Procuring Net Zero Buildings

Overview

The UK is facing a massive Net Zero transition across its entire economy, and the built environment is no exception. As 2050 fast approaches, with pressure from all sides to meet ambitious but legally binding net zero targets, the sector is transforming the way we not only procure, design and construct buildings, but also how we operate and maintain them over their entire lifetime.

As such, the entire workforce is in urgent need of upskilling to ensure every individual is fully equipped to address the pressing and complex challenges ahead.

This new course, one of four launched by LSBU, presents an innovative model for teaching the skills and knowledge necessary to procure net zero buildings of the future.

LSBU is proud to have created a ground-breaking, pilot programme with the support of the Office for Students (OFS) new Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) scheme– meaning students on this short, effective degree level course can apply for a student loan to cover fees, irrespective of past loans and learning pathways.

Course content and structure has been developed in close partnership with leading employers in the construction sector, including Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA), Climate Framework, London Energy, Ashden, Clarion Housing Group, Lambeth Council and Southwark Council – ensuring highly relevant, actionable skills that can be acquired alongside a professional career and rapidly applied within the workplace.

Procuring Net Zero Buildings, one of four Net Zero short courses on offer, is designed for those in decision-making roles seeking to procure more sustainable project portfolios—eg within councils or planning, social housing, or estate management. The course builds on existing knowledge to demonstrate new methods and practices that result in truly sustainable buildings that deliver to Net Zero requirements for their whole lifecycle. It includes the importance of whole-life carbon accounting and the role of procurement in reducing embodied carbon.

During the immersive, one-semester course you’ll study: the key sources of information, policy and regulation driving the new requirements for zero-carbon; a range of procurement methods for a range of contexts (new build, retrofit, operations); how to select consultants and contractors and brief them effectively; and the role of project management, total quality management, supply-chain management, and data management in the delivery of sustainable construction projects.

The course is delivered through lectures, workshops and private study, and involves individual and group projects, site visits, industry-leading guest speakers, and hands-on learning with real-life application.

The course will run concurrently with the three other Net Zero short courses in this programme, ensuring students benefit from insights from other roles within the built environment that impact on their own decision-making and ways of working.

The other courses are:

• Designing Net Zero Buildings
• Operating Net Zero Buildings
• Leadership and Management for Net Zero Buildings

Entry Level Requirements

• A Level BBC or;
• BTEC National Diploma DDM or;
• Access to Engineering qualifications with 15 Distinctions and 30 Merits or;
• Equivalent level 3 qualifications worth 128 UCAS points
• Applicants must hold 5 GCSEs A-C including Maths and English or equivalent (reformed GCSEs grade 4 or above).
• We welcome qualifications from around the world. English language qualifications for international students: IELTS score of 6.0 or Cambridge Proficiency or Advanced Grade C.

Mature students who do not possess any of the above formal qualifications but can demonstrate working experience which includes significant study or application of mathematical skills appropriate to level III (i.e. ‘A’ Level) or similar, may be allowed to join the course at the course director’s discretion.

‍

‍