A Balanced View of Sustainability in Civil Engineering and Construction: Fid-Bau Portal

A Balanced View of Sustainability in Civil Engineering and Construction

Klotz, Leidy / Grant, Denise

The concept of sustainability is taking a more prominent role in civil engineering and construction curricula all over the world. Sustainability has environmental, economic and social dimensions; however, there is a tendency for the social dimension to receive less focus than the other two. Certainly, with their technical backgrounds and training, the majority of civil engineering and construction students are better prepared to understand and contribute to the environmental and economic dimensions of sustainability. Yet, an understanding of all dimensions is necessary to provide optimal, sustainable solutions to technical problems. The research described in this paper assesses the evolution of students' understanding of sustainability based on the Global Reporting Initiative's Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. Understanding of sustainability is assessed at the beginning and end of a Sustainable Construction course. In addition, students in the course perform one of two types of class projects; a case-study learning project, and a project with a service learning component. Comparing the results between students performing each project type will provide insight into each project type's effectiveness in developing students' understanding of sustainability. This research will reveal the understanding of sustainability inherent in a select group of Civil Engineering students. The research will also describe the progression of this understanding during a Sustainable Construction course and during problem-based and service-learning type projects.