Introducing Sustainability into Civil Engineering Undergraduate Curriculum Kenneth R. Leitch1, Ph.D., PE, M.ASCE; Byungik Chang2 Ph.D., PE, M.ASCE; and Christy Brian, SM.ASCE3 1
Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering and Computer Science, Box 60767, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, TX 79016-0001; Tel.: 806.651.5257;
[email protected] 2 Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering and Computer Science, Box 60767, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, TX 79016-0001; Tel.: 806.651.5257;
[email protected] 3 Student, School of Engineering and Computer Science, Box 60767, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, TX 79016-0001; Tel.: 806.651.5257;
[email protected] ABSTRACT As part of the process of gaining knowledge in sustainable construction practices, Drs. Leitch and Chang and West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) civil engineering student Christy Brian spent the summer of 2012 learning the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Associate certification material and associated standards. LEED is the primary sustainable construction specification used in the United States and is published and promoted by the US Green Building Council (USGBC, www.usgbc.org). The authors plan to implement elements of the LEED specification across the engineering curriculum at WTAMU. Sustainability is specifically addressed in the ASCE and NSPE Code of Ethics as well as in ABET Program Outcome 3c. This paper will discuss the process of studying for the LEED exam and curricular implementations at WTAMU. BACKGROUND The undergraduate civil engineering program officially launched in Fall 2010 at WTAMU, a member university in the Texas A&M system. The new program joins established programs in engineering technology and mechanical engineering. WTAMU is the primary university located in the 26-county Texas Panhandle region and also enrolls significant numbers of students from nearby states such as New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Colorado. The university has approximately 8,000 students of which over 500 are in the School of Engineering and Computer Science. The new civil engineering program has over 40 declared upper classmen (juniors and seniors) with the first graduates anticipated in 2013. As part of the mission of the ASCE to build the quality of life, students in the civil engineering program are exposed to all of the major subareas of study (construction, geotechnical, structural, environmental, transportation, and water
resources) with an emphasis on theoretical and practical applications, ethical professional behavior, sustainability, and life-long learning. In particular, the ASCE states specifically in the first canon of their code of ethics that “engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public and shall strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development in the performance of their professional duties.” (ASCE, 2012) The incorporation of the term sustainable development occurred in 1997. Similarly, ABET incorporates the term sustainability into engineering program outcomes (ABET, 2012). Also, other engineering societies such as NSPE and ASME have incorporated the term sustainability into their respective codes of ethics. Many of the readers of this paper will have heard of sustainability, but may be unfamiliar with what this term entails. There are many definitions but one recurring theme is that sustainability refers to the ability of the people of the present to maintain a high quality of living while also ensuring that future generations will also be able to maintain a relatively high quality of living as well indefinitely into the future. Practically what this refers to is that the people, businesses, and governmental organizations of today will need to examine their actions in regard to production and consumption of goods and services, infrastructure, water and energy usage, and endof-service life such that those actions maximize the quality of life and economic growth while minimizing degradation to the natural environment. WHAT IS LEED? Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a voluntary specification that strives to make construction projects more sustainable through their projected service lives and eventual dismantling and removal. It is an integrative approach that involves architects, engineers, contractors, owners, citizens, and other parties that have an active stake in the construction, operation, and usage of constructed facilities. The LEED criteria and study materials are developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC). Since 1998, the USGBC has actively promoted the LEED specifications to the construction industry. The USGBC also created an independent entity, the Green Building Construction Institute (GBCI) to administer LEED examinations and certification maintenance for individuals (LEED Green Associate and LEED Accredited Professionals). GBCI is also responsible for the actual certification of LEED construction projects. The latest LEED specifications at the time of this writing are from 2009. These encompass building design and construction, interior design and construction, building operations and maintenance, neighborhood development, and home design and construction. The 2009 specifications introduced a 100-point scale with up to ten bonus points. The base 100 points are derived from five main categories: sustainable 2
sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor air quality. The two bonus categories for up to ten additional points are related to innovations in design and for regional priorities. Based on the LEED requirements, a score card is developed with the following certifications awarded by GBCI upon registration and approval: certified (40 – 49 points), silver (50 – 59 points), gold (60 – 79 points), and platinum (80 or more points) (USGBC, 2012). INCORPORATING SUSTAINABILITY INTO CURRICULUM Dr. Leitch secured a curriculum development grant for summer 2012 to learn about the LEED criteria and determine how to implement it in the civil engineering curriculum. Student Christy Brian worked with Dr. Leitch to develop a series of modules to introduce sustainability into the curriculum and to study for the LEED Green Associate exam. Dr. Chang is the director of WTAMU’s Alternative Energy Institute which partners with the School of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) to instruct coursework on alternative energy (i.e. wind, solar, biomass) and promote sustainable energy generation in Texas. Several civil engineering programs in the United States are incorporating elements of sustainability across their curriculum, with a few examples noted here. A review by Ahn, et. al (2008) and Cottrell and Cho (2009) listed several major universities incorporating elements of sustainability into civil engineering curriculum including Pennsylvania State, the University of Florida, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, the University of Colorado, and Virginia Tech. Many other universities have also committed to instructing sustainability. Instructors at Lamar University (Koehn, et. al, 2010) write about using Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center in Orange, Texas (the first Platinum certified project in Texas) as a teaching tool. Since 2000, the Oregon Institute of Technology (Callaway and St. Clair, 2008) has implemented a three-term sequence in senior civil engineering design that emphasizes sustainability by using the LEED criteria. George Mason University (deMonsabert and Miller, 2009) uses the LEED Neighborhood Development criteria for its senior design project to address all major subareas of civil engineering. In 2012, Sattler et. al at the University of Texas at Arlington addressed integrating sustainability across the civil, mechanical, and industrial engineering curriculum including a multidisciplinary senior design experience to design a biodiesel production facility. At WTAMU, the incorporation of sustainability into the curriculum begins with buy-in from civil engineering faculty with a commitment to emphasize its link to all aspects of the discipline. As such, faculty need information and training that helps them see the benefit of sustainability as incorporated into the traditional civil engineering subareas. In the first phase of implementation, Dr. Leitch has committed to training by studying for and passing the LEED Green Associate examination 3
(August 2012), the first of the two-level examination certification. (The second level is specific to each of the major LEED discipline specific specifications: building design and construction, interior design and construction, building operations and maintenance, neighborhood development, and home design and construction). Civil engineering student Christy Brian and civil engineering faculty member Dr. Chang have also studied the LEED Green Associate examination material (USGBC, 2009) and plan to take the examination in the near future. In the second phase, Ms. Brian and Dr. Leitch worked together in the summer of 2012 to build a series of 50-minute presentation modules for four targeted courses: Fundamentals of Engineering, Introduction to Environmental Engineering, Transportation Engineering, and Civil Engineering Senior Design. The courses represent a freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior level course to ensure that each level is reinforced with the concept of sustainability through the curriculum. In addition, the required Engineering Ethics course also has a module on environmental and sustainability issues. The third phase of implementation involves learning the LEED score card rating system. Three senior level civil engineering students have been working with Dr. Leitch during the Fall 2012 semester to produce the LEED score card for two buildings on the WTAMU campus. One structure is a remodel (the Engineering and Computer Science Building) and the other structure is the newly constructed Centennial Hall, a campus dormitory structure. The fourth planned phase is the implementation of elements of LEED into the upcoming Civil Engineering Senior Design course in 2013. Likely, the senior design project will be a land development project with elements of all major subareas of civil engineering. The three students involved in phase three will be part of that cohort, which will total approximately seven to eight students in total. These students will be the very first group to take Civil Engineering Senior Design at WTAMU. CONCLUSIONS Sustainability is a major issue for all engineers, but especially for civil engineers, as they are responsible for the design, construction, and maintenance of infrastructure necessarily for a high standard of living and for the economic growth of the United States. Major engineering societies and accreditation bodies recognize the importance of sustainability. As such, civil engineering programs are beginning to incorporate elements of sustainability across the curriculum. The LEED criteria provide a market-driven mechanism for recognizing innovations in construction that promote sustainable practices. Since 1998, over 43,000 projects in the USA have been certified (more than 50,000 total worldwide), 4
according to the USGBC database (2012). Furthermore, the US federal government’s US General Services Administration (GSA) has been directed by Executive Orders in 2007 and 2009 to utilize LEED criteria for federal construction projects. Many states and cities are also implementing incentives for applying LEED strategies in public projects. A review of the database also shows the private corporations and individuals are having their projects LEED certified as well. WTAMU is taking the necessary steps to improve knowledge of sustainability concepts as well as providing the opportunity to allow students to prepare for the LEED Green Associate examination. By taking integrating sustainability into the curriculum (freshman level up through senior design), students will fulfill the requirements of ABET outcomes and supporting the ASCE Code of Ethics while also improving their skill set and marketability upon graduation. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors acknowledge the generous provision of the WTAMU Summer Faculty Development grant that made this study possible. REFERENCES ABET (2012). “General Criteria: Student Outcomes.” (13 Dec 2012). Ahn, Y. et al. (2008). “Integrated sustainable construction: A course in construction for students in the USA.” Proceedings of the 2008 annual conference of the American Society for Engineering Education, Pittsburgh, PA. ASCE (2012). “Code of ethics.” (13 Dec 2012). ASME (2012). “Code of ethics of engineers.” (13 Dec 2012). Callaway, E. and St. Clair, S. (2008). “Sustainable research and design in a civil engineering senior design course.” Proceedings of the 2008 annual conference of the American Society for Engineering Education, Pittsburgh, PA. Cottrell, D. and Cho, C-S. (2009). “A preliminary survey of engineering ethics courses nationwide.” Proceedings of the 2008 annual conference of the American Society for Engineering Education, Austin, TX. deMonsabert, S. and Miller, L. (2009). “Greening the capstone.” Proceedings of the 2008 annual conference of the American Society for Engineering Education, Austin, TX. GSA (2012). “Sustainable design.” (13 Dec 2012). 5
Koehn, E. et al. (2010). “Shangri La: A LEED platinum project.” Proceedings of the 2008 annual conference of the American Society for Engineering Education, Louisville, KY. NSPE (2012). “Code of ethics.” (13 Dec 2012). Sattler, M. et al. (2012). “Integrating sustainability across the curriculum: Engineering sustainable engineers.” Proceedings of the 2008 annual conference of the American Society for Engineering Education, San Antonio, TX. USGBC (2009). LEED Green Associate study guide. US Green Building Council. Washington, DC. USGBC (2012). “LEED projects and case studies directory.” (13 Dec 2012).
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