How Individual Buildings Can Support the Sustainability of an Urban Environment

The concept of a "smart" city encompasses not just its tech-enabled digital smartness but also sustainability and being green. It is essential that buildings are adaptable over time to accommodate new technology: the need to be environmentally responsible only emphasises that imperative.

Green tech is increasingly finding ways to improve the environmental impact of a building, but changes in materials and advances in environmental technology can be hard to predict. Demolishing and rebuilding on a plot creates a huge environmental deficit, so retrofitting to integrate green tech and better materials needs to be both possible and not excessively energy-intensive. Running an individual building on these principles can also contribute to wider benefits for the neighbouring community and wider urban environment.

In this online course, you will explore the concept of "smart" cities and how they integrate sustainability and environmental responsibility. The course focuses on the design and retrofitting of buildings to incorporate green technology and materials, contributing to a greener and more sustainable urban environment.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

1. Understand the concept of a "smart" city and its focus on sustainability, green technology, and adaptability to new technologies
2. Identify the environmental impact of buildings and the importance of retrofitting and integrating green technology and sustainable materials
3. Explain the role of materials in construction and the benefits of modular construction, recycling, and waste reduction