OBJECTIVE:
Providing a thorough understanding of Requirements and important factors in an engineer's role to create and maintain sustainable environment via a real-life scenario project
OUTCOMES:
One of the most significant roles of an engineer is to create a sustainable environment. In order to fulfill his/her role, an engineer must act according to the principles introduced by ICE and Royal Academy of Engineering. Through investigating the real applications of sustainability in engineering project, students will be able to compare the principles in theory and practice. This knowledge will enable students to obtain a profound understanding of sustainability in engineering work which leads to applying this knowledge in their career and train them to become involved as engineer in sustainable and environment friendly construction.
Hence the outcome of this project is for the students to understand the engineer's role in creating and maintaining a sustainable environment
The purpose of this coursework is to understand to what extent local sustainable projects in Oman are actually performing up to the standards defined in the scientific literature with regards to sustainable development in construction and built environment. To do so literature review must be conducted to be able to first understand the principles of sustainability and realize the important factors that produce the component of sustainability in construction. Furthermore by using appropriate factors and criteria, measure the performance of the case-study with respect to sustainability factors.
Students must complete the steps in this task as following:
1. Students are required to first study the principles of sustainability and sustainable development in construction and built environment introduced in the literature and references. Concepts of sustainability, sustainable development must be reviewed, discussed, via exploring academic and technical journals, technical reports, articles, conference proceedings, text books, codes and standards, case studies, government and professional guidelines in the field of construction and sustainability. Also you must discuss the significance of sustainability in the present world and the current situation related to this topic in international and local level.
2. Through reviewing this literature you are also required to learn, identify and discuss the relevant characteristics and factors that create sustainability in construction projects particularly in Oman. The purpose of this part is to later use this factors to examine the case study and analysis its performance.
3. Next step is to identify a construction project which is a candidate for case-study. This project must be appropriate in the sense that it can be studied by students in order to find the implemented elements of suitability. This case-study can be construction project that is recognized to have implemented sustainability concepts.
4. Students must introduce the case-study and identify what activities have taken place in that specific project, to provide sustainability in terms of environmental, social, cultural, financial, etc. This project maybe in any areas of civil engineering work the data can be collected through research i.e. via contacting consultant and contracting companies, literature, interviews (structured/semi-structured, questioners), surveys, etc.
5. Next step is to critically examine the case-study using the principles, factors and criteria identified in the second step. You must analyze the performance of the case-study and measure to what degree it is up to the standards you defined as factors with respect to sustainable construction. While you are analyzing the degree of sustainability achieved in the case study, also incorporate your opinions and inputs in the form of suggestion or criticism.
6. Final step is to prepare a report. Select appropriate headings and subheading to guide the reader. Remember that the reader will only understand as much from your work as you guide them. Use your writing skills to attract the reader. This report must be in the following format and not exceed 4000 words.
To summarize the report includes the following steps:
1. Literature review; to define the criteria required to measure performance of the case- study
2. Identifying the case-study , introducing the case-study and find relevant information
3. Critical analyze of the performance of case study
Important notification
- You must have citations from reputable journals, articles, books, etc. in your paper. this is considered of great importance in the quality of your report and hence your mark
- Note that mark is given to quality of writing and just by completing the writing you will not be entitled to full mark of that part
- In case your report covers the relevant areas with better quality the possibility of receiving a higher mark increases
- Avoid using irrelevant and general websites as references.
- Your assignment is a report therefore high degree of your mark depends on the quality of language of your writing. Avoid using Google translator.
- You can use the support of academic writing unit in language center to enhance your report in grammar, vocabulary; referencing, etc. also note that they conduct workshops from time to time in these subjects.
- Pay great attention to the referencing, MEC preferred method of referencing is CU Harvard.
Coursework Proposal
You must prepare and submit your CW proposal through the Moodle the week after the assignment is given to you. Proposal includes 5% of the mark. This proposal must contain the following:
Title of the Assignment, Module Name and Title and Semester (Spring 2017)
Information regarding your group members
Explanation of your understanding about the project and tasks you shall carry out
Task allocation among the group members ( you may be also specifically evaluated based on your individual responsibilities within your group)
Project program (time schedule)
See the FORMAT of the proposal in the Assignment
Proposal Format
Follow the guidelines mentioned below during writing your report:
The report should have a Title Page. Title Page should contain the following information.
Title
Class
Student name
Student ID
Use page numbers
Use your own words on writing, Times New Roman font size 12
Heading should be with Font Size 14, Bold, Underline
Note that your proposal must cover the following:
1. Minimum one page explanation of your understanding from this task. You need to explain what you are going to write ,which parts does your writing include and how you are going to complete each part
2. Prepare a plan/program for your coursework , explain your plan and also demonstrate by using graphics ( specify dates)
3. Distribute responsibilities that are based on your plan among your group members
Report Format
- Number of pages: Maximum 20 pages excluding references list and the appendix (if any).
- Line spacing: Generally use 1.5 x line spacing.
- Start with the title page (including your name) or student number as requested.
- It is preferable to place figures within the text rather than group them at the end of the report.
- Give a sequential number to all figures (Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, etc.)
- Add a brief, informative caption to the figures.
The Report should contain the following sections:
- Table of contents
- Introduction
- Report body
- References
1. Table of content
Include heading, subheading, and page numbers.
2. Introduction
The introduction is very important as it sets the context for the report. Briefly outline the paper, justify the reason that this research is needed in Oman, state the content of the work, and describe how the report is organized.
3. report body
This section will contain the review of literature, explaining the case study, method of research, data obtained and discuss the finding of the case study. Headings should be informative and descriptive providing a clue to the contents of the section. Prepare the headings according to the steps explained in the section above.
4. Conclusions (maximum half page)
Every report should include a concluding statement/s on the subject of the report. Restate the purpose of the research, the content of the report and state how you have achieved your targets and completed the work. Present the main findings of your work and how the report was organized. You should also estate the limitations of the report.
5. References
This is a list of all the sources of information you have referred to in the report. ( use CU Harvard as referencing method)
6. Appendix
Any additional figures, tables, and photos if required