Overview

Our MSc Environmental Design and Engineering (MSc EDE) has been established for over 25 years and is one of the oldest in the United Kingdom. Our course is interdisciplinary in all its aspects, dealing with the environmental issues associated with buildings.

In addition to providing sound training in the fundamentals of environmental design, our course currently deals with today's critical issues of CO2 emissions, pollution from fossil fuel consumed by buildings, and occupant health. With an increasing emphasis on the most cost-effective ways to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions from buildings.

Programme objectives

Our course is designed for early to mid-career professional people who wish to expand their interest in the environmental, energy and health issues associated with buildings as a means of developing their careers. It also appeals to recent graduates with degrees related to the building industry or the environment who wish to train further before entering their chosen professions. Our course encourages an international mix of students of all ages from a variety of backgrounds.

Accreditation

Our MSc Environmental Design and Engineering course has been accredited as suitable further learning to meet the academic requirement for Chartered Engineers (Ceng) by both the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and the Energy Institute, as well as the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).

Our MSc EDE was awarded the Happold Brilliant award by CIBSE for the best accredited course in October 2010.

Further information about the course is available via the tabs on the left.

Contact details:
Teaching Programme Manager, send an email

Structure

Teaching is on Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout terms 1 and 2, with full time students taking 4 core modules in term 1, and 2 core modules in term 2. Full time students need to select two optional modules in Term 2 making sure they aren’t taught at the same time. The table below gives an overview of the course structure, activities by week can be seen by looking at the coursework schedule page, referred to at the end of this page.

For current term dates, check correct year is displayed.

For room location

We have been seeing increasing demand for highly numerate EDE graduates, so we would like all students to be competent at Excel on day 1. A good guide is for you to have completed Part 1 of the book "Data Analysis With Microsoft Excel", by Berk and Carey.

September - December term

January - March term

Optional modules

April - September term

Coursework

Coursework Schedule
Individual coursework briefs are for current students only and are within the private Atheni system. Notes on the assessment of coursework can be found here.

Exams

The course has 3 examinations which are sat in early May and represent 50% of the marks for the modules, BENVGEE1, BENVGEE3 and BENVGEE4, past papers can be found here, (requires login). The page you get to has several codes, basically the ones ending in 1 relate to EE1, ends in 3 relates to EE3, ends in 4 relates to EE4. Other past papers for other UCL exams can be found in the digital archive here.

Other events

A residential visit to the Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth, Wales will take place between Friday 2nd to Monday 5th November 2012, inclusive.

Notes

First-year part-time students take core modules BENVGEE1, BENVGEE2, BENVGEE3 and BENVGEE7 on Tuesdays, while second-year part-time students take core modules BENVGEE4, BENVGEE6 on Wednesdays. In term 2 students choose 2 from 9 optional modules or can take eligible modules from other departments. For course content see Content tab.

Content

All modules are 15 credits.

Compulsory Modules

All compulsory modules are taught on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. 

Term 1:

BENVGEE1 Built Environment: the Energy Context
Module Tutor: Professor Mike Davies
Assessment: Course work and written examination

Description: 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.

BENVGEE2 Health and Comfort in Buildings
Module Tutor: Dr Marcella Ucci
Assessment: Course work

Description: deals with the health and comfort of occupants of buildings, and considers the cause, alleviation and possible cure of unhealthy buildings.

BENVGEE4 Natural and Mechanical Ventilation of Buildings
Module Tutor: Dr Dejan Mumovic
Assessment: Group course work and written examination

Description: 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.

BENVGEE6 Efficient Building Services Systems
Module Tutor: Prof Tim Dwyer
Assessment: Course work

Description: 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, combined heat and power (CHP) and absorption chilling, as well as conventional heating ventilation air conditioning (HVAC) plant, in the consumption of energy in buildings.

Term 2:

BENVGEE3 Building Solar Design
Module Tutor: Dr Marcella Ucci /Dr Hector Altamirano-Medina
Assessment: Group course work and written examination

Description: investigates the potential for solar heating and cooling in buildings, incorporating both active and passive systems. The role that advanced glazing technology can play in the design of buildings and the practical problems of designing glazed spaces are also reviewed.

BENVGEE7 Methods of Environmental Analysis
Module Tutor: Dr Anna Mavrogianni, Stephanie Gauthier
Assessment: Course work

Description: 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.

Optional modules

Students choose 2 from 9 optional modules which all run in Term 2. All are assessed through by a single piece of coursework, except BENVGFEC which also has an exam.

Term 2:

BENVGEE8 Control of Noise
Module Tutor: TBC

Description: aims to lay the foundations for an understanding of the basic principles of room acoustics and the control of noise and then move on to more detailed appreciation of design considerations to address potential noise problems in buildings.

BENVGEE9 Social Dimensions of Sustainability
Module Tutor: Dr Gemma Moore /Henrietta Lynch

Description: explores how architectural and engineering decisions can deliver a more sustainable built form. The module focuses upon the social dimensions of design within the built environment, as there is an increasing recognition that the 'social aspects' of built projects must be considered; The module brings together a diverse set of influences (engineering, sociology, psychology, planning)

BENVGEEA Advanced Building Simulation
Module Tutor: Dr Rokia Raslan

Description: provides an opportunity for those students with a greater interest in the use of building simulation software, to explore the application and development of advanced tools. Students will learn the use of advanced simulation models which can be applied for research and to design complex applications:- Modelling of moisture and pollutants in buildings

BENVGEEB Industrial Symbiosis
Module Tutor: Dr Teresa Domenech 

Description: introduce to students relevant aspects related with the environmental management and design of industrial areas and more generally to present new approaches and tools for the greening of industry. Using the framework of industrial ecology (where wastes become inputs for new processes), aspects related with the restructuring of the industrial sector towards a more sustainable industry.

BENVGEEC Environmental Masterplanning
Module Tutor: Aurore Julien, Ian Hamilton

Description: a series of lectures on fundamental concepts of environmental masterplanning that will complement those learnt during the main MSc EDE course. Where the main MSc EDE course focuses on the individual building, this module will focus on the issues surrounding large groups of buildings. The concept of environmental masterplanning is new but already several consultancies have com.

BENVGEED Energy Systems Modelling
Module Tutor: Dr Catalina Spataru, Dr Mark Barrett

Description: focuses on the development of energy and environment scenarios, covering aspects from policy objectives, and the use of data and models to build scenarios and use them to inform policy. The series of lectures are arranged to provide core skills to students covering the key issues in this field, the staff involved are international experts.

BENVGEEE Low Energy Building Retrofit
Module Tutor: Dr Ben Croxford

Description: to go into detail about understanding the issues around retrofiitting existing homes with insulation and systems to reduce energy consumption. We use PHPP and criticise case study retrofits, hopefully incorporating a site visit. This module is mainly aimed at architects with some experience of housing projects.

BENVGFEC Environment Management and Sustainability
Module Tutor: Dr Ljiljana Marjanovic-Halburd

Description: concerned with the management of energy and other sustainability issues within the remit of the facility manager. This includes issues such as climate change compliance, carbon footprinting and environmental management accreditation schemes.

BENVGEE5 The Lit Environment
Module Tutor: Peter Raynham
Assessment: Course work

Description: 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 deliver integrated lighting design strategies for complex environments.

Dissertation

Term 3:

BENVGBE1 Environmental Design and Engineering Dissertation
Assessment: Dissertation (10,000 words)
60 credits

Description: Students following the MSc EDE programme are required to submit a 10,000 word dissertation. The topic of the dissertation, which is supervised by a member of the Bartlett staff, is selected by the student in agreement with the course director. It can be taken from a wide range of subjects related to the main themes of the course and may be selected to assist career development or because of its inherent interest. Past dissertation topics can be found here. 

Staff

All MSc EDE staff are research active and their research work can be found by clicking through on their links:

Staff teaching on the programme currently include:

Dr Ben Croxford - Course Director
Module tutor: Low Energy Housing Retrofit
View Ben's profile

Professor Michael Davies
Module tutor: Built Environment: The energy context
View Michael's profile

Dr Dejan Mumovic - Senior lecturer
Module tutor: Natural and Mechanical Ventilation of Buildings, Efficient Building Services Systems
View Dejan's profile

Dr Marcella Ucci - Lecturer
Module tutor: Building Solar Design, Health and Comfort in Buildings
View Marcella's profile 

Dr Hector Altamirano Medina - Lecturer
Module tutor: Building Solar Design
View Hector's profile

Dr Rokia Raslan - Lecturer
Module tutor: Advanced Building Simulation
View Rokia's profile

Peter Raynham - Senior lecturer
Module tutor: The Lit Environment
View Peter's profile

Stephanie Gauthier
Module tutor: Methods of Environmental Analysis
View Stephanie's profile

Dr Anna Mavrogianni - Lecturer
Module tutor: Methods of Environmental Analysis
View Anna's profile

Additional staff who teach on modules, run optional modules or run tutorials:

Professor Tadj Oreszczyn
Module tutor: Built Environment: The energy context
View Tadj's profile

Professor Bob Lowe
Module tutor: Built Environment: The energy context
View Bob's profile

Professor Paul Ekins
Module tutor:
View Paul's profile

Dr Neil Strachan - Senior lecturer
Module tutor:
View Neil's profile

Dr Gemma Moore
Module tutor: Social Dimensions of Sustainability
View Gemma's profile

Dr Teresa Domenech
Module tutor: Industrial Symbiosis
View Teresa's profile

Dr Mark Barrett - Senior Lecturer
Module tutor: Built Environment: The energy context
View Mark's profile

Dr Catalina Spataru - Researcher
Module tutor: Built Environment: The energy context
View Catalina's profile

David Trew (external with Bickerdike Allen and Partners)
Module tutor: The Control of Noise

Ian Hamilton - Researcher
Module tutor: Environmental Masterplanning
View Ian's profile

Aurore Julien
Module tutor: Environmental Masterplanning
View Aurore's profile

Ayub Pathan
Architectural tutor: Building Solar Design
View Ayub's profile

Oliver Wilton
Architectural tutor: Natural and Mechanical Ventilation of Buildings
View Oliver's profile

Carrie Behar
Architectural tutor: Natural and Mechanical Ventilation of Buildings

Craig Robertson
Architectural tutor: Natural and Mechanical Ventilation of Buildings

Other Bartlett staff are also called on, including doctoral students to supervise dissertations.

The course has links with the UCL Energy Institute and many recent graduates are current Engineering Doctorate students.

Situated in London and at UCL, the MSc EDE programme is also able to draw on a wide range of external lecturers working in industry, some of whom are graduates of the course. In a typical year students may receive lectures from around 30 such people from a range of backgrounds.

External examiners on the programme have been drawn from a wide range of internationally-renowned institutions or are well-known individuals in their own right. In recent years these have included Neil Bowman and Simos Yannas, and the current examiner is David Grierson from Strathclyde University.

Applying

Please click through to the UCL graduate prospectus page for this course, from where you can find information on application fees, eligibility, tuition fees, scholarships, and then complete the online application process.

Applicants should also review the faculty specific admissions information and the FAQ on admissions.

Opportunities

A strong alumni network meets seven or eight times annually with seminars on topics of interest by graduates in industry or UCL researchers. This is a key link for current students to gain access to buildings for their dissertations, as well as explore opportunities for internships and jobs.

Top graduates from the course are generally offered positions before the course is completed and the majority of graduates have been employed within a few months of graduating.

In recent years graduates have joined architects, engineering firms and environmental consultancies including:

• Arup
• Atkins Global
• Bere Architects
• Buro Happold
  
• EnergyExcel
• The Facility Architects
  
• PHA Consult
• Fosters and Partners
• Camco
• Passiv Systems
• XCO2 Energy

A significant number of students have chosen to continue their education with UCL carrying out PhD or EngD programmes, such as those offered by the Centre in Virtual Environments, Imaging and Visualisation (VEIV); the Centre in Urban Sustainability and Resilience (USAR); and the UCL Energy Institute.

Alumni (EDEComm)

Most recent events:

2012 October 23, 6:15pm: David C Penney, will be in the UK speaking in Central house on Carbon Monoxide, he is the author of the most important Carbon monoxide books in print, and will be speaking about latest developments in the research field around the subject of CO exposure and toxicity. His lively website is here.

2012 August 21, 6:15 - 8pm: Central house G01, Arabic speaking world focussed evening: EDEArabic: Karim Elgendy, editor of Carboun, he’s Egyptian/British and based in London writing about sustainability in the Arab speaking world

2012 August 7, 6:15 - 8pm: Central house G01, Brazil focussed evening: Ricardo Moreira, CEO of XCO2 energy and ex-EDE talking about projects in Brazil that they are involved in

See the mapping page for info on where our graduates are now.

Previous students and titles of their dissertations can be found here, this gives a good idea of the range of expertise found within the course staff team.

Past events and information

Last updated: 2012 June 26, CD