ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING CURRICULUM
Submitted by: Mandar Dewoolkar, Program Head
Contact information: mdewoolk@uvm.edu, 656-1942
Date: November 19, 2015
Sustainability designation has been requested through the CourseLeaf for five required Environmental Engineering courses spanning
from freshman to senior year, including our two-semester Capstone experience. This is a request for Sustainability Designation for the
Environmental Engineering Curriculum.
Course
CE 003
CE 132
CE 151
CE 185
CE 186
Course Name
Introduction to Civil & Environmental Engineering
Environmental Systems
Water & Wastewater Engineering
Capstone Design I
Capstone Design II
Year
First (spring semester)
Second (spring semester)
Third (spring semester)
Fourth (fall semester)
Fourth (spring semester)
SLO #1: Students can have an informed conversation about the multiple dimensions and complexity of sustainability. (knowledge category)
CE 003: First Introduces
CE 132: Reinforces
CE 151: Reinforces
CE 185: Reinforces
CE 186: Reinforces
then Reinforces
(1) Introductory module
Lecture on
In-class discussions on
(1) Introductory module
Continued work on
on sustainability.
“Sustainability and
sustainability topics in
on “Sustainability and
incorporating
(2) Assignment on
Sustainable Design”
water/wastewater
Sustainable Design”
sustainability and
sustainability definitions.
engineering; field trips to
(2) Assignments on
sustainable design within
(3) Follow-up
water and wastewater
engineering ethics
the context of the
assignments on “green
facilities.
Capstone project.
building”, “stormwater”,
“phosphorus lab”, “vehicle
emissions” and “energy
and climate change” that
are all set up within the
context of sustainability.
A class period is dedicated
to first introduce and
discuss the concepts of
sustainability.
An Assignment is given
where students research
different definitions of
sustainability and
pick/from one that they
think is the best and
explain why.
Follow up assignments on
“green building”,
“stormwater”,
“phosphorus lab”, “vehicle
emissions” and “energy
and climate change” that
reinforce the sustainability
concepts.
Discussion on planet earth
as a system/place,
context, definitions,
water-air-land nexus,
“Triple-bottom line”,
metrics and indices to
assess the three pillars of
sustainability, principles of
sustainable design and
how to achieve it.
Reading materials related
to sustainability and
sustainable design are
provided to the students.
Using class materials
(some of them include the
materials provided by SFF
program, e.g. “Just
Sustainability”, “Thinking
in Systems” and so forth),
and the Internet as a
resource the students
should be able to explain,
in their own words, why
sustainability and
sustainable design are
important. This is given to
the students as a
homework exercise and
students submit their
reflections. The instructor
compiles the reflections
and common themes and
All prevalent
water/wastewater
treatment techniques are
introduced to the class
followed by discussions on
their life-cycle
sustainability. Students are
encouraged to explore
alternative practices that
are more cost-effective
and resource-efficient for
large-scale centralized
systems or small-scale
decentralized systems.
Field trips to local water
and wastewater treatment
plants increase student
understanding of
sustainability challenges
across the treatment
processes at multiple
dimensions (energy,
resource, greenhouse gas
etc.) Assessment of SLO#1
is through an associated
field-trip report.
A class period is dedicated
to revisit concepts around
sustainability introduced
in earlier courses CE 003,
CE 132, and CE 151. To aid
continued discussion and
follow up assignments,
three or so case studies
(videos, articles) are
discussed that raise social,
political, regulatory,
environmental and
economic issues related to
engineering decisions. The
case studies are real and
clearly have “grey” zones.
Examples from Spring
2015 included the
Mississippi River
Management; the Bhopal,
India Union Carbide
Disaster; and, the Denver
International Airport
Concrete Production
problem.
There are three written
assignments on
sustainability and
engineering ethics.
The conversations on
these topics continue from
CE 185 into CE 186. The
deliverables (final project
report, final project
presentation, digital story
for the general public, and
poster presentation at the
Design Night open to
general public) all
explicitly address how the
project team considered
sustainability in their
design process and how
the final design
incorporated
sustainability. In order to
get to this point, the
conversations on this topic
continue throughout the
course.
discusses those in class to
reinforce students’
understanding of
sustainability and
sustainable design.
SLO #2: Students can evaluate sustainability using an evidence-based disciplinary approach and integrate economic, ecological, and social
perspectives. (skills category)
CE 003: Reinforces
CE 132: Reinforces
CE 151: Reinforces
CE 185: Reinforces
CE 186: Mastery
Design project
Writing, reading, and class Design project
Writing of a section of
Comprehensive final
discussion
their comprehensive
project report, final
project report
project presentation,
digital photo story, and
poster presentation.
The project entails the
The students are exposed
In the semester-long
The students are required The students are required
students to conduct a
to environmental systems, design project, students
to write a section on the
to write a section on the
design project in a teamboth engineered and
are asked to evaluate
sustainability aspects of
sustainability aspects of
setting. The deliverable
natural, throughout the
energy and resource
their project. Specifically,
their project in CE 185.
includes a design report
course. They learn how to inputs and outputs of the
they are required to
Specifically, they are
that requires a
model and analyze the
unit operations they’ve
investigate and discuss
required to investigate
background section on
systems using engineering designed. Starting from
short-term and long-term
and discuss short-term
sustainability based on a
principles. They also
Spring 2016, students will
social, environmental and and long-term social,
literature review within
recognize the
perform life cycle
economic sustainability
environmental and
the context of the design
interdependent nature of
assessment in a more
considerations relevant to economic sustainability
project. Students are
the systems and how to
quantitative manner using their project, also
considerations relevant to
required to address social, maintain or improve the
SimaPro or SuperDesigner, including risk, uncertainty, their project, also
environmental and
processes that drive the
which also integrate
sustainability, life-cycle
including risk, uncertainty,
economic aspects of
systems in order to make
economic, ecological, and principles, and
sustainability, life-cycle
sustainability explicitly.
them sustainable.
social sustainability
environmental impacts of
principles, and
The students are also
Students model, for
assessment tools.
their project.
environmental impacts of
required to state how
example, engineered
Assessment of SLO#2 is
their project. These
their design promoted
systems like water and
through the design project There are multiple
concepts get revised
sustainability. For
wastewater treatment,
report.
submissions of the project iteratively throughout CE
example, the project for
using mass and energy
report throughout the
185 and then in CE 186.
the 2014-15 academic
balances approach and
year. Therefore, this
The deliverables (final
year was on redesigning a
sustainable intersection.
Students
gathered/collected and
analyzed data (traffic,
accidents, emissions,
stormwater runoff, etc.)
related to the intersection
and then redesigned it for
improving the overall
sustainability of the
intersection system.
analyze them by
examining individual
parameters that affect the
efficiency and
sustainability of the
systems. Using similar
engineering principles
they learn skills to design
sustainable processes.
During this course they
learn to identify the key
components in the system
and parameters, which
can be manipulated to
achieve sustainable design
objectives without
compromising the
ecological health. The
students are exposed to a
rigorous analysis of a wide
variety of systems, such as
water, wastewater, land,
and air, through several
homework problems (at
least 6), quizzes, (at least
8) and exams (2), with
sustainability as
underlying theme. By the
end of the term students
will achieve the skills
necessary to analyze and
quantify the sustainability.
Through above exercises
and exams, students learn
section gets reviewed by
the instructor(s) and peers
multiple times. It is also
graded.
project report, final
project presentation,
digital story for general
public, and poster
presentation at the Design
Night open to the general
public) all explicitly show
(both qualitatively and
quantitatively) how the
project team considered
sustainability in their
design process and how
the final design elements
explicitly incorporated
sustainability. All these
deliverables are assessed
by the instructors; who
request feedback from
external evaluator(s),
other program faculty, and
peer students. It is
believed that through this
real, community-based
project experience, which
explicitly incorporates
sustainability in
engineering work
culminating in a capstone
experience, the students
gain “mastery” at least to
the degree that can be
expected at the
undergraduate level.
about the three categories
of sustainability metrics:
environmental dimension,
environmental-social
dimension, and
environmental-socialeconomic dimension.
Towards the end of the
term they also learn
concepts related to
sustainability assessment,
such as life cycle
assessment, Welfare
analysis, and risk
assessment. This is a
follow-up of SLO#1.
SLO #3: Students think critically about sustainability across a diversity of cultural values and across multiple scales of relevance from local to
global. (values category)
CE 003: Reinforces
CE 132: Reinforces
CE 151: (Re) Introduces
CE 185: Reinforces
CE 186: Reinforces
(1) Assignments on
Writing and class
Group presentations on
Introductory module on
Continued work on
“green building”,
discussion
water sustainability issues “Sustainability and
incorporating
“stormwater”,
at regional and global
Sustainable Design”
sustainability and
“phosphorus lab”, “vehicle
scales.
Assignments on
sustainable design within
emissions” and “energy
engineering ethics.
the context of the
and climate change” that
Writing of a section of
capstone project.
are all set up within the
their comprehensive
context of sustainability
project report.
Comprehensive final
(2) Design project.
project report, final
(3) Review of (i) American
project presentation,
Society of Civil Engineers
digital photo story, and
Code of Ethics, (ii) EPA’s
poster presentation.
documents on water
quality, and (iii) Best
stormwater management
practices.
The assignments (SLO #1)
and the design project
(SLO #2) bring into the
class discussions and
student work a diversity of
cultural values and
multiple scales ranging
between local and global.
For example, in 2014-15
academic year, the energy
and climate change essay
assignment was on the
Keystone XL Pipeline
project, which brought in
global issues. The
assignment on developing
a sustainability concept
map for the project
intersection was more on
the local scale, yet also
brought in global
stormwater issues. The
assignment on green
building brought in the
national perspective on
sustainability. The
assignment on phosphorus
measurement included
local water samples (e.g.,
Shelburne Pond, Votey
Hall Water Fountain,
Shelburne Bay, Winooski
River, etc.), but the
During the last-quarter of
the semester when the
sustainability assessment
tools are introduced, the
students have an
opportunity to critically
examine some case
studies related to topics
such as water, air, land,
including their nexus,
followed by discussion in
the class. The purpose of
this exercise is to reinforce
the understanding of
sustainability and
sustainable design as
applicable to the systems.
The class sessions will
include discussion of the
topics, in addition to
writing assignments. This
is a follow-up of SLO#1 &
2.
In week 11 or 12, the class
has group presentations
on sustainability issues
related to water and
sanitation. Each group
consists of 4-5 students,
and a broad spectrum of
topics are presented:
waterborne disease
transmission; water and
sanitation infrastructure in
both industrialized and
developing countries;
resource recovery from
wastewater; greenhouse
gas emissions during
water treatment and the
control; effects of global
warming on unit operation
at treatment plants. Group
presentations are peerevaluated, and the
instructor also provides
feedback on creativity,
organization, and content
of the presentations.
Collectively SLO #1 and
SLO #2 address local
(because the projects are
local) and global (because
case studies are national
and international) cultural
values and at multiple
scales (local to global).
Assessments include three
written assignments on :
(1) sustainability, (2)
engineering ethics and
sustainability, and (3) a
section on sustainability
for the project report.
These concepts are carried
forward from CE 185 into
CE 186. The deliverables
(final project report, final
project presentation,
digital story for general
public, and poster
presentation at the Design
Night open to general
public) all explicitly show
(both qualitatively and
quantitatively) how the
project team considered
sustainability in their
design process and how
the final design elements
explicitly incorporated
sustainability. Although
the projects are local, they
inherently include global
perspectives of cultural
aspects of sustainability,
which are expected to be
discussed by the students
in these deliverables. All
these deliverables are
assessed by the
instructors; who request
feedback from external
evaluator(s), other
program faculty, and
peers.
context was on the overall
water quality in the
region, specifically related
to Lake Champlain. In
addition, students review
(1) American Society of
Civil Engineers Code of
Ethics, (2) EPA’s
documents on water
quality, and (3) Best
stormwater management
practices, as background
material while working on
the mentioned
assignments and the
project.
SLO #4: Students, as members of society, can recognize and assess how sustainability impacts their lives and how their actions impact
sustainability. (personal domain)
CE 003: Introduces
CE 132: (Re) Introduces
CE 151: Reinforces
CE 185: Reinforces
CE 186: Reinforces
Class discussion and an
Class discussion
Watch scientific talks and
Class discussion and
Class discussion and final
assignment.
discuss sustainability
written assignment.
reflection.
actions in class
A class period is dedicated Some example case
Students watch and
A class period is dedicated These concepts are carried
to discuss concepts
studies are discussed in
discuss in class a scientific to revisit concepts around forward from CE 003, CE
around sustainability
the context of “Systems
video clip (e.g., TED talk)
sustainability within the
132, CE 151 and CE 185
within the personal
Thinking Approach”, and
that are related to clean
personal domain
into CE 186. The students
domain. The students are
the assessment tools such energy, composting, global introduced in earlier
are required to write a
required to address
as life cycle assessment
warming, recycling, and
courses CE 003, CE 132,
final reflection on the
sustainability and what it
(LCA), welfare analysis,
water reuse. The
and CE 151. The students
project. Among other
means to them personally and risk assessment. The
instructor facilitates the
are required to address
items (e.g. civic
and as engineers through
question “How are
discussion on
sustainability and what it
engagement, academic
an in-class discussion and
sustainability
sustainability impacts and means to them personally enhancement, teamwork),
a follow-up essay.
considerations currently
actions by giving openand as engineering
the students are also
incorporated in some
ended questions.
professionals in the two
asked to discuss personal
example Environmental
systems?” will be
addressed. This exercise
provides students with
fundamental
understanding and
importance of
sustainability as applicable
to environmental systems
along with the
methodologies to carry
out assessment of
systems. This is a followup of SLO#1, 2 &3.
assignments on
engineering ethics case
studies.
aspects of the project
experience including longlasting impacts of the
project on them
personally, if any. This
reflection is assessed.