Using the EnvisionTM Sustainable Infrastructure Rating System in a Civil Engineering Capstone Design Course

Sustainability is a key concept for civil engineers. In the past decade a number of efforts have been made to incorporate sustainability knowledge, techniques, and tools into civil engineering education. One approach has been to use professional rating systems as a vehicle in design courses. This paper describes such an approach using the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) Envision rating system as part of a learning module in the capstone design course at the University of Utah. In the module, students are first presented fundamental sustainability concepts and tools, and in a separate seminar are introduced to the Envision rating system. Students are exposed at least two more times to brief follow-up discussions applying Envision to their project. It was expected that the use of Envision helps students reinforce underlying sustainability concepts and improve the learning about Envision by applying it to a project. The module effectiveness was assessed for the Fall 2013 semester using three formats: (1) a new civil engineering sustainability literacy questionnaire administered before and after the module, (2) quality of application of the Envision Rating System to the project, and (3) instructor reflection. Results from full assessment in the Fall 2013 semester and partial assessment in the Spring 2014 semester indicate the module helped introduce students to basic sustainability concepts and Envision. However, the assessment suggests a stand-alone course within the civil engineering curriculum would promote a much deeper understanding of sustainability concepts, motivating factors, and broader applications which are beyond the capability of a single capstone design project learning module.