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Introducing Sustainable Design Principles in Freshman Civil Engineering Design

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Conference

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Atlanta, Georgia

Publication Date

June 23, 2013

Start Date

June 23, 2013

End Date

June 26, 2013

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Sustainability and engineering education

Tagged Division

Environmental Engineering

Page Count

8

Page Numbers

23.823.1 - 23.823.8

DOI

10.18260/1-2--19837

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/19837

Download Count

478

Paper Authors

author page

Jennifer Mueller PE P.E. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

author page

John Aidoo Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

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Abstract

Introducing Sustainable Design Principles in Freshman Civil Engineering DesignAs issues dealing with sustainability are becoming more commonplace in industry, it is important forundergraduate students to become aware of how sustainability principles relate to their intendedengineering major. By introducing sustainable design principles early in their academic career, studentscan apply these principles throughout the remainder of their higher-level courses. In a freshmanintroduction to design course, a more structured strategy to teaching sustainable design wasimplemented to incorporate sustainability principles early in the civil engineering curriculum. Thepurpose at this stage in student learning was to increase students’ awareness of sustainable designthrough the introduction to sustainability concepts, such as the triple bottom line, life-cycle assessment,and carbon footprint, through discussion of concrete as a building material and case studies of buildingconstruction. Pre- and post-surveys were conducted at the beginning and end of the quarter,respectively, to assess student learning. Results confirmed an increase in student awareness andunderstanding of sustainable design concepts that were incorporated on a weekly basis throughout thecourse and how they can be relate to civil engineering projects.

Mueller, J., & Aidoo, J. (2013, June), Introducing Sustainable Design Principles in Freshman Civil Engineering Design Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--19837

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