With over thirty courses available, the Sustainable Design Institute offers the largest range and number of sustainable design courses available at any accredited college or university today. The strength of the sustainable design program is evidenced by the fact that many courses are accepted for AIA Sustainable Design / Health, Safety, Welfare Learning Units, all courses qualify for GBCI CE hours, and all are accepted by the Royal Institute of British Architects for Continuing Professional Development.
- Summer 2012
- Fall 2012
- Spring 2013
- All Classes
Summer Session
Fall 2012 Session 01
- TM7379 Environmental Systems
- TM7428 Green Practice: Energy and Air Quality Principles
- TM7318 Green Residential Remodeling and Renovation
- TM7319 Green Roofs/Green Walls
- TM7158 Introduction to the International Green Construction Code
- TM7235 Multiple Urbanisms: Divergence or Synergy
- TM7415 Site Design, Landscaping and Site-Water Issues
- TM7314 Solar Energy: Design with the Sun
- TM7810 Sustainable Design and Building Information Modeling (BIM)
- HT7520 Sustainable Design as a Way of Thinking
- TM7715 Sustainable Design in Practice
- TM7154 The Economics of Green Building
- TM7242 The Urgent and Hopeful Future of Sustainable Design
Fall 2012 Session 02
- TM7515 Building Envelope
- TM7472 Daylighting and State-of-the-Art Electric Lighting
- TM7379 Energy Modeling in Building Design
- TM7570 Environmental Systems
- TM7374 Getting the Green Building You Want: Construction Management
- TM7247 Global Perspectives on Sustainable Design
- TM7428 Green Practice: Energy and Air Quality Principles
- TM7376 Greening Existing Buildings
- TM7377 Greening the City
- TM7445 Materials, Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality
- HT7520 Sustainable Design as a Way of Thinking
- TM7378 Sustainable Neighborhoods
- TM7317 The Zero Energy Home: What, How and If
Spring 2013 Session 01
- TM7570 Environment Systems
- TM7428 Green Practice: Energy and Air Quality Principles
- TM7318 Green Residential Remodeling and Reconstruction
- TM7319 Green Roofs/Green Walls
- TM7233 Learning from Sustainable Design through History
- TM7349 Life Cycle Assessment of Building Materials
- TM7373 Residential Energy Modeling
- TM7603 Sustainable Communities: Land Use, Transportation and Planning
- TM7241 Sustainable Design and Preservation
- HT7520 Sustainable Design as a Way of Thinking
- TM7278 Sustainable Design of Healthcare Facilities
- TM7601 Sustainable Transportation
- TM7242 The Urgent and Hopeful Future of Sustainable Design
Spring 2013 Session 02
- TM7515 Building Envelope
- TM7472 Daylighting and State-of-the-Art Electric Lighting
- TM7570 Environmental Systems
- TM7247 Global Perspectives on Sustainable Design
- TM7428 Green Practice: Energy and Air Quality Principles
- TM7376 Greening Existing Buildings
- TM7377 Greening the City
- TM7710 High Performance Design and the LEED Rating System
- TM7445 Materials, Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality
- TM7314 Solar Energy: Design with the Sun
- HT7520 Sustainable Design as a Way of Thinking
- TM7378 Sustainable Neighborhoods
- TM7317 The Zero Energy Home: What, How and If
Building Envelope
It is the building enclosure where many sustainable design intentions find their physical expression. Here, as well, is where the majority of legal claims against designers find their expression. The building enclosure has three major assemblies-foundation, walls, and roof- each with as many as 10 (or more) components.... More
Daylighting & the State of the Art Electric Lighting
This course will examine the techniques and benefits of daylighting in terms of occupants' well being and productivity, potential improvements in energy efficiency, and its effects on building form. For daylighting, the relative advantages and disadvantages of toplighting versus sidelighting and the best approaches to the... More
Energy Modeling in Building Design
With the development of increasingly sophisticated software, energy modeling has become an integral part of commercial & institutional building design. Making energy performance a manipulable element at the earliest stages of building design is essential to sustainable building design. This course will provide an overview... More
Environmental Systems I: HVAC
Designed as a follow-up course to Energy and Air Quality Principles, this course covers environmental systems fundamentals, HVAC system types, ventilation requirements, demand-controlled and energy recovery ventilation, underfloor-air systems, air distribution, fuel choices, understanding energy efficiency, zero-energy... More
Getting the Green Building You Want
The plans and specifications for your green building have been completed, a contract has been awarded and now you are ready to implement the documents. Are you ready for the reality that all the careful planning and foresight will require more finesse and oversight during construction? The current methods of construction... More
Global Perspectives On Sustainable Design
It didn't all start with LEED. Efforts to reconcile the demands of the contemporary built environment with the demands of the natural world and finite resources have been going on around the world for at least the last fifty years -in some places they have been going on for millenia. For at least the last thirty years,... More
Green Practice: Energy & Air Quality
The concept of an environmentally conscious building should take into account energy consumption, the quality of indoor air, and most importantly human comfort. Indigenous strategies that adapt to the rigors of the local climate and contemporary bioclimatic architecture are part of this introductory course to sustainable... More
Green Residential Remod & Renovation
While designing new green homes has been the focus of many organizations and practitioners over the last twenty years, most people live in existing homes built before our current interest in efficient resource use and healthy indoor environments. These homes need to be addressed. This course will examine the options... More
Green Roofs/Green Walls
Among the green elements which have come into use over the last twenty years to soften the impacts of buildings on the environment are green roofs. More recently this concept has been extended to vertical surfaces with the use of green walls, both interior and exterior. Both of these elements have potential and both come... More
Greening Existing Buildings
The existing building stock is here and much of it is responsible for consuming energy, water and other resources at an unsustainable rate from both the environmental and the economic standpoints. Focusing on non-residential buildings, this course will examine the issues, techniques and processes that are involved in... More
Greening the City
That cities have the potential to be the most sustainable form of human development is coming to be widely recognized, as is the fact that most cities have a long way to go to realize that potential. Progress is being made, however, in terms of improvements to infrastructure and the building stock, innovative... More
HIgh Performance Design & the LEED Rating System
High performance design is changing the way buildings are built and the way design and construction professionals work. The US Green Building Council developed the LEED Rating System as a tool to promote and propagate high performance building design; LEED has become the dominant green building rating system in the US and... More
Learning From Sustainable Design Through History
This course will explore the evolution of green practices in architecture as expressed in buildings over time. Sustainable building is not new to architecture. Our buildings have been sustainable over time, by connecting to nature, using local resources, using climate and geographical relationships. Each time period has... More
Life Cycle Assessment Of Building Materials
This course will provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the Life Cycle Assessment of building materials, from energy associated with the harvest and manufacture of building materials to how material pricing, historical supply, and socioeconomic factors contribute to the total value of an item. Building on... More
Marketing Sustainability
This course offers an introduction to green building marketing. Students will be introduced to the current market for green buildings. Several methods for making the business case for building green will be examined. The course will introduce marketing concepts for professional service firms, including architects and... More
Materials, Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality
This course gives students the tools they need to evaluate a material based on how it impacts the built and natural environment. Since people in western cultures tend to spend most of their time indoors, specific attention will be paid to Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). Environmentally responsible materials selection... More
Residential Energy Modeling
Over the past twenty years the development of residential energy modeling software has made it possible to evaluate the energy efficiency -or profligacy- of building designs from the earliest stages of design. Using the evaluative tools provided by the modeling software, designers are able include energy efficiency with... More
Site Design Landscaping & Site-Water Issues
Structures are sustainably sited based on an assessment of site specific climatic and natural conditions. An understanding of the geologic, hydrologic, and ecosystem processes, as well as regional climate, and site-specific microclimates, are the foundations upon which sustainable planning and design are based. This course... More
Solar Energy: Design With the Sun
The interaction of buildings and sunlight is rich and complex. This course will examine the many possibilities provided by the sun to power, light and heat our buildings. These possibilities are affected by geographic location, climate, building site, and building form, orientation, fenestration and thermal mass–all of... More
Sustainable Communities: Land Use, Transportation & Planning
This course will examine how communities across the nation are grappling with such smart growth issues as affordable housing, sprawl, urban revitalization, economic development, transportation investments, and open space protection. These issues are also collectively referred to as sustainable development, growth... More
Sustainable Design & Building Information Modeling
Buildings are the largest single resource consumer in the world. The United States consumes 25% of the world's energy and the US building industry accounting for 40% of those resources. In order to solve the problem of global warming, we need to look at the AEC industry and move towards a truly sustainable building... More
Sustainable Design & Preservation
As the art and science of sensitively adapting historic buildings for continued and new uses, preservation is inherently a sustainable practice. Learn how old buildings were built with features that conserve energy and create a comfortable environment. Develop a framework for evaluating energy-saving options for... More
Sustainable Design as a Way of Thinking
This course traces the history of the sustainable design movement then introduces its primary tenets using the LEED Rating System as the organizing structure. Readings in the course are drawn largely from Environmental Building News. Online discussions are designed to acquaint the students with the language, philosophy,... More
Sustainable Design in Practice
Effective organization and design process are as essential to green design as technical knowledge. This course will address techniques for mobilizing support for sustainable building among clients, funding sources, sub-consultants and the project team. A variety of strategies will be discussed with regard to integrated... More
Sustainable Design of Healthcare Facilities
Greening healthcare projects should be a no-brainer -what building type has occupants more deserving of a healthy space? Unfortunately, when people think of healthy spaces, hospitals are often among the last to come to mind. The intense resource requirements, code constraints, programmatic requirements and institutional... More
Sustainable Neighborhoods
As appreciation grows of the importance of the sustainable built environment at the "greater-than-a-single-building" scale, much attention is now being given to greening cities and regions. Also important to this effort are the neighborhoods, those local communities where people live and work. Over the last few decades,... More
Sustainable Transportation
In the pursuit of a model that meets needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future, sustainable transportation is inextricably linked to sustainable development. Starting from a context of land-use planning, this course will examine current transportation models and their impact on our environment,... More
Economics of Green Building
From the start of the current green building movement, the issue has been surrounded by a combination of myths and supposition, based on estimates, projections and resistance to change. For the last ten years, however, it has been possible to test these assumptions by studying the actual costs and benefits of completed... More
Urgent & Hopeful Future of Sustainable Design
A review of the "cutting edge" of sustainable design including the evolution of mindset, processes and tools required for a sustainable future. Active engagement with the processes and systems of the living world yields: an understanding of wise action, the development of an aesthetic of beauty born from a unity of mind... More
The Zero Energy Home: What, How and If
Zero is simply a number, an absolute; yet it is neither positive nor negative. A Zero Energy Home is currently a goal and ever present in the media, but not yet accomplished at the level of our technical potential. We will explore the various definitions of Zero Energy and understand the implications of the term within... More
Intro: International Green Construction Code
2012 marks the publication of the new International green Construction Code (IgCC) as part of the International Code Council's "family of codes". The IgCC provides a comprehensive and flexible regulatory approach to sustainability in new construction, site development, and renovations to existing buildings. This course... More
Multiple Urbanisms:Divergence or Synergy
In recent years, numerous theories about sustainable community design and planning have emerged. New urbanism, landscape urbanism, ecological urbanism, sustainable urbanism are just a few to mention. Each one of them espouses new ideas and principles; some of them even issue manifestos. How different actually are these... More