
modelled around a series of lectures by industry experts and covers policy, planning, design,
management and technological strategies as applied at different scales in the built
environment, drawing on best practice ‘real world’ case studies. The course is designed as a
‘blended learning environment’ utilising technology, strategies and components of ‘flipped
classroom’ model to enhance and enrich the process of learning and teaching.

Aims

This course aims for students to:

1. Develop a theoretical and practical understanding of energy related issues and

opportunities at different scales of the built environment. This includes understanding of
energy and environmental rating tools and assessment systems and the role they can
play in achieving and maintaining sustainability in the built environment.
2. Develop the ability to investigate and critically assess an existing built environment; and
independently develop initiatives and strategies to achieve greater sustainability in that
built environment.

Course Learning Outcomes (CLO)

At the conclusion of this course the student will be able to:

1. Demonstrate critical thinking and evaluation of issues around energy, greenhouse

gas/carbon emissions and related environmental aspects, impacts and opportunities
associated with buildings and precincts; demonstrate reflective thinking and
communication of these in their own personal and professional contexts.
2. Demonstrate a fundamental understanding and application of metrics, indicators and
rating systems, and develop arguments and present a case for a holistic sustainability
building rating framework, including major compliance criteria and mechanisms.
3. Investigate and critically assess an office building or other equivalent built environment in
terms of its performance on energy, emissions and other sustainability indicators.
4. Independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team, develop, discuss and demonstrate
application of appropriate policy, planning, design and/or management initiatives to
achieve greater sustainability in the built environment throughout its life cycle.

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Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

1. Advanced disciplinary knowledge and practices

Graduates will have acquired advanced disciplinary knowledge and skills of
sustainability, and an ability to apply these in the built environment
Students should be able to:
- Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the concepts and principles of
sustainability and their application in the built environment.
- Apply disciplinary and interdisciplinary principles and practices of sustainability to
new or complex situations relating to the planning, design and/or management of the
built environment.

2. Enquiry-based learning
Graduates will have developed an understanding of enquiry-based learning and
demonstrate analytical skills.
Students should be able to:
- Plan and execute a research-based or studio-based project in sustainable
development.
- Apply enquiry-based learning and ways of thinking to new disciplinary and/or
professional contexts in the built environment

3. Cognitive skills and critical thinking

Graduates will have developed advanced critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Students should be able to:
- Investigate, generate, synthesise and evaluate complex ideas and concepts at an
abstract and/or applied level.
- Critically evaluate and apply contemporary sustainability theory and practice to
problems in the built environment.
- Analyse problems or issues relating to built environment sustainability, articulate and
justify appropriate solutions at a variety of scales.

4. Communication, adaptive and interactional skills

Graduates will be able to communicate effectively to a range of audiences, and be
capable of independent and collaborative enquiry and working effectively with others.
Students should be able to:
- Communicate ideas around sustainability in the built environment in a variety of
formats to diverse audiences.
- Demonstrate a high level of personal autonomy and accountability in the acquisition
or application of knowledge or skills.
- Demonstrate and understanding of, and the ability to apply, the principles of
teamwork and collaboration to professional standards.

5. Global outlook
Graduates will have an awareness of international issues within their field of study.
Students should be able to:
- Practically address built environment sustainability problems in an international
context in order to offer solutions.

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Alignment of Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs), Program Learning Outcomes
(PLOs), and Assessment

CLO # CLO Statement PLO # Related Assessment

and Activities

CLO 1 Demonstrate critical thinking and evaluation of issues 1, 5 Assignment 2,

around energy, greenhouse gas/carbon emissions and Assignment 3
related environmental aspects, impacts and opportunities
associated with buildings and precincts; demonstrate
reflective thinking and communication of these in the
context of their own personal and professional contexts.
CLO 2 Demonstrate a fundamental understanding and application 1, 2 Assignment 1,
of metrics, indicators and rating systems, and develop
arguments and present a case for a holistic sustainability
building rating framework, including major compliance
criteria and mechanisms.
CLO 3 Investigate and critically assess an office building or other 2, 3, 5 Assignment 2
equivalent built environment in terms of its performance on
energy, emissions and other sustainability indicators.
CLO 4 Independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team, 3, 4 Assignment 1,
develop, discuss and demonstrate application of Assignment 2
appropriate policy, planning, design and/or management
initiatives to achieve greater sustainability in the built
environment throughout its life cycle.

4. TEACHING STRATEGIES AND APPROACH TO LEARNING

The course is designed to expose students to a wide spectrum of relevant ‘real world’
issues, opportunities and case studies from leading industry experts. This includes emerging
technologies, rating and assessment systems, and practice issues as well as methods and
tools used in the design and operation of low carbon buildings, precincts and cities.

The course content is divided in three broad sections - Fundamentals of Energy, Systems of
Rating, and Practice and Applications, with each having 4 weeks of learning activates. The
course consists of weekly lectures by a select group of experts from the industry (architects,
engineers, sustainability consultants, etc.). The lectures cover the theory and practice of
sustainable design and development of the built environment, with an emphasis on energy,
carbon emissions and related impacts, and systems and tools to support more sustainable
practice. The assignments are designed to develop clear understanding and critical thinking
around energy, carbon emissions and other environmental impacts associated with the built
environment, and the systems and strategies available or needed to address these impacts.

In order to enhance and enrich the process of learning and teaching, and to support
students as independent learners, the course is developed as a ‘blended learning
environment’, which utilises various technology, approaches and strategies associated with

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‘flipped classroom’ models. This is achieved by weekly pre-session and post-session student
activities supplementing the face-to-face in-session teaching. These activities will be
facilitated through online learning activities, discussion forums, and other resources on
Moodle in order to support the students’ ongoing research for their individual and group
assignments. Students are encouraged to be self-directed in their learning and to be actively
engaging in the process of shaping the learning and teaching through continual feedback.

5. EXPECTIONS OF STUDENTS

Attendance: Attendance is paramount in student learning. You are expected to attend ALL
classes and learning activities. As per UNSW policy, students are required to attend at least
80% of all possible classes. If you attend less than 80% of all possible classes, you may not
be entitled to submit the final assessment and therefore subject to fail the course. Students
will not be reminded of their attendance record, it is the students responsibility to keep track.
However, the course convener/tutor will be monitoring the attendance based on the active
engagement with and participation in the pre-session, in-session and post-session learning
activities and required weekly outputs associated with those activities.

Engagement and participation: This course has been designed to offer opportunities for
‘student-centred learning’ as opposed to ‘lecturer-centred teaching’. As postgraduate level
university students, you are expected to, and encouraged to, be self-motivated and self-
directed in your study and associated learning activities. The course provides effective
opportunities for active student participation in all three learning activities and especially
through the group assignment. It is your responsibility to demonstration active participation in
the lecture sessions and meaningful engagement with fellow students on Moodle forums by
reviewing and providing feedback as part of weekly learning activities. It is vitally important
that you make the most of the out of class time to engage with other students within or
beyond your group and with the lecturers/tutors to give and receive feedback and to remove
any barriers to the successful work on your assignments.

6. ASSESSMENT

Successful completion of this course requires submission of three assignments listed below:

1. Group Project – Rating/Assessment Tools (total 30%)

This assignment is a group project, which is aimed at demonstrating a hands-on use of

assessment tools. It will ask for challenging the approach of current tools and
developing a framework for a new tool as per your brief.

Assignment Deliverable Due date Weight

1.1 Proposal + structure (maximum
1000 words/2 pages)
1.2 Group presentation (maximum 12
slides, 12 minutes)
1.3 Group report (maximum 5000
words)
Submission on Moodle due by -
11:55pm on 3 September 2017
In-class presentations at 6:00pm 5%
on 12 September 2017.
Submission on Moodle due by 25%
11:55pm on 17 September 2017.

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2. Individual Project (total 40%)

This individual assignment is a single focus goal divided into multiple stages. The goal is
to develop a detailed guide/manual/roadmap/decision-support framework for sustainable
practice for your chosen office (real or hypothetical) or similar built environment. Select
an area of interest from within the fields covered in lectures and develop a guide for
improving the practice in low energy/GHG design/planning (in consultation with the
course coordinator/tutor). It needs to be underpinned by relevant research and case
studies and be prepared in a format appropriate to the specific purpose and context for
which it was originally intended; and possibly also for other similar projects in the future.

Assignment Deliverable Due date Weight

2.1 Proposal + structure (maximum
1000 words/2 pages)
2.2 In-class presentation (3 minutes
for each presenter)
2.3 Final report (maximum 5000
words)
Submission on Moodle due by -
11:55pm on 20 August 2017
In-class presentation at 5%
6:00pm 24 October 2017
Submission on Moodle due by 35%
11:55pm on 29 October 2017

3. E-portfolio (total 30%)

This individual assignment is aimed at demonstrating evidence of engagement in,

completion of and application of learning activities and learning outcomes through
reflective writing. The reflective e-portfolio is to consist at least four parts - one relating
to the each of the three activities (pre-session, in-session and post-session) and two
relating to the first two assignments, and one for the overall reflection.

Assignment Deliverable Due date Weight

3.1 Progress report (maximum 2500) Submission on Moodle due by -
11:55pm 8 October 2017
3.2 Final E-portfolio (maximum 5000 Submission on Moodle due by 30%
words) 11:55pm on 29 October 2017

Method of Submission

Submit digital copies only of the completed assignments in the appropriate assignment
sections within ‘Assessments’ section on Moodle, no later than the due dates as specified
above. Assignment sections will become available on Moodle as the course progresses. You
can find detailed submission guidelines for each assignment on Moodle.

File naming: The students are expected to submit only one file for each assignment and
naming of the file should read ‘your student number – your Assignment number’ (for
example, ‘z2258374–Assignment1.pdf’ or ‘z2258374–Assignment3.doc’ and so on). After
uploading your work on Moodle you may not be able to make any changes. If you need to,
make the necessary changes in the file and upload it to relevant ‘Assignments’ folder with
‘v2’ (version 2) as a suffix to the file name (e.g. z2258374–Assignment1–v2.pdf or
z2258374–Assignment4–v2.pdf). For any subsequent modifications use ‘v3’, ‘v4’ and so on
as suffix in the file name to identify the latest submission until the submission due date.

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Caution: Assignments and reports containing no student number within the file name will not
get marked. To avoid any last minute technical issues with uploading files on Moodle try
avoiding last minute rush and upload your assignment at least a couple of hours before the
due time. Keep multiple digital back-up copies of your work at different places. It is your
responsibility to keep multiple digital back-up copies of your work at different places. Lost,
deleted or corrupt digital files will not be considered an acceptable reason for non-
compliance with submission requirements. Late submissions will receive mark penalties as
per UNSW protocol.

Criteria of Assessment

This course employs ‘Standards-Based Assessment’, which will use following assessment
rubric for assessing student performance in each of the three assignments.

Criteria Assignments
1 2 3
C1 - Structure and Presentation 20% 20% 20%
Appropriate structure; effective communication; contextualisation; fluency in
argument; illustrations & diagrams; well-designed format; professional quality
presentation.
C2 - Summarisation, Critical Thinking & Evaluation 20% 20% 20%
Effective summarisation; critical evaluation; discussion & judgement skills;
understanding of fundamental theoretical contexts and application issues;
Weighting for Reports

independent thinking & originality in problem definition, solutions & implications.

C3 - Knowledge Integration, Reflection & Application 40% 40% 60%
Evidence of breadth & depth of knowledge in domains covered; reflection on and
presentation of multiple perspectives; applicability & usability of skills and
concepts in different contexts; recognition of limitations of conceptual knowledge
and of own understanding; constructive critical reflection; convincing & coherent
argumentation with supporting evidence; integration & synthesis of critical ideas
for application; implications & recommendations for own future practice.
C4 - Academic Research & Writing 20% 20% 0%
Evidence of research through recommended readings and beyond (literature,
case studies and other precedents); adequate references and citations; effective
and academic quality written expression; clear articulation of research design
and components including aims, objectives, methods, findings, scope, limitations
and future directions/recommendations.
Proposal + Structure - - -
Tasks

Presentations 5% 5% -
Reports 25% 35% 30%
Total 30% 40% 30% 100%

Feedback Strategy

The students will receive continuous formative feedback on learning activities and
summative feedback on assignments. They are encouraged to take the initiative to draw
attention of lecturers/tutors to receive specific and detailed feedback on their individual or
group projects. More importantly the students are expected to use opportunities to give and
receive valuable peer-feedback specifically integrated within the course design for a richer
and more wide-ranging benefit. Tutors will also be available to answer any questions or
queries outside of contact hours through the Q&A Forum on Moodle. All queries on Moodle
will be responded to within approximately 48 hours; all questions and answers on Moodle
will be visible to all course participants for the benefit of all.

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7. COURSE SCHEDULE

Week- Lecture (6pm - 8pm) Lecturer

date
1– Course design, L&T strategies, and expectations; energy and MD
25/7/17 associated issues in the built environment; emerging directions. (UNSW)
2– Climate Data for Design and Decision-making AU
1/8/17 (UNSW)
3– Energy: fundamentals and application AH
8/8/17 (ARUP)
4– CRC for Low Carbon Living: Research and Innovations DP
15/8/17 (CRCLCL)
4 - 20/8/17 Assignment-2.1: Proposal + structure for Assignment-2 due by 11:55pm
5– Sustainable Design and Construction Rating and Assessment Tools JO
22/8/17 (Introduction of the group assignment) (GBCA)
6– Green Star Foundation Course (10am to 5pm) DH
1/9/17 (GBCA)
6 - 3/9/17 Assignment-1.1: Proposal + structure for Assignment-1 due by 11:55pm
7– No Lecture (due to the full day Green Star workshop) -
5/9/17
8– In class group presentations for Assignment-1 and discussions JO
12/9/17 (GBCA)
8 - 17/9/17 Assignment-1: Final report due by 11:55pm

9– Non-teaching Week
19/9/17 Self-directed research for assignment-3 and development of your e-portfolio

N1 – Mid-semester Break
26/9/17 Self-directed research for assignment-3 and development of your e-portfolio

10 – Passive House Standard: Principles and Practice FW

3/10/17 (Pidcock)
10 - 8/10/17 Assignment-3.1: Progress report due by 11:55pm
11 – Energy Regulation Compliances and Case Studies in Australia PC
10/10/17 (TeamCatalyst)
12 – Design Practice and sustainability TW
17/10/17 (Environa)
13 – In-class individual presentations and discussions on Assignment-2 MD & CLS
24/10/17 (UNSW)
13–29/10/17 Assignment-2 & 3: Final reports due by 11:55pm

MD = Malay Dave; AU = Anir Upadhyay; AH = Alexander Hespe; DP = Deo Prasad; JO = Jeff Oatman; DH =
Digby Hall; FW = Fergal White; PC = PC Thomas; TW = Tone Wheeler; CLS = Christopher Lockhart Smith

Note: This is a broadly indicative schedule. For detailed schedule and weekly pre-session
and post-session learning activities and deliverables refer to the course page on Moodle.

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8. COURSE IMPROVEMENT AND FEEDBACK

SUSD0003 will be formally evaluated using the University’s Course and Teaching Evaluation
and Improvement (CATEI) / myExperience standardised evaluation process. This process
provides the opportunity for you to make a range of quantitative assessments, and a
qualitative response in the form of written comments and suggestions. Each student is
required to complete the CATEI/myExperience feedback evaluations by its due date.

This core course has traditionally covered a broad spectrum of topics relating to energy and
built environment rating tools as mostly presented by guest lecturers (experts from industry).
Given the large area the subject matter covers, inevitably there have been overlaps in some
particular topics while some other areas have remained unexplored. The Sustainable
Development program update process, which includes the revision of other core courses,
has provided the context to revise the scope and content of this course. This includes
identifying which areas are still relevant and which additional topics are to be included to
address the new requirements of the program as determined through the program review
and update process.

In response to evolving industry needs, University and Faculty objectives, research priorities
and student expectations and feedback the course has incorporated new technology
enabled flexible self-learning activities, several strategies for increased engagement at
multiple levels, and new approaches for reflective and deep learning. Your participation in
the development of this course will be greatly appreciated, and your feedback will be
considered carefully with a view to acting on it constructively, to help evolve and continually
improve this course.

9. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS

The Built Environment Protocols and UNSW Policies & Procedures document
supplements this course outline providing detail on academic policies and other
administrative matters. It is your duty as a student to familiarise yourself with the policies and
guidelines as not adhering to them will be considered as academic misconduct. Ignorance of
the rules is not an acceptable defence.

The document can be found in your Moodle course as well as:

https://intranet.be.unsw.edu.au/student/be-learning-teaching/academic-policies

It covers:
• Built Environment Student Attendance Requirements
• Units of Credit (UOC) and Student Workload
• myExperience Course and Teaching Evaluation
• Assessment Policy and Procedures
• Academic Honesty and Plagiarism
• Late Submissions Penalties
• Special Consideration - Illness & Misadventure
• Extension of Deadlines
• Learning Support Services
• Policies and Procedures for Research Candidates
• Health & Safety

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