APPLIED RESEARCH AS A REFERENCE IN THE CURRICULAR STRUCTURE OF THE SUBJECT OF SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION IN THE STUDIES OF BUILDING ENGINEER DEGREE, UNIVERSITY OF BURGOS

The University of Burgos started the Building Engineer Degree from the 2010-2011 academic year as an adaptation of the Technical Architecture studies according to Bologna System.

In the Technical Architecture degree, we taught various aspects related to the sustainability, but this knowledge was spread on several subjects of the former degree of Technical Architecture.

We renewed the subjects of the Technical Architecture studies by adapting them to the new Grade. One of the goals was to introduce sustainability criteria in this academic qualification, so we created a new subject, Sustainable Construction.

As a novelty the program of this subject includes such important topics as: Life Cycle Assessment, Sustainability Assessment Tools, sustainability criteria...

The sustainability field is constantly evolving, so the professors consider very convenient the contribution of knowledge by a research group that is working directly in this field within the Higher Polytechnic School.

The research group in Building Engineering already had experience in research on sustainability issues such as the use of industrial by-products in the design of useful materials for construction, as the use of recycled polyurethane foam, slag and recycled aggregate in mortars and concretes.

These lines of research have produced several publications in international refereed journals, numerous papers at international conferences and the development of a number of patents.

Thus all these new skills have helped to structure the subject’s curriculum of Sustainable Construction, so new graduates from the University of Burgos have a special sensitivity when applying sustainable criteria in the field of building, and have acquired a practical knowledge from the research carried out and their possible applications in the construction sector.