EVALUATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF SUSTAINABILITY AND ITS INTEGRATION IN ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING

Abstract

Sustainability has emerged as a prominent concern globally, extending its influence into various domains, including education. It is recognized as of utmost importance to address global environmental challenges. However, a critical gap exists in the perception of innovative teaching strategies, i.e., interdisciplinary collaboration, experiential learning, and targeted approaches, to improve sustainability literacy and its applications. This work discusses the assessment and improvement of sustainability education and how to evaluate the impacts of structured interventions on student learning and its applications in fostering sustainability competencies in architectural engineering. The goal is to integrate sustainability into architectural design studios and bridge the gaps in students’ knowledge and perceptions of practical design scenarios. It incorporates a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative analyses, such as pre and post-test evaluations, to provide a holistic understanding of the research questions. The methodology incorporates active learning principles into iterative educational modules, combining theoretical knowledge with practical application across key components such as initial assessments, conceptual foundations, collaborative learning, critical engagement, and applied learning in design studios. These components guide students from the basic understanding of sustainability to its practical application in design projects, fostering experts through team learning and ensuring a thorough grasp of sustainability. The results suggest substantial improvements following the implementation of targeted interventions, evidenced by the statistical analyses indicating significant differences (p-value <.001) across various sustainability principles, i.e., environmental, economic, and social. The post-intervention data underscores the confidence in applying sustainability principles, supported by the improved project scores and skill levels. To foster holistic decision-making and increase students’ knowledge and perceptions of sustainability concepts, interdisciplinary collaboration emerged as a transformative factor in achieving and overcoming sophisticated sustainability challenges. The importance of self-reflection exercises, project-based learning, and dynamic instructional methods was highlighted, as well as promoting critical thinking and engagement, as indicated by the qualitative data. These interventions not only enhance students’ performance but also their awareness of sustainability relevance, underlining the effectiveness of experiential and interdisciplinary approaches. Although sustainability interventions have led to many successful outcomes, this work identifies structural barriers and challenges, including curriculum rigidity and inconsistent faculty training, as key challenges to integrating sustainability within architectural engineering education. The need for early exposure to sustainability concepts was highlighted as the students’ initial baseline knowledge of sustainability was considerably low within foundational courses. These findings highlight the pressing need for more systematic reforms, including improved sustainability within course content and expanded resources for interdisciplinary collaboration. Further, the comparative analysis suggests the broader implications of sustainability across other engineering and design disciplines. This work provides actionable recommendations for integrating sustainability into the education curriculum. Future implications can incorporate scalable interdisciplinary modules and leverage targeted interventions, providing insights into frameworks for reshaping and organizing the AE course curriculum, which would serve as a benchmark for other fields that promote sustainability competencies.