What do we teach them when we don't know what it will look like

Abstract

It has taken forty years for sustainability to become mainstream. Forty years ago the publication of ‘Limits to Growth’ forecast a collapse somewhere between 2010 and 2075. Our students are staring this in the face. The resources of the Earth are finite and the economic theories driving our economies are finite. We do not know what form business will take.

This paper looks at embedding sustainability into building trade related diploma and bachelor qualifications at Unitec. A sound base of fundamental building skills must be augmented with an understanding of ecological and technological skills. The traditional apprenticeship model, practice based and learning on the job supported with MOOCs.

Sustainability of buildings requires a building to be flexible in use and for longevity, built to a good standard. The main piece of legislation controlling this industry in New Zealand has in section 3 a purpose requiring ‘sustainable building’. The traditional business model requires a profit and profit is only achieved in a growth model economy. There is only one planet and our industrial model uses one and a half, even more in some western countries. We are using our resources at an unsustainable rate and there is a case here for education to lead the industry.

Sixty percent of the buildings standing in 2050 are already in place. There is a worldwide population shift to urban environments and our students will live in these buildings. They will need the skills to determine what they want. The Built Environment uses 40% of the world’s energy and there is a high possibility of being able to reduce that.

Future practitioners obtain the knowledge through their learning. The discussion will be around how this is done in the ‘classroom’ and some of the interesting results achieved.