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The construction industry is a large employer, with over 100 million people worldwide believed to depend on it. The resulting built environment accounts for nearly 50% of carbon emissions as it consumes an equal percentage of extracted, natural materials generating large quantities of landfill waste and using a vast amount of water, all valuable and increasingly scarce resources.

What you will learn

UK construction is well-placed to benefit from the opportunities presented by the global shift to a low carbon economy and green construction, but there is a continuing need to ensure investment in innovation and technology alongside increased collaboration between businesses and research institutions to enable the UK to realise this potential.

There is also scope for further progress, particularly concerning addressing evident skills shortages. The global green and sustainable building industry is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 22.8% between now and 2017 as a result of increasing low carbon regulatory requirements and greater societal demand for greener products. It seems that the market is recognising these opportunities.

Assessments Methods

Assessments used within this Programme are normally formative or summative. In the former assessment is designed to ensure students become aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Typically, such assessment will take the form of practical exercises where a more hands-on approach shows student’s ability on a range of activities.

Traditional formal time-constrained assessment is by means of tests and examinations, normally of two-hour duration. Examinations are a traditional method of verifying that the work produced is the students’ own work.

To help authenticate student coursework, some modules require that the student and lecturer negotiate the topic for assessment on an individual basis, allowing the lecturer to monitor progress.

Career Opportunities

The MSc is widely recognised as a valuable postgraduate qualification. It demonstrates the student’s ability to commit to a programme of study and develop their knowledge within that area of academic study. The programme will help develop skills which are valuable to a wide range of employers, such as the ability to analyse complex information critically, the ability to present clear and coherent arguments and the ability to present complex information in a clear manner.

Such an education will develop an awareness of the interconnectedness of the built environment, and equip the student with a qualification relevant to a number of different vocational situations. The flexibility of the modular programme enables students to develop packages of study which satisfy specialist interests and career aspirations in the built environment.