Updated Oct 2009

Established for over twenty five years, the MSc in Environmental Design and Engineering (EDE) is one of the oldest in the United Kingdom dealing with environmental issues associated with buildings. As well as providing a sound training in the fundamentals of environmental design, the course currently deals with today’s critical issues of CO2 emissions and pollution from the fossil fuel consumed by buildings, and the impact of these on occupant health and the environment.

The course is interdisciplinary in all its aspects and is structured as a set of eight inter-related and integrated modules, with allowance to take 1/8 (one module) of the taught element from optional modules offered within the EDE curriculum or one from outside the EDE curriculum. Students also complete a 10,000 word self-directed, but supervised, research report/dissertation. Students on the course generally have a range of specialist built environmental skills and are taught together in an interactive way. Joint course work, including two major low-energy architectural design projects, is carried out by students in multidisciplinary teams. The course is designed for professional people in early or mid-career who wish to expand their interest in the environmental, energy and health issues associated with buildings as a means of developing their careers; as well as for recent graduates with building industry or environment-related degrees who wish to train further before entering their chosen professions. The course encourages an international mix of students, of all ages, from a variety of backgrounds.

The MSc Environmental Design and Engineering is an approved postgraduate course of the CIBSE (The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers). CIBSE states that "those who hold an accredited degree but who started their course in 1999 or after can meet the academic requirements for CEng registration by completing a period of further study." The MSc Environmental Design and Engineering is approved by CIBSE for further postgraduate study, but note that the course in itself is not a sufficient qualification for chartered engineer registration.

Detailed course information can be found on the main course web page,

http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/web/ben/ede/

an overview can be found below. Other reasons for taking the MSc Environmental Design and Engineering can be found by clicking

http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/web/ben/ede/ede_pop_BC.htm

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Course Aims

The MSc Environmental Design and Engineering aims to improve the energy, health and environmental performance of new and existing buildings, through the co-education of people who are, or will become, building industry professionals involved in the design, construction and operation of buildings.

Course Delivery

The course can be taken full-time over 12 months, or part-time over 24 or more months. The taught element of the course is delivered on two days per week over the first two terms. Full-time students attend both days, while part-time students, if taking the course over 24 months, attend one day a week over the first two terms. Part-time attendance for the taught element is less if the course is taken over a longer period.

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Assessment

All MSc students following the Environmental Design and Engineering course must successfully complete and pass 120 approved credits, plus the EDE Report, to obtain the MSc Built Environment: Environmental Design and Engineering. Students following the Postgraduate Diploma Built Environment: Environmental Design and Engineering must complete and pass 120 approved credits, but do not undertake the EDE Report.

These 120 approved credits must contain at least 105 credits from the EDE course curriculum (the core modules of the course). Students must obtain in advance the approval of both the Course Director and the relevant module Director to take any other modules.

Students must pass the course work and examinations, if set, in each module at the 50% level for the MSc and the Diploma. The course work set within each module (report, review, calculation, seminar presentation, design project, etc) varies from exercise to exercise and from year to year. The assessment is weighted according to the importance and workload of each piece of work to be carried out.

Curriculum

Compulsory Core Modules

Built Environment: the Energy Context BENVGEE1
This module deals with the motivation for implementing energy efficiency on an international, national and individual basis in the context of the building industry, government legislation and environmental issues. It also considers how renewable technologies can assist with the reduction of CO2 emissions.
Credits 15
Assessment: Course work and written examination
Term One

Health and Comfort in Buildings BENVGEE2
This module deals with the health and comfort of occupants of buildings, and considers the cause, alleviation and possible cure of unhealthy buildings.
Credits 15
Assessment: Course work
Term One

Building Solar Design BENVGEE3
The potential for solar heating and cooling in buildings, incorporating both active and passive systems, is investigated in this module. The role that new glazing technology can play in the design of buildings and the practical problems of designing glazed spaces are also reviewed.
Credits 15
Assessment: Course work and written examination
Term Two

Natural and Mechanical Ventilation of Buildings BENVGEE4
This module considers the passive and active ventilation of buildings from the viewpoint of reducing building energy consumption at the same time as maintaining a healthy internal environment. The design aspects of natural ventilation and of air supply systems are also considered.
Credits 15
Assessment Course work and written examination
Term One

The Lit Environment BENVGEE5
This module is a targeted overview of lighting issues relevant to environmental designers. Illumination engineering tools and the characteristics of light sources (daylight, lamps and luminaires) are considered in parallel with the human response to lighting to dliever integrated lighting design strategies for complex environments.
Credits 15
Assessment: Course work
Term One

Efficient Building Services Systems BENVGEE6
This module deals with the energy implications of the selection and control of the heating and cooling systems in buildings. It considers the role of condensing boilers, heat pumps, CHP and absorption chilling, as well as conventional HVAC plant, in the consumption of energy in buildings.
Credits 15
Assessment: Course work
Term Two

Methods of Environmental Analysis BENVGEE7
This module deals with the principles and practice of building environmental analysis and the methods of assessing the environmental performance of existing and proposed buildings and their attendant services.
Credits 15
Assessment Course work
Term Two


Optional Module

Energy Management and the Control of Noise BENVGEE8
The first part of this module considers the theory and practice of managing facilities to minimise the use of energy while maintaining an appropriate internal environment. The second part considers the fundamentals of sound and room acoustics and the basic methods of the control of unwanted noise.
Credits 15
Assessment: Course work
Term Two

Field Trip
As part of the course, students go on a residential visit over a long weekend to the Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth in North Wales. The visit involves project work and visits to nearby sites of environmental interest.


EDE Report BENVGBE1
Students following the MSc Environmental Design and Engineering are required to submit a 10,000 word Report. The topic of the report, which is supervised by a member of the Bartlett staff, is selected by the student and agreed with the Course Director and can be taken from a wide range of subjects related to the main themes of the course. The student may select the topic to assist career development or because of its inherent interest.

Credits 60
Assessment Report
Term Three and summer vacation

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Research

Current research actively informs teaching as staff are all involved in research or consultancy in the areas in which they teach. Environment@Bartlett, an interdisciplinary organisation involving many Bartlett specialists, has a multi-million pound turnover in research and consultancy projects, and course content is kept very much up-to-date through case material collected from many of these projects. As part of the course students are taken, where appropriate, to conferences and exhibitions in the London area and beyond, and the latest published building exemplars are always considered in applications teaching.

Career Opportunities

Most students who complete the course move into, or continue in, a building-related profession, such as architecture, low-energy design consultancy, or building services engineering, usually with promotion following shortly afterwards. As the awareness of global environmental issues increases, the demand for people with expertise in the health and energy performance of buildings is expanding rapidly. A number of students have used the MSc as a foundation for MPhil/PhD research. A higher degree opens doors to academic careers and industrial research.

As the design, construction, commissioning and operation of buildings becomes more sophisticated, there is a necessity for specialists within the profession. By specialising within the increasingly important field of environmental and energy performance, the career prospects of students with the MSc EDE have never looked better. See this page for some details on our growing network of ex-students EDEComm pages

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Staff

Course Director Ben Croxford BSc PhD His main interests involve air pollution monitoring, and housing and health. He is currently involved in several projects investigating environmental quality of life in cities, see www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/web/ben/ for more details.

Professor Tadj Oreszczyn BSc PhD CEng MInstE MCIBSE is Director of Environmental Design and Engineering Studies at the Bartlett and is currently Director of the UCL Energy Institute. He is interested in a wide range of energy and health related issues in buildings, for example, government and industry-funded research into mould growth, house dust mites and air quality and energy use in museums and conservatories.

Professor Mike Davies BSc PhD is a building physicist. His research interests lie in the provision of healthy and comfortable environments with minimum energy use, including appropriate ventilation and indoor air quality. He is also interested in methods of improving modelling capabilities.

Dejan Mumovic Dip l Ing MSc PhD CEng MCIBSR is a Lecturer in Environmental Design and Engineering. He joined the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies in 2003 as a Research Fellow shortly after completing his PhD and until recently was a holder of a prestigious RCUK Academic Fellowship.

Peter Raynham BSc MSc CEng MILE MCIBSE MSLL is the Lighting Education Trust Lecturer responsible for Bartlett research into the interfaces to lighting visualisation software and urban lighting strategies. He has edited the Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) Guide to Lighting Calculations and the SLL Code for Lighting.

Professor Bob Lowe MA.Cantab PhD, Professor of Energy and Building Science
Ian Ridley BEng PhD
Alex Summerfield BSc PhD
Alan Young BSc PhD CEng MCIBSE retired as course director in September 2007.

For enquiries and application information please contact:

Graduate Clerk
The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies
University College London
(1-19 Torrington Place site)
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
tel: +44 (0) 20 7679 1738
fax: +44 (0) 20 7679 2837
e-mail: bartlett.pgclerk@ucl.ac.uk

Link to Bartlett Graduate Admissions
Link to UCL Application Form
Link to UCL Information for Prospective Graduate Students
Link to Scholarships

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