Students are learning about sustainable campus design at many institutions around the world, each limited to their respective universities, countries, and climate zones.
This COIL connects students and faculty from institutions in multiple countries and climate zones to think outside the box. Instructors and associated professionals from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Switzerland (HSLU), the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and the University of Florida (UF)in the United States, and SENAI CIMATEC in Brazil present their respective best practices, which are then jointly evaluated, presented, and discussed by students from all institutions.
Students and faculty thus develop an understanding and appreciation of sustainability approaches and issues in various social, environmental, and economic aspects. This, along with the experience gained from intercultural online collaboration, are valuable and future-oriented assets in professional and personal development. MS Teams is exclusively used for the collaboration, where dedicated tasks and templates will be prepared.
Programme
The COIL starts with the following presentations from faculty and associated professionals.
September 27th:
- "Sustainable Communities – Green Buildings”, by John McCaskill, University of Texas at Dallas
- "BIM for Sustainable Planning”, by Bruna Bitencourt Costa
- "Green Building Strategies (LEED LAB)”, by Assoc. Prof. Bahar Armaghani, University of Florida
- "Colored Photovoltaics for sustainable buildings in Switzerland”, by Stephen Wittkopf, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts
October 4th:
- "Campus SENAI CIMATEC Sertão», by Bruna Bitencourt Costa
- “Campus of University of Florida”, by Assoc. Prof. Bahar Armaghani, University of Florida
- “Campus of the University of Texas at Dallas”, by Gary Cocke, Dallas
- “Sustainability Assessment (DGNB) of the Suurstoffi Areal in Rotkreuz, Switzerland”, by Eleonora Di Floriano, ZugEstates, Switzerland
All presentations will be recorded and made available.
Thereafter, students from each institution select one sustainability criterion from the list below:
- Energy and Photovoltaics
- Indoor Air Quality and Site
- Material and Resources
- Water and Transportation
- Building Information Modelling
Students with the same criteria form a group and work together at self-determined times during the month of October. They analyze how this criterion is taken into account in the presented campus projects and submit their results as a 6–8-minute “criterion” video. The video is a recording of a Teams meeting where they jointly present and record their PowerPoint presentation. With five criterion, there will be five of such criterion videos to be recorded by November 3rd.
Thereafter, all videos will be watched, discussed, and reflected in all classrooms. By mid-November, each group or student will reflect on the experience gained and lessons learned in a short reflection video of up to 2 minutes.
Both videos, criterion and reflection videos and online activities will be marked and result in one overall grade. All students will receive a digital badge that can be used in social media or referenced in CVs.
