Building engineering education

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Education in the field of Building Engineering, better known as Architectural Engineering in the United States, is the study of the integrated application of engineering principles and technology to building design and architecture. For professional practice see architectural engineering.

1 Building engineering as a discipline
2 Specializations in Building Engineering
3 Education
4 Educational institutions offering Building Engineering
- 4.1 Educational institutions in the US
- 4.2 Other Educational institutions

[edit] Building engineering as a discipline

Building engineering is an interdisciplinary engineering discipline^{[citation needed]}, better known in the US as architectural engineering, that offers a general engineering approach to the planning, design, construction, operation, renovation, and maintenance of buildings, as well as with their impacts on the surrounding environment. The discipline requires pertinent knowledge integrated from traditional well-established disciplines:

Civil engineering for building structures and foundation;
Mechanical engineering for Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning system (HVAC), and for mechanical service systems;
Physics for building science, lighting and acoustics.
Electrical engineering for power distribution, control, and electrical systems;
Chemistry and biology for indoor air quality;
Architecture for form, function, building codes and specifications;
Economics for project management.

Building engineering students are ideally trained in all phases of the life cycle of a building, and learn to appreciate buildings as an advanced technological system requiring close integration of many sub-systems and their individual components.^{[opinion needs balancing]} Technical problems and appropriate solutions are studied to improve the performance of the building in areas such as:

Energy efficiency, passive solar engineering, lighting and acoustics;
Construction management;
HVAC and control systems; Indoor air quality;
Advanced building materials; building envelope;
Earthquake resistance, wind effects on buildings, computer-aided design.

The building engineering graduate may work as a consulting engineer^{[citation needed]}, design engineer, project manager, construction manager, cost engineer, facility manager, conservation-utility director, HVAC engineer, operation manager, process engineer, or in research and development, among other career possibilities.

[edit] Specializations in Building Engineering

Building Indoor Environment covers the environmental aspects in the design, analysis and operation of energy-efficient, healthy and comfortable buildings. Fields of specialization include: thermal comfort, air quality, lighting, acoustics, HVAC and control systems.

Building Envelope is an application area which draws from all areas of building engineering, especially building science and indoor environment. It focuses on the analysis and design of building envelopes, including durability, heat and moisture transfer and interaction with the indoor environment.

Building science focuses on the analysis and control of the physical phenomena affecting the performance of building materials and building enclosure systems.

Building Structure area concerns with the principles of structural mechanics, material behavior and their applications to the analysis and design of steel, reinforced concrete and timber building structures. Fields of specialization include: wind and seismic effects on buildings.

Construction Management includes construction techniques, construction processes, planning, scheduling; project tracking and control, labor and industrial relations, and legal issues in construction.

Computer Aided Engineering is an exciting area in Engineering. Even though computers have become ubiquitous in the architecture-engineering-construction industry, their present use is mostly limited to drafting, analysis, member sizing, cost estimation, and construction management. Computers have tremendous untapped potentials in the field of Building Engineering.

Energy Efficiency is also an application area which draws from the building science and building environment areas. It includes analysis, design, and control of energy-efficient or low-energy buildings, HVAC systems, solar energy utilization and intelligent buildings.

Architecture

Construction engineering

Plumbing and piping (hydronics)

Fire protection engineering

Building power systems

Lighting

Acoustics, noise & vibration control

[edit] Education

Building engineering and Architectural engineering academic programs would normally provide an accredited academic degree. The completed degree may be designated as a Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Technology or Bachelor of Applied Science depending upon the university or institute. The length of study is between three to four years and the program consists of basics of engineering and sciences (technical drawing, engineering mechanics, mechanics of materials, thermodynamics, mathematics, computer programming, surveying), subjects in building engineering sciences (structural analysis and design, soil mechanics, building engineering systems, the aural and visual environment, building envelope design, building economics, construction management, thermal environment and building service systems). In some programmes, elective courses allow students to specialize in one or more sub-disciplines.

Graduates may pursue a postgraduate degree, such as a Master of Engineering, Master of Applied Science, an Engineer's degree, or a Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering. The Master and Engineer's degree may consist of either research, coursework or a mixture of the two. The Doctor of Philosophy consists of a significant research component and is often viewed as the entry point to academia.

Architectural engineering educational programs are accredited in the United States by ABET Inc., formerly known as the "Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology".