Year 1
AP102
Sustainable Built Environment Studio I: Minimal Impact Development
6 pts
In this subject, students are presented with a design problem that allows them to apply practices learnt in the previous semester in TP102B - Design Processes and provides them with a direct context for discourses and practices being learnt in TP102 - Sustainability and the Built Environment. Students will be presented with a case study for a maintenance facility and ranger’s cottage within a national park in order to highlight specific issues related to interactions between the natural and built environment. This provides a scenario for the analysis of more specific environmental discourse such as sustainable development. A range of discursive practices in the cultural contexts will be explored and tested. The subject includes an overnight excursion to a national park such as the Grampians National Park to visit the Brambuk cultural centre and to visit an existing ranger’s cottage and maintenance facility.
CCS101
Communication & Discourse In The Built Environment
6 pts
This subject introduces the communication and information literacy skills needed for professionals and consultants in design and construction, while simultaneously addressing the academic skills that students will need to pursue their studies in this field. The notion of discourse and methods of analysis will be introduced in the context of facilitating communication between the various stakeholders in the built environment. Students will be guided through an investigation of how environmental issues are framed and communicated, and the way in which participants in different discourses have varied perceptions and interpretations of environmental challenges – thus communicating them differently. The various environmental discourses and their respective audiences will be identified: clients, the community, professional colleagues, government, managers, contractors etc; and their communicative needs will be considered. Students will explore a number of different strategies for effective communication with these different groups and individuals, covering the oral, written and graphic methods used within the different discourses. Students will develop basic literacy in the varying environmental discourses, recognising the information associated with them, as well as skills in how to locate, evaluate, and use the information effectively. While the emphasis in this subject is on the implications for communication of the varying discourses, students will develop greater proficiency in environmental discourses themselves, and their methods of analysis in the concurrent subject TP101 Sustainability and the Natural Environment.
CCS102
Environmental Discourses & Social Responsibility
6 pts
Building on their understanding of discourse and methods of analysis learnt in the prerequisite subjects, this subject introduces students to cultural contexts, situational contexts, genres and roles of discourse participants in the practice of environmental design and construction discourse. Starting with an overview of the different discourses that exist in contemporary society, it looks at the impact on environmental ethics and social responsibility. Case studies will be presented for class discussion and students will work in teams to apply these to work-based scenarios. Teaching methods will encourage clarity and the ability to engage in discursive practices both inside and outside the design profession.
TP101A
Sustainability & The Natural Environment
6 pts
This subject addresses the evolution of discourses concerning the natural environment and the conflict between its conservation and its role as a resource. Questions will be posed such as: What is sustainability? Why it is important in today’s world? What is the place of humankind in the natural world?
The complexity of the relationships between different aspects of the environment will be articulated through an exploration of fundamental knowledge of environmental systems and processes. Students will be guided in the technique of reflecting critically on underlying assumptions, shifting values and alternative perspectives in order to reach an understanding of ecological versus economic issues, and of how political and legal paradigms need to be considered in decision-making processes.
TP101B
Design Processes
6 pts
Theories and discourses of design are introduced within a problem-based learning situational context through case studies and site visits. The practice of design will be developed through small-scale charettes. The situational problems will introduce students to a range of design proposal perspectives. Different practices will be applied to address different issues. These will include: brainstorming; locating, defining and analysing component parts of a design problem; and developing concept and mind maps. Students will display innovation by generating resources, processes and strategies to develop good design practice in the environment. The final phase brings solutions together through synthesis, reflection and presentation to others, with development of on-going criteria to be applied in the charette projects.
TP102
Sustainability & The Built Environment
6 pts
This subject begins by looking at what defines the built environment and how it is produced through discourse. Based on topics covered in TP101A - Sustainability and the Natural Environment, this subject explores how the practices of the built environment affect the natural environment and how these practices and impacts are discursively framed within discourse. The interactions between the built and natural environments are presented in a discursive context and students will seek to understand how the implementation of practices in environmental discourse within the built environment can become an agent of transformation. Once an understanding of the multiple perspectives of the built environment is established, the way in which practices in environmental discourses can be a defining factor in the principal phases of design, construction and post-occupancy will be discussed.
The integration of environmental discourses in the built environment takes place when texts and practices of these discourses are adopted into the practices of discourses within design and construction. The inclusion of energy efficiency measures in the Building Code of Australia is an example of this. For ‘Best Practice’ in building to be realised, it is important that practitioners consider and implement texts, technologies and practices of environmental discourses, such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), green material procurement, energy efficiency measures, minimisation of waste and use of resources, and practices of transparency, good governance and meaningful community engagement.
Life cycle inventory process maps of natural and industrial supply chains will be considered. These aspects will be directly applied in AP102 – Sustainable Built Environment Studio 1.
TS101
Information & Communication Technologies In The Built Environment
6 pts
This subject gives an overview of the use of information and computer technology in the built environment from modelling systems to technical documentation and design presentation. Rather than train students to use specific programs, the subject will familiarise them with different software and look at the discourses behind the various mechanisms within the cultural and situational contexts of current, pending and over-the-horizon technologies. Questions of integrated use, interfaces and transfer of different and inter-operable data formats for virtual building will also be covered. By encouraging a flexibility of approaches, students will be best equipped to apply their skills and knowledge in a number of workplace contexts. Students will investigate how these technologies transform practices and discourses. The theory of life cycle thinking and assessment will be introduced with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)/Design CASE studies.
TS102
Materials & Construction Technology
6 pts
Materials and Construction Technology introduces students to the construction process and the materials that make up the built environment. It focuses on green building materials and construction methods. Students will be brought to understand how environmental performance measures on the sourcing of materials can become an integral part of the built environment. The subject will investigate certification schemes and how materials are being assessed against environmental performance indicators, and how these are produced and interpreted. Issues such as life cycle assessment and post-occupancy evaluation will also be covered.
Year 2
AP201
Sustainable Built Environment Studio Ii: Greenfields Development
6 pts
In this subject, students are presented with a design problem that allows them to apply methods and techniques learnt in the previous semester in AP102 - Sustainable Built Environment Studio I: Minimal Impact Development and the cultural and situational contexts relating to environmental discourses covered in TP201 - Discourses of Environmental Design and TS201 – Construction Technologies and Processes. Students will be presented with case studies of sustainable settlements in order to highlight specific issues related to greenfields housing developments and the interactions between the urban, peri-urban and rural environments. This provides a scenario for the analysis of social and environmental issues at suburban, peri-urban and rural scales such as: transport, waste and water management, alternative energies, local food production and community building. A range of solutions will be explored and tested. The subject includes day-long field trips to more ‘traditional’ housing developments, as well as those which have implemented the practices which have evolved within the various environmental discourses.
AP202
Sustainable Built Environment Studio Iii: Greyfields Development
6 pts
This studio provides a project-based learning framework for the application of green design principles and neighbourhood planning strategies in the contexts of an existing urban environment and building conversion on a local scale. It will test where new knowledge and discursive practices are transforming current approaches to design and construction and will equip students with the capacity to demonstrate awareness of where these changes emanate from. It will also examine policy making processes and their implementation within existing urban and suburban contexts. Students will be given an overview of relevant zoning and planning laws regarding new uses and re-zoning within the framework for urban consolidation strategies. Case studies will provide subject matter for evaluation at both the individual building and local neighbourhood scale. The consequences of improving environmental performance in the context of local council will also be discussed, with preliminary integration of community-based processes such as multi-stakeholderism and productive decision-making learnt in the concurrent subject CCS202 - Community Governance and Sustainable Development.
CCS201
Professional Interactions For Sustainability In The Built Environment
6 pts
This subject focuses on multi-sectoral issues in the governance of built environment projects. It aims to give students a grounding in the emergent discourse practice of environmental social governance (ESG) associated with the built environment, particularly:
- Changing practices of corporate governance and their influence on public and/or private client relationships;
- Communication strategies focussing on teamwork, collaboration and shared decision-making between groups and discourse coalitions;
- Engaging professional groups in the discourse practices of environment and building (e.g. investors, financiers, developers, construction companies and architects);
- Facilitating the involvement of other civic and public sectors in discourse practices of environment and building (e.g. community groups, government agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders);
- Implementing practices of environmental and building discourses in the workplace and in dealings with built environment professionals, clients, multiple stakeholders and the wider community through behaviour change and social-environmental problem-solving.
Students will explore conceptions of environmental social governance, organisational responsibility and transparency in private to public/civic relationships, and implementing business practices in line with environmental discourses and their relationship to the maintenance of social capital and community capacity. Through discussion and group work, students will gain an understanding of the professional and social issues and perspectives that emerge in day-to-day business-client-community interactions.
CCS202
Community Governance & Sustainable Development
6 pts
In this subject, students are presented with a design problem that allows them to apply methods and techniques learnt in the previous semester in AP102 - Sustainable Built Environment Studio I: Minimal Impact Development and the cultural and situational contexts relating to environmental discourses covered in TP201 - Discourses of Environmental Design and TS201 – Construction Technologies and Processes. Students will be presented with case studies of sustainable settlements in order to highlight specific issues related to greenfields housing developments and the interactions between the urban, peri-urban and rural environments. This provides a scenario for the analysis of social and environmental issues at suburban, peri-urban and rural scales such as: transport, waste and water management, alternative energies, local food production and community building. A range of solutions will be explored and tested. The subject includes day-long field trips to more ‘traditional’ housing developments, as well as those which have implemented the practices which have evolved within the various environmental discourses.
TP201
Discourses Of Environmental Design
6 pts
The practice of environmental design has been used in architecture for centuries until mechanisation and the universal availability of cheap energy supplied by fossil fuels resulted in these practices no longer being applied. The increasing importance being placed on environmental discourses, such as global warming and resource scarcity, has led to a revival of these practices in architectural design. This subject takes a historical approach and looks at the application of underlying principles and practices, such as the use of green materials, siting in relation to environmental context, layout of vegetation and planting, passive design in heating and cooling, natural ventilation, incorporation of renewable resources and innovative environmental control systems in contemporary architecture. It also covers particular environmental discourses, such as Arcology, Bio-mimicry, Permaculture and Positive Development.
TP202
Discourses Of Urban Sustainability
6 pts
This subject looks at the social, historical and economic discourses, practices and ideologies that have led to the dramatic increase in the size of cities in Australia and around the world over the last 100 years. The subject will look at how planning approaches and methodologies can address the negative influence on natural environments and resources due to urban growth and unplanned regional infrastructures. Aspects of Urban Consolidation and Urban Growth Management will form the majority of the knowledge base to be directly applied in AP202 – Sustainable Built Environments Studio III: Greyfields Development.
TS201
Construction Technologies & Processes
6 pts
Building on the introductory issues covered in TS102 - Materials and Construction Technology, this subject looks more closely at how buildings are constructed and focuses more on their structural requirements. Criteria derived from the environmental discourses influencing and transforming the built environment introduced in TP101A - Sustainability in the Natural Environment will be used to guide the evaluation and choice of structural systems and materials, rather than more traditional methods guided by cost, appropriateness to function and aesthetics. Issues such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Post-Occupancy Evaluation will be further elaborated upon. Life Cycle Assessment of different products will be considered. An evaluation of ‘frontloading’ sustainability, and the use of green and virtual modelling tools, including Life Cycle Assessment, will also be undertaken. Skills acquired are expected to be applied in AP201 Sustainable Built Environment Studio II: Greenfields Development.
TS202
Geographic Information Systems For Sustainable Development
6 pts
This subject deals with the technical, practical and theoretical aspects of organising data into a Geographic Information System (GIS) enabling data construction, mapping, planning and spatial analysis. Students will acquire knowledge of how GIS is used in increasing the environmental performance of development, e.g. urban growth and development. It combines an overview of field techniques and tools with technology-based interpretation of images from aerial and satellite sources.
Theoretical components cover different types of field data collection, landscape and related social data collection, elements of land management legislation and cadastral systems. Practical aspects include the use of the latest electronic data collection equipment on the ground combined with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing and satellite images. Students will be equipped with the skills to critically assess available data resources, and utilise a variety of field data collection techniques in the correct co-ordinate reference system in order to apply different combinations in a variety of cultural and situational contexts, including environmental impact assessments and site response strategies.
Year 3
CCS301
Sustainability & Culture Change
6 pts
This subject builds on the concepts learnt in the four preceding contextual and communication studies strand subjects, examining the integrated way in which stakeholders and the built environment interact to develop a cultural context of environmental building practices. It then develops the skills students will need to act as change agents to assist stakeholders to develop a new workplace cultural context.
Students will be introduced to the discourse of the ecological footprint caused by the built environment. They will generate practices to reduce this from the discourses of the main stakeholders, including regulators, and for different building types. Aspects such as energy, transport, water, waste, materials and food will be examined.
Transformations of cultural context, including management changes, will be introduced, together with transforming communities and creating ongoing approaches for improving practices.
Students’ understanding of the discourse of urban sustainability will be further developed through examining the interdependency of the building with its neighbourhood. The discourse of a green lease will be introduced and students will visit an office where a tenant is using one to instil a sustainable built environment cultural context.
Students will investigate user guides texts for occupants that explain what building strategies have been implemented to reduce resource use and lower pollution during operation and for refit. Each group will develop an outline of a user guide text for newly completed low-carbon buildings. Case studies will be presented for class discussion and students will work in teams to apply work-based scenarios. Teaching methods will encourage clear communication, dispute settlement, ethical and social responsibilities, and will take into account the major stakeholder perspectives, both inside and outside the design professional discourses.
EDRE301A
Environmental Assessment Of Buildings
6 pts
This subject introduces students to quality management and assessment frameworks and explains how they are relevant to the design, construction and post-occupancy performance of buildings with a specific view to improving environmental performance. It covers an overview of relevant ‘Environmental’ and ‘Quality Management Systems’, including auditing and assessment methods. The subject will introduce students to the relevant Australian, New Zealand and international standards that apply to ‘Quality Management Systems’ in architectural and engineering design practices. It also references the specific Australian standards that cover mechanical and electrical services and specific building products utilised throughout the various stages of the design and construction processes, to assist an organisation to achieve its environmental performance goals. The subject will also introduce students to the development, maintenance and use of Environmental and Quality Management systems to assure and ensure project outcomes meet specifications and client requirements.
EDRE301B
Implementation & Life-Cycle Management Of Ecologically Sustainable Design
6 pts
This subject looks at how the discursive and social practices of environmentally sustainable design (ESD) can be applied to building services in terms of design, implementation, retrofitting and life-cycle management in existing, non-residential buildings. Students will also consider the discourses from where these practices have emerged and current transformations taking place.
The unit looks at how these practices seek maximum efficiency from active building services, including lighting and HVAC systems, as well as investigating how passive systems of daylighting, natural ventilation and mixed mode systems are designed, implemented, maintained and improved throughout the life-cycle of the building.
The control of indoor environmental quality and occupant comfort through passive and active building systems such as: displacement ventilation; evaporative cooling; radiant cooling; solar heating and cooling systems will be considered in relation to converting existing buildings to feature passive approaches over the medium term. Maintaining a high level of indoor environmental quality are the ongoing maintenance strategies for the building’s services, fixtures and fittings and because of this, these will also be considered.
Building Operational Control Systems will be considered as an integral part of delivering high levels of thermal comfort and indoor environmental quality. In particular the advantages and disadvantages of Individual occupant versus computer control systems will be explored.
The monitoring of building performance in-use, and post-occupancy evaluation (POE) will be explored as essential tools for gaining an understanding of building environmental performance and occupant amenity. The information gained from these tools can be used to assist in ‘re-lifing’ assets and for carbon reporting on embodied impacts already invested in the base building.
EDRE301C
Advanced Ecologically Sustainable Design Approaches
6 pts
This subject focuses on advanced and innovative techniques and practices for the design of built environments with improved environmental performance, the sustainable retro-fitting of buildings and urban consolidation.
The subject provides exposure to and knowledge of advanced strategies in the discourse of Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD), building on the knowledge of building and environmental issues learnt in the first two years of the course. Students will undertake assignments to gain practical experience in the application of advanced ESD strategies, through complex, integrated design problem solving exercises.
The subject builds on the fundamental ESD principles learnt in TP201 - Principles of Environmental Design and TP202 - Sustainable Landscape Design Principles, furthering design problem solving skills and technical knowledge of design strategies from these subjects.
The subject also introduces the discursive practice of carbon modelling and the creation of the carbon footprints metaphor for the purpose of assessing built environment projects.
ESR301A
Ecologically Sustainable Development, Land Use And Design
6 pts
This subject covers the essentials of land use planning, energy and the discourses underlying urban and non-urban design. Students will undertake tasks ranging from discursive classification of specific sites through to a full analysis of existing sites and evaluation of alternative or competing land use proposals such as: demolition, refurbishment or maintaining the status quo.
Performance-based approaches and different methods for achieving compliance will be examined through methods, such as comparative analysis and verification. This builds on concepts of urban planning theory learnt in TP202 –Discourses of Urban Sustainability such as centrist and linear models, and options testing and scenario building to optimise land use choices. Studies will consider a range of scales from rural town redevelopment to large metropolitan settings. Emphasis will be placed on how to achieve satisfactory outcomes with respect to the discourse of environmentally sustainable development discourse and how conflicts with other market discourses may impinge on achieving the performance outcomes of projects. Acquiring these skills will enable students to undertake simple then gradually more complex analysis of this discourse, which will then be applied to specific tasks. Consideration will be made of different issues arising when rating shell and fit-out construction, refurbishment, restoration and change of use.
ESR301B
Legislating For Sustainability
6 pts
This subject aims to provide students with an understanding of legislation governing the development of land in Victoria. Students will examine the way in which planning, heritage and environmental policy objectives are implemented in legislation and what alternative means of implementation may be.
The subject commences with an overview of Australian legal discourse and then moves on to explore the development of planning, heritage and environmental legislation and the influence of this legislation in transforming the practices of design and construction. Building on knowledge gained in TP202 Discourses of Urban Sustainability, students will consider the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the basis of land use and development controls in Victoria.
The second part of the subject focuses more on the impact and assessment of particular development case studies and critically analyses existing legislation and what will need to change and adapt to deal with integration of environmental discourses into design and construction.
ESR301C
Applied Universal Design
6 pts
Universal Design is a collaborative concept encompassing an holistic approach to better, barrier-free design for all architectural, urban design and landscape contexts in order to allow access for the widest possible range of abilities. The subject begins with the premise that Universal Design be a positive and primary consideration and not an optional add-on. Students will critically analyse the discourse of Universal Design, and its assurances of requiring low physical effort for the user and how it aims to provide adequate sizes and spaces for the building. The discursive practices of Universal Design include: equitable and flexible use, simple and intuitive use, provision of perceptible and legible information through a range of modes and provision of safety through the minimisation of hazards and errors. Students will analyse how this discourse can guide the design process both for new buildings and for innovative approaches to the adaptation of existing ones, including facilities assessment and evaluation processes.