Sustainable Design 101: A Syllabus Supplement

Last updated: 
July 5, 2022

College professors: here’s a curriculum module you can use to introduce students to sustainable design using BuildingGreen articles. Feel free to cherry pick content that fits your syllabus.  

Intended for design professionals, BuildingGreen provides an independent “living textbook” that integrates perfectly with sustainable design courses while exposing students to the most cutting-edge sustainability strategies and real-world green building case studies.

Here we offer an Intro to Sustainable Design curriculum especially formulated for institutions that have access to the following articles through a campus-wide BuildingGreen subscription.

Don’t have a subscription yet? Find out how to get a no-strings-attached free trial for your campus.

Introduction to Sustainable Design: Syllabus and Assigned Readings

Week 1—Welcome and Introductions

Lecture: Introduction to the green building movement

Readings:

Find more articles collected on our topic page, The Big Picture.

Week 2—The Scope of Green Building

Lecture: Whole-systems thinking and integrative design; introduction to rating systems

Readings:

Find more articles collected on our topic pages: Integrative Process, LEED, Living Building Challenge.

Week 3—Looking Beyond Buildings

Lecture: Green building is about more than buildings.

Readings:

Find more articles collected on our topic page, Sustainable Communities.

Week 4—Land-Use Planning

Lecture: The importance of land-use planning in creating sustainable communities

Readings:

Find more articles collected on our topic page, Site Assessment & Design.

Week 5—Site and Landscape

Lecture: Integrating buildings into the landscape

Readings:

Find more articles collected on our topic page, Site Assessment & Design.

Week 6—Water Management on the Site

Lecture: Stormwater and innovative management practices

Readings:

Week 7—Water Conservation

Lecture: Understanding and conserving what could become the greatest restraint on development

Readings:

Find more articles collected on our topic page, Water Efficiency.

Week 8—Energy Conservation and Efficiency

Lecture: Green building begins with energy savings.

Readings:

Find more articles collected on our topic page, Energy Efficiency. 

Week 9—Renewable Energy

Lecture: After reducing our demand, considering our energy supply

Find more articles collected on our topic page, Net-Zero Energy and Renewables.

Week 10—Buildings and Health

Lecture: An unhealthy building cannot be a green building.

Readings:

Week 11—Buildings and Wellness

Lecture: A healthy indoor environment extends beyond concerns about toxic chemicals and pathogens.

Readings:

Find more articles collected on our topic page, Wellness in Buildings.

Week 12—Materials and Resources

Lecture: Understanding the environmental impacts of what goes into our buildings

Readings:

Find more articles collected on our topic page: Material Selection

Week 13—Material Health

Lecture: Understanding the health impacts of what goes into our buildings

Readings:

Find more articles collected on our topic pages: Material Transparency, Avoiding Toxic Chemicals, Indoor Air Quality.

Week 14—Building Durability

Lecture: Longer-lasting buildings are greener buildings.

Readings:

Find more articles collected on our topic pages: Building Envelope, Moisture Management, Existing Buildings.

Week 15—Looking Ahead – Climate Adaptation

Lecture: Today’s buildings must be adaptable to an uncertain future.

Readings:

Find more articles collected on our topic page, Resilient Design.

Week 16 – Wrap-up

      Lecture: Course review

Readings: 

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