Sustainable Built Environment

The courses are delivered by faculty members from the NUS College of Design and Environment

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

Be equipped with the skills and knowledge required for policy officers in the Built Environment sector on Sustainability for the Built Environment.

OBJECTIVES

  • Develop an understanding and appreciation of international and local developments in sustainability landscape and innovative/cutting edge technologies
    Develop an understanding of embodied and operational carbon, with a particular focus on ACMV systems and building energy performance
    Explore various adaptation and mitigation strategies aimed towards building decarbonization
    Develop an understanding and appreciation of carbon management & Carbon Impact Modelling
    Develop an understanding of smart buildings and smart facilities management
    Develop an understanding of Green Financing 

DURATION

4 courses spanning 8 days; refer to the course details below.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

  • Policy officers involved in urban planning, engineering, building design and/or facilities management.
  • Policy officers new to the agency or job role, and would like an introduction to sustainability-related topics/disciplines for the Built Environment.

PRE-REQUISITES

Bachelor's Degree or Diploma holders in Engineering, Science, or Technology, or Bachelor's degree in Architecture preferred. For Diploma holders, relevant work experience will be required.

COURSE CO-LEADS

Chandra Sekhar Professor Chandra SEKHAR
Programme Director, MSc (Building Performance and Sustainability), Department of the Built Environment, NUS College of Design and Engineering

Prof Chandra Sekhar, Fellow ASHRAE & ISIAQ, is currently a Professor and Programme Director (MSc-Building Performance and Sustainability) and co-director (Centre for Integrated Building Energy and Sustainability in the Tropics) in the Department of the Built Environment at the National University of Singapore. His research interests include thermal comfort, ventilation and IAQ, airborne infection control, energy efficient HVAC systems and building energy analysis. He is an ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer, Associate Editor of ASHRAE STBE research journal and Editorial Board Member of Energy and Buildings & Building and Environment journals.
Prof-Michael-Chew-1
 Professor CHEW Yit Lin, Michael
Head, Department of the Built Environment, NUS College of Design and Engineering

Prof Michael Chew graduated from the University of New South Wales with B. Building (Hons) in 1986. He then graduated from the University of Sydney with a Master of Engineering Science (Structural Engineering). He completed his PhD at the University of New South Wales in Fire Science on the use of thermoluminescence in the assessment of fire-damaged concrete and masonry in 1990.

His research areas include Building Systems and Diagnostics, Maintainability of Buildings, Fire Technology and Façade Technology. Among the modules he teaches are Construction Technology, Maintainability of Facilities, Green Facilities Management and Fire Technology. His recent textbooks include "Construction Technology for Tall Building - 5th Edition", (World Scientific, 2018), “Design for Maintainability – Benchmarks for Quality Buildings”, (World Scientific, 2018) and "Maintainability of Facilities – Green FM for Building Professionals 2nd Edition" (World Scientific, 2016).

COURSE DETAILS

Course 1: Sustainability Landscape and the Built Environment Course

Duration: 2 days

Course Fee: $2,100 per participant (before GST)

Next run date: 13-14 May 2024

Venue: On-campus, NUS

This course introduces participants to Nature-based Climate Solutions and Adaptation measures that can be incorporated in planning and design, to adapt to the effects of climate change.

At the end of the course, participants will:

  • Gain a broad overview of climate science, global warming, the value of mangroves, and forests as carbon sinks.
  • Understand the impact of climate change on Singapore & the risks we face.
  • Understand Singapore’s commitments, carbon tax changes, international carbon tax trends, potential future application of carbon tax to the built environment industry.
  • Appreciate Singapore’s approach to sustainable development vis-à-vis the global context, understand the synergies and interdependencies between various aspects of sustainability.
  • Be aware of other cities' sustainable development plans and key learning points that are relevant to the Singapore context.
  • Be aware of the common sustainability ideas being discussed and know the current assessment on applicability in Singapore, so that officers do not buy into the hype of green washing.
  • Gain an appreciation of risk and decision making under uncertainty.

Course 2: Embodied Carbon and Life Cycle Assessment

Course Duration: 2 days

Course Fee: $2,100 per participant (before GST)

Next run date: 13-14 May 2024

Venue: On-campus, NUS

This course introduces participants to the fundamental concepts of low carbon construction materials – Circular Economy and Industrial Ecology. What they are, common understanding, and the relationship between Circular Economy and Life Cycle Assessment.

At the end of the course, participants will:

  • Develop a knowledge base of green construction methods and materials.
  • Understand how embodied carbon might affect the way we assess rejuvenation and conservation.
  • Understand how life cycle assessment can be used to evaluate and select environmentally superior materials, and apply the relevant principles to reduce embodied carbon.
  • Gain knowledge on Carbon Capture & Sequestration, and Nature-based solutions such as carbon capture in soil/plants/trees.
  • Know how to calculate the carbon impact.
  • Understand and apply carbon calculation methodologies to account for the life cycle of building and infrastructure.
  • Be aware of the types of carbon calculators and what goes into the development of carbon calculators for collection of baseline info for embodied carbon.
  • Understand how carbon credits work and their limitations.

Course 3: Operational Carbon and Smart Facilities Management

Course Duration: 3 days

Course Fee: $3,150 per participant (before GST)

Next run date: 15-17 May 2024

Venue: On-campus, NUS

This course introduces participants to Operational Carbon and Smart Facilities Management.

At the end of the course, participants will:

  • Understand the principles, considerations and criteria for sustainable design and maintainability, with green facilities management in mind throughout the life cycle of a facility.
  • Gain knowledge of possible ideas that save energy or generate renewable energy, the efficiencies and suitability for deployment locally.
  • Understand how renewable energy sources such as solar PV technology can be integrated with buildings and the Built Environment, how the energy generated can be integrated with the grid and stored, the viabilities of different energy storage technologies and the required supporting infrastructure.
  • Learn state-of-the art techniques, equipment and innovation trends for sustainable operations – how they can be incorporated in the design for new buildings, and deployed in existing buildings to reduce carbon emissions.
  • Gain an appreciation of energy auditing, measurement and verification, as well as energy management.
  • Understand the attributes of a smart buildings.
  • Understand the Building Automation System.
  • Understand Data science for the built environment.
  • Understand Smart Facilities Management

Course 4: Green Finance for the Built Environment

Course Duration: 1 day

Course Fee: $1,050 per participant (before GST)

Next run date:26 April 2024

Venue: On-campus, NUS

This course introduces participants to the integration of financial models with the environmental and social performance of green buildings.

At the end of the course, participants will:

  • Be able to bring economic value capture from sustainability initiatives.
  • Be able to highlight the carbon impact and attract investor/private sector financing interest in agencies’ sustainable development projects.
  • Understand how sustainability will be transformed from a cost item to a revenue item Understand the use of carbon shadow pricing in public sector CBA analysis for sustainability projects.

 

SPEAK TO US

If you would like to find out more about the NUS Sustainable Built Environment, please email us at sgprogrammes@nus.edu.sg.

DATE

Please refer to course dates for individual courses above

DURATION

9.00am to 5.30pm
(Daily)

VENUE

National University of Singapore
 
07 January 2024