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Sustainability in Construction
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MOOC
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Operations management deals with operational planning and control issues, and is needed in all sectors of the society. One of the challenges to operations manager is how to make use of the available resources in the best way for meeting a certain objective. Quantitative approaches are inevitably needed in tackling many of such problems. Operations Research (OR) deals with problem formulation and application of analytical methods to assist in decision-making of operational problems in planning and control. The techniques of OR are useful quantitative tools to assist operations managers, and has a wide applicability in engineering, manufacturing, construction, financial and various service sectors. Operations Research is an applied mathematics subject and is also a course in many engineering and management programmes. This course is designed for both students learning OR and learners who are practitioners in their respective professionals. The mathematical procedures for the OR techniques are introduced in details in the examples provided in the course. This helps learners to master the methodology and the techniques and apply them to achieve their goals through active learning. This course introduces two prominent OR techniques and their extended topics. The Simplex Method for Linear Programming (LP) has been considered one of the top 10 algorithms of the 20th century. LP is an optimization technique for solving problems such as finding the optimal product mix, production plan, and shipment allocation, in order to maximize the profir or minimize the cost. The Critical Path Method (CPM) is a popular technique employed by project managers in scheduling project activities. Some extended topics of CPM are also introduced to deal with certain special situations in project management. In reality, many systems operate under stochastic environment and the operational problems cannot be solved by the known analytical methods. To this end, the simulation approach is introduced in the last chapter of this course. Simulation is a powerful technique for tackling OR problems under such situations.
- Subjects:
- Statistics and Research Methods
- Keywords:
- Operations research
- Resource Type:
- MOOC
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MOOC
How can we strengthen sustainability? By empowering individuals and communities to transform and balance dynamic natural resources, economic prosperity, and healthy populations. In this course, you’ll explore productive and disruptive social, ecological, and economic intersections – the “triple bottom line.” You’ll investigate a spectrum of global, national, regional, municipal and personal relationships that are increasing resiliency. Most importantly, you’ll learn how to effectively locate your interests, and to leverage optimistic change within emerging 21st century urban environments. This course will describe fundamental paradigm shifts that are shaping sustainability. These include connectivity, diversity, citizen engagement, collaboration source tracing, mapping, transportation, and integrative, regenerative design. We will take examples from cities around the globe; making particular use of the complex evolution of site-specific conditions within the Connecticut River watershed. In addition we will present tools and strategies that can be utilized by individuals, communities, and corporations to orchestrate effective and collective change. Each week, lessons will highlight the significance of clean water as a key indication of ecosystem, community and human health. Learners will be asked to investigate and share information about their local environment. Finally, we will note the impact of such disruptive forces as industrial pollution, changing governance, privatization of public services, mining of natural resources, public awareness, and climate change. A fundamental course goal will be to characterize indicators of economic prosperity and happiness that relate to environmental sustainability – and the capacity of individuals to create change.
- Subjects:
- Environmental Engineering, Building Services Engineering, and Building and Real Estate
- Keywords:
- Urban ecology (Sociology) Sustainable development
- Resource Type:
- MOOC
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MOOC
Meeting growing global energy demand, while mitigating climate change and environmental impacts, requires a large-scale transition to clean, sustainable energy systems. Students and professionals around the world must prepare for careers in this future energy landscape, gaining relevant skills and knowledge to expedite the transformation in industry, government and nongovernmental organizations, academia, and nonprofits. The building sector represents a large percentage of overall energy consumption, and contributes 40% of the carbon emissions driving climate change. Yet buildings also offer opportunities for substantial, economical energy efficiency gains. From retrofit projects to new construction, buildings require a context-specific design process that integrates efficiency strategies and technologies. In this course, you'll be introduced to a range of technologies and analysis techniques for designing comfortable, resource-efficient buildings. The primary focus of this course is the study of the thermal and luminous behavior of buildings. You'll examine the basic scientific principles underlying these phenomena, and use computer-aided design software and climate data to explore the role light and energy can play in shaping architecture. These efficiency design elements are critical to the larger challenge of producing energy for a growing population while reducing carbon emissions.
- Subjects:
- Environmental Engineering, Building Services Engineering, and Building and Real Estate
- Keywords:
- Buildings -- Energy conservation Sustainable architecture Sustainable buildings -- Design construction
- Resource Type:
- MOOC
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MOOC
The building industry is exploding with data sources that impact the energy performance of the built environment and health and well-being of occupants. Spreadsheets just don’t cut it anymore as the sole analytics tool for professionals in this field. Participating in mainstream data science courses might provide skills such as programming and statistics, however the applied context to buildings is missing, which is the most important part for beginners. This course focuses on the development of data science skills for professionals specifically in the built environment sector. It targets architects, engineers, construction and facilities managers with little or no previous programming experience. An introduction to data science skills is given in the context of the building life cycle phases. Participants will use large, open data sets from the design, construction, and operations of buildings to learn and practice data science techniques. Essentially this course is designed to add new tools and skills to supplement spreadsheets. Major technical topics include data loading, processing, visualization, and basic machine learning using the Python programming language, the Pandas data analytics and sci-kit learn machine learning libraries, and the web-based Colaboratory environment. In addition, the course will provide numerous learning paths for various built environment-related tasks to facilitate further growth.
- Subjects:
- Computing, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
- Keywords:
- Python (Computer program language) City planning -- Statistical methods Information visualization
- Resource Type:
- MOOC
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MOOC
Building construction is one of the most waste producing sectors. In the European Union, construction alone accounts for approximately 30% of the raw material input. In addition, the different life-cycle stages of buildings, from construction to end-of-life, cause a significant environmental impact related to energy consumption, waste generation and direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. The Circular Economy model offers guidelines and principles for promoting more sustainable building construction and reducing the impact on our environment. If you are interested in taking your first steps in transitioning to a more sustainable manner of construction, then this course is for you! In this course you will become familiar with circularity as a systemic, multi-disciplinary approach, concerned with the different scale, from material to product, building, city, and region. Some aspects of circularity that will be included in this course are maximizing reuse and recycle levels by closing the material loops. You will also learn how the Circular Economy can help to realign business incentives in supply chains, and how consumers can be engaged and contribute to the transition through new business models enabling circular design, reuse, repair, remanufacturing and recycling of building components. In addition, you will learn how architecture and urban design can be adapted according to the principles of the Circular Economy and ensure that construction is more sustainable. You will also learn from case studies how companies already profitably incorporate this new theory into the design, construction and operation of the built environment.
- Subjects:
- Building and Real Estate
- Keywords:
- Construction industry -- Environmental aspects Building materials -- Recycling Sustainable construction
- Resource Type:
- MOOC
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MOOC
Responsive cities define the future of urbanization. They evolve from smart cities, with a fundamental difference: The citizens move from the center of attention to the center of action. Responsive citizens use smart technology to contribute to planning, design and management of their cities. Responsive cities are about bringing cities back to their citizens. Responsive cities change the way the technology of a smart city is used. The first Smart Cities were technology driven and they produced large amounts of data from fixed or centrally controlled sensors. But by now, the citizens and their mobile phones have taken the leading role in direct data generation. Rather than using data that are centrally collected and stored, you will see platforms on which the citizens place the data and the information they decide to share. With this, your own responsibility becomes a foundation of a Responsive City. Cities evolve from being smart to being responsive. To demonstrate the potential of Responsive Cities, this course will define the concept of Citizen Design Science, a combination of Citizen Design, Citizen Science and Design Science. Experts, citizens and scientists participate in Citizen Design Science. This approach is still in an early stage of development, but with the Responsive Cities Massive Open Online Course, you will be ahead in exploring and defining its possibilities. ‘Responsive cities’ is the fourth edition of the ‘Future Cities’ series on urban MOOCs. The ‘Future Cities’ series is the first and complete series of urban courses dealing with the design, management and transformation of cities for their sustainable and resilient future. With every edition, the series becomes more interactive. It increasingly empowers citizens around the world to become part of the development of their own cities, especially in those places where this knowledge is needed most. Therefore, the course is inclusive for every individual interested in the planning, construction, redevelopment and management of future cities. The course is open to anyone regardless of background, skills, knowledge, or age.
- Subjects:
- Building Services Engineering and Building and Real Estate
- Keywords:
- Smart cities Sustainable development Cities towns -- Effect of technological innovations on City planning
- Resource Type:
- MOOC