Sustainable Construction and Green Building
Low-carbon, healthy and resilient buildings from a builder's point of view: whole-life carbon, climate science and CO2e accounting, life cycle assessment to EN 15978 with embodied carbon from a bill of quantities, low-carbon concrete, steel and mass timber, envelope heat loss, heat pumps and operational carbon on eGRID subregions, the IECC, ASHRAE 90.1, stretch codes and building performance standards such as Local Law 97, the 2026 end of 179D and 45L, LEED v5 and ENERGY STAR, waste diversion and deconstruction, stormwater permits and construction emissions, indoor environmental quality and climate resilience, followed through one mid-rise housing project.
CON-430 Year 4 3 credits 12 lessons · 5 h 28 min
Offered by HSM University · Construction Management
This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.
What you'll learn
- Explain the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable construction and the builder's role in delivering them.
- Distinguish embodied, upfront, operational and whole-life carbon, and explain how the local electricity grid changes their balance.
- Convert greenhouse gas emissions to CO2e, classify building and contractor emissions into Scopes 1, 2 and 3, and account for refrigerant leakage.
- Calculate embodied carbon from a bill of quantities and emission factors using the EN 15978 and ISO 21930 life cycle modules, reporting biogenic carbon and module D correctly.
- Select and specify low-carbon concrete, steel and mass timber, and plan for their construction implications.
- Estimate envelope heat loss, energy use intensity and operational carbon, and compare heat pumps with fossil fuel systems on different grids.
- Interpret the IECC, ASHRAE 90.1, stretch codes, building performance standards such as Local Law 97 and the 2026 status of federal incentives that apply to a US project.
- Compare LEED v5, ENERGY STAR, Passive House, WELL and other programs, and manage the credits a contractor delivers.
- Plan construction waste management, calculate diversion rates and evaluate deconstruction, reuse and design for disassembly.
- Implement erosion, sediment, dust, noise and idling controls, and measure and reduce construction emissions.
- Deliver indoor environmental quality through ventilation, low-emitting materials, construction IAQ management, thermal comfort, daylight and acoustics.
- Assess climate hazards and develop a costed low-carbon, resilient strategy for a building with targets, procurement requirements and construction commitments.
Course content
12 lessons · 5 h 28 min total · final exam
- 1 Sustainability and the built environment 30 min · quiz
- 2 Climate science and building emissions for builders 27 min · quiz
- 3 Embodied carbon and life cycle assessment 29 min · quiz
- 4 Low-carbon materials: concrete, steel and mass timber 28 min · quiz
- 5 Operational energy and carbon 29 min · quiz
- 6 Energy codes and building performance standards in the US 25 min · quiz
- 7 LEED, ENERGY STAR and US programs 26 min · quiz
- 8 Waste management, deconstruction and circularity 26 min · quiz
- 9 Sustainable site practices and construction emissions 27 min · quiz
- 10 Indoor environmental quality and healthy buildings 26 min · quiz
- 11 Climate resilience and adaptation 27 min · quiz
- 12 Capstone: a low-carbon, resilient strategy for Cedar Row 28 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
Low-carbon, healthy and resilient buildings from a builder's point of view: whole-life carbon, climate science and CO2e accounting, life cycle assessment to EN 15978 with embodied carbon from a bill of quantities, low-carbon concrete, steel and mass timber, envelope heat loss, heat pumps and operational carbon on eGRID subregions, the IECC, ASHRAE 90.1, stretch codes and building performance standards such as Local Law 97, the 2026 end of 179D and 45L, LEED v5 and ENERGY STAR, waste diversion and deconstruction, stormwater permits and construction emissions, indoor environmental quality and climate resilience, followed through one mid-rise housing project.
Part of the Construction Management stream, typically taken in year 4.