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Sustainability in Construction
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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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Courseware
The discipline of structural geology studies the architecture of the solid Earth and other planets. Rock deformation patterns are exciting features beacause of their aesthetic beauty and their economic interest to man. Knowledge of the subsurface structure is vital for the success of a variety of engineering and mineral exploration pograms. A thorough understanding of rock structures is essential for strategic planning in the petroleum and mining industry, in construction operations, in waste disposal surveys and for water exploration. Deformation structures in the country rock are important further for locallizing hazard zones, such as potential rockslide masses, ground subsidence, and seismic faults. Research activities concentrate on rock defomation structures in he shallow continental crust.
- Subjects:
- Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics
- Keywords:
- Geology Structural Map reading Maps
- Resource Type:
- Courseware
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Courseware
Life in the city relies on the smooth operation of urban logistics. Everything from retail to services, construction to waste collection rely on an efficient and reliable freight transport system. However, with the increasing pressures of urbanization, this has to be balanced with the environmental and social impacts caused by transport activity. This is the challenge of City Logistics, a field of study that has significant practical implications for the world and the cities we live in. It is not merely a question of what is involved, but what can be done about urban freight transport to improve it for the sake of economic efficiency, quality of life, and sustainability. From a systematic scientific foundation of the field, this course will take you on a journey to learn how city logistics is understood and practiced in cities around the world. Our instructors, members of a renowned global expert network, will teach you the basics of this highly complex social system. Using their experience in real-world projects, they will illustrate how the knowledge learnt in this course is applied across industry and the public sector. This course caters primarily to university students or professionals working in urban transport infrastructure planning or logistics management. Whether you are simply curious about the topic or you intend to develop a career in these fields, this course will give you the tools you need to understand the complexities of urban freight transport systems. The course emphasizes the theoretical foundation, the rigorous evaluation, and a multi-disciplinary approach to this complex area. Course participants will benefit from numerous case studies of best practice in selected cities around the world, in a variety of business settings. Our emphasis on the global perspective is particularly relevant, since an understanding of local culture and political climate is an important factor in the success of any city logistics intervention. The course will provide an avenue for students to learn from their peers about the challenges faced in their respective cities, and how to apply the principles learned to the challenges faced in their own cities.
- Subjects:
- Transportation
- Keywords:
- Freight freightage Transportation -- Environmental aspects Sustainable development Urban transportation
- Resource Type:
- Courseware
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Courseware
Did you know that cities take up less than 3% of the earth’s land surface, but more than 50% of the world’s population live in them? And, cities generate more than 70% of the global emissions? Large cities and their hinterlands (jointly called metropolitan regions) greatly contribute to global urbanization and sustainability challenges, yet are also key to resolving these same challenges. If you are interested in the challenges of the 21st century metropolitan regions and how these can be solved from within the city and by its inhabitants, then this Sustainable Urban Development course is for you! There are no simple solutions to these grand challenges! Rather the challenges cities face today require a holistic, systemic and transdisciplinary approach that spans different fields of expertise and disciplines such as urban planning, urban design, urban engineering, systems analysis, policy making, social sciences and entrepreneurship. This MOOC is all about this integration of different fields of knowledge within the metropolitan context. The course is set up in a unique matrix format that lets you pursue your line of interest along a specific metropolitan challenge or a specific theme. Because we are all part of the challenges as well as the solutions, we encourage you to participate actively! You will have the opportunity to explore the living conditions in your own city and compare your living environment with that of the global community. You will discover possible solutions for your city’s challenges and what it takes to implement these solutions. Your participation will also contribute to wider research into metropolitan regions as complex systems. We invite you to take the first steps in understanding the principles that will be essential to transform metropolitan regions into just, prosperous and sustainable places to live in!
- Subjects:
- Environmental Engineering, Building Services Engineering, and Building and Real Estate
- Keywords:
- Sustainable urban development City planning
- Resource Type:
- Courseware
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Courseware
Products and equipment all around us are made of materials: look around you and you will see phones, computers, cars, and buildings. We face challenges in securing the supply of materials and the impact this has on the planet. Innovative product design can help us find solutions to these challenges. This course will explore new ways of designing products. The design of products is an important aspect of a circular economy. The circular economy approach addresses material supply challenges by keeping materials in use much longer and eventually returning materials for new use. The principle is that waste must be minimized. Products will be designed to last longer. They will be easier to Reuse, Repair, and Remanufacture. The product will eventually be broken down and Recycled. This is Design for R and is the focus of this course. Experts from leading European universities and research organizations will explain the latest strategies in product design. Current design approaches lead to waste, loss of value and loss of resources. You will learn about the innovative ways in which companies are creating value, whilst securing their supply chains, by integrating Design for R. This course is suitable for all learners who have an interest in product design, innovative engineering, new business activity, entrepreneurship, sustainability, circular economy and everyone who thinks that the current way we do things today needs a radical rethink.
- Subjects:
- Environmental Engineering
- Keywords:
- Engineering design Industrial management -- Environmental aspects Sustainable design Remanufacturing
- Resource Type:
- Courseware
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Courseware
Around the world, major challenges of our time such as population growth and climate change are being addressed in cities. Here, citizens play an important role amidst governments, companies, NGOs and researchers in creating social, technological and political innovations for achieving sustainability. Citizens can be co-creators of sustainable cities when they engage in city politics or in the design of the urban environment and its technologies and infrastructure. In addition, citizens influence and are influenced by the technologies and systems that they use every day. Sustainability is thus a result of the interplay between technology, policy and people’s daily lives. Understanding this interplay is essential for creating sustainable cities. In this MOOC, we zoom in on Amsterdam, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, Nairobi, Kampala and Suzhou as living labs for exploring the dynamics of co-creation for sustainable cities worldwide. We will address topics such as participative democracy and legitimacy, ICTs and big data, infrastructure and technology, and SMART technologies in daily life. This global scope will be used to illustrate why specific forms of co-creation are preferred in specific urban contexts. Moreover, we will investigate and compare these cities on three themes that have a vast effect on city life: - Water and waste - Energy, air, food and mobility - Green spaces and food This MOOC will teach you about the dynamics of co-creation and the key principles of citizens interacting with service providing companies, technology and infrastructure developers, policy makers and researchers. You will gain an understanding of major types of co-creation and their interdependency with their socio-technical and political contexts. You will become equipped to indicate how you can use co-creation to develop innovative technologies, policy arrangements or social practices for a sustainable city in your own community. You will demonstrate this by developing an action plan, research proposal or project idea. Basic knowledge of sustainability in urban settings, urban environmental technology and urban management is assumed.
- Subjects:
- Environmental Engineering, Building Services Engineering, and Building and Real Estate
- Keywords:
- Sustainable development Sustainable development -- Citizen participation City planning
- Resource Type:
- Courseware
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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
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Courseware
The principles of rock mechanics explains the fundamental concepts of continuum mechanics and rheology as applied in studies of rock deformation. A thorough understanding of rock behavior is essential for strategic planning in the petroleum and mining industry, in construction operation, and in locating subsurface repositories. The formation of geological structures or rock deformation patterns, studied by geodynamicists and tectonicians, is, also governed by the mechanical principles outlined in this textbook. The aim of the present book is obvious: to inspire a new generation of positively forward-thinking geoscientists and engineers, skillful in and favorable to the practical application of mechanics to rock structures.
- Subjects:
- Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics
- Keywords:
- Rock deformation Rock mechanics
- Resource Type:
- Courseware
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Video
This video shows how simple reinforcement is used to prevent collapse of rock tunnels. Tunnels play an important role in our constructed environment as passageways for mines, conveyance for utilities, and routes for transportation. Rock bolts are a type of reinforcement for stabilizing rock excavations, usually made from steel bars or bolts. This simple construction method dramatically reduces the cost of making tunnels through rock safe from collapse.
- Subjects:
- Structural Engineering
- Keywords:
- Underground construction Rock bolts Tunneling Tunnels
- Resource Type:
- Video