2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The integrated design process is a highly collaborative approach to designing and operating sustainable built environments. It is a process by which all design variables that affect one another are considered together. In recent decades, the industry has increasingly demanded engineers be equipped with the skills to apply sustainability in building and construction projects. Universities are starting to emphasize sustainability concepts in various engineering programs. Because industry standards are becoming higher, students should learn from lectures to be aware of what constitutes green design and have some experience putting it into practice. As a critical approach to creating a green building, the integrated process plays a vital role in sustainability education. It guides students to implement green building design knowledge in real projects and eventually enhances their understanding of sustainability in depth. This paper presents a semester-long project in an undergraduate-level course that required students to adopt the integrated design approach to design a house that will be used as an educational center for sustainability. The project was completed in multiple phases, from hosting a charrette for conceptual design to running an energy consumption test for the final detailed design. A standard sustainable design rubric evaluated students' designs, and their engagement and learning outcomes were also evaluated at the end of the course. The feedback shows that students were highly motivated to learn the integrated design process and sustainability from the project. This project will be a pilot study to further develop an educational module on green building design for engineering educators.