Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 1 2012

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

Built environment professionals should appreciate that best practice green buildings do not yet qualify as sustainable. They simply reduce the increasing rate of environmental degradation throughout the construction supply chain. We need to question and challenge our current econo-political systems and social norms in this context; and to develop new typologies of form, structure and space that make net positive contributions to human and ecosystem health and increase social and natural capital. This will require eco-positive design thinking to be applied across the entire design process and through all the built environment fields, so we can participate in a transformative reorientation of society towards sustainability.

Aims

The unit aims to show how buildings, components, landscapes and interiors can improve the health of the air, water, soil and people occupying the site and buildings. Students will also learn to look beyond the scale of the product, building or infrastructure level that their field of study is concerned with, to contribute to the resolution of larger social and economic issues in a given area. Existing technologies are surveyed that have the potential to improve human and environmental health if scaled up to the building or urban scale. These are contrasted with a critical survey of current best practice green buildings.

Objectives

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:
1. Demonstrate knowledge and skills pertinent to sustainable development, including:
a. Appreciate the range of (low-cost) passive solar design strategies and their potential to replace fossil fuel based systems of heating, cooling and ventilating.
b. Appreciate the range of eco-solutions that already exist and could be applied to building design to greatly reduce resource flows and increase human well-being.
2. Demonstrate critical, creative and analytical thinking, and effective problem-solving including:
a. Recognize the importance of built environment design to individual psychological and physiological well-being - as well as to social, economic and environmental sustainability.
b.Understand why current 'best practice' green buildings are not sustainable, but how buildings could, in fact, be designed to increase social and natural capital.
3. Learn to look beyond the narrow choices framed by conventional debates on building types and urban form to discover more holistic integrated approaches and creative design options that avoid trade-offs.

Content

The unit is based on the study of sustainable practice in built environment. This includes the ability to research and communicate your ideas effectively both individually and within a multidisciplinary team.

Lecture, Tutorial and Assessment topics are drawn from the unit's text, 'Design for Sustainability' and 'Positive Development'. Such as:

• Value and limitations of green buildings


• The business case for green buildings


• Basic principles of green building design


• Bio-climatic and subtropical housing design


• Materials and health issues (eg asbestos, radon)


• Alternative building materials


• Water sensitive and fire safe design


• Assessment and rating tools


• The design brief


• Bio-productive technologies


• Life cycle assessment

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

Teaching and learning approaches in this unit including assessment are designed as collaborative, research and problem solving activities at a trans-disciplinary level approprieate to the study of sustainable practice. The unit is project-based and student-centred, where you work in groups with students to undertake interactive learning.

There are three main modes of delivery in this unit: lectures, tutorials and independent research (independent and collaborative).

Weekly Lectures, Week 1 to Week 13, will include the QUT/AGDF/AGIC/SSEE Public Guest Lecture Series.

Weekly Tutorials, following each Lecture, will be based on the assigned readings in Design for Sustainability and Positive Development.

Assessment

Assessment includes design problem solving tasks (in regular turorial groups), a reseach paper and a collaborative hgroup submission and presentation.

Criterion Referenced Assessment (CRA), Criteria sheets and Templates for assignments will be provided on Blackboard. These sheets will be used to assess your work. You are encrouraged to use these sheets to assress your own work prior to submission and thus develop your self-directed learning and creticual thinking skills.This unit incorporates combined formative/summative assessment. Formative assessment is about feedback being provided to you so that you can find out how you are progressing, and how your work can be improved. Summative assessment is about grading your work, with the purpose of classification and prediction. It focuses on outcome, standards and comparison. Activities and assessment are designed to maximise opportunities for engagement with and feedback from your peers as well as the teachers.

Assessment name: Problem solving tasks
Description: During tutorials, you will work in (different) goups to complete collaborative 'exercises' and include a peer review of other's work relevant to the required reading and lecture.

Minor submissions at end of each tutorial session on exercise sheets provided.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2. 3
Weight: 35%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Group
Due date: End of each tutorial

Assessment name: Research Paper
Description: A concise but 'referenced' 200-word paper on a pre-assigned topic - list proveided.
Ther will be an opportunity for peer-assessment provided as a guide to performance only.
submission of the research paper will be in electronic version.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2. 3
Weight: 40%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Week 5 online by 5pm

Assessment name: Research Paper & Presentation
Description: A collabration of individual and group contribution to produce a written sumission based on a real project.
Submission to be visually ('referenced slide colour PowerPoint) and verbally presented.
Submission of the paper and PowerPoint will be in electronic version, plus one hardcopy of group sumission.
Relates to objectives: 2, 3
Weight: 25%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Group with Individual Component
Due date: Week 14

Academic Honesty

Academic honesty means that you are expected to exhibit honesty and act responsibly when undertaking assessment. Any action or practice on your part which would defeat the purposes of assessment is regarded as academic dishonesty. The penalties for academic dishonesty are provided in the Student Rules. For more information you should consult the QUT Library resources for avoiding plagiarism.

Resource materials

You are required to read the unit text which may be accessible from the library or campus bookstore. Some additional readings may be posted on blackboard to facilitate your research.


Required reding:
Author: Birkeland, Janis
Title: Design for Sustainability: A Sourcebook of Integrated Eco-Logical Solutions
Year: 2002
Publisher: Earthscan, UK

Author: Birkeland, Janis
Title: Positive Development: From Vicious Circles to Virtuous Cycles
Year: 2008
Publisher: Earthscan, London

Recommended reading

Title: The Environmental Brief: Pathways for Green Design
Year: 2007
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Authors: Hyde, Richard; Watson Steve; Cheshire, Wendy; Thomson, Mark

Title: Healing Spaces: The science of place and well-being
Year: 2009
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Author: Sternberg, Esther M.

Title: Factor Five : Transforming the Global Economy Through 80% Improvements in Resource Productivity
Year: 2009
Publisher: Earthscan
Authors: von Weizsacker, Ernst U.; Hargroves, Karlson "Charlie"; Smith, Michael H.; Desha, Cheryl; Stasinopoulos, Peter

Title: Adapting Buildings and Cities for Climate Change: A 21st Century Survival Guide
Year: 2009
Publisher: Architectural Press, UK
Author: Roaf , Susan; Crichton, David; and Nicol, Fergus

Title: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make
Year: 2002
Publisher: North Point Press
Author: McDonough, William and Braungart, Michael

Title: Sustainable Education: Re-visioning learning and change
Year: 2001
Publisher: Green Books
Author: Sterling, Stephen R.

Students may incur incidental cost in printing web-based materials, using electronic media for information storagek, and attending site visits.

Risk assessment statement

There are no extraordinary workplace health and safety aspects associated with formal contact. The units will be conducted in traditional lecture and seminar rooms, or the library. You should be informed of requirements pertaining to a safe workplace. In lectures, tutorials and such, you should be aware of fire exits and meeting points in case of fire.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 23-Feb-2012