LSBU Net Zero Short Courses
The UK is facing a massive Net Zero transition across its entire economy, and the built environment is no exception. As 2050 fast approaches, with pressure from all sides to meet ambitious but legally binding net zero targets, the sector is transforming the way we not only procure, design and construct buildings, but also how we operate and maintain them over their entire lifetime.
As such, the entire workforce is in urgent need of upskilling to ensure every individual is fully equipped to address the pressing and complex challenges ahead.
This new course, one of four launched by LSBU, presents an innovative model for teaching the skills and knowledge necessary to lead and manage teams tasked with designing and delivering the net zero buildings of the future.
LSBU is proud to have created a ground-breaking, pilot programme with the support of the Office for Students (OFS) new Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) scheme – meaning students on this short, effective degree level course can apply for a student loan to cover fees, irrespective of past loans and learning pathways.
Course content and structure has been developed in close partnership with leading employers in the construction sector, including Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA), Climate Framework, London Energy, Ashden, Clarion Housing Group, Lambeth Council and Southwark Council – ensuring highly relevant, actionable skills that can be acquired alongside a professional career and rapidly applied within the workplace.
Designing Net Zero Buildings
Designing Net Zero Buildings, one of four short courses on offer, teaches the critical elements involved in designing buildings that don’t rely on fossil fuels. It focuses on the whole-building systems and HVAC engineering and is aimed at those who are familiar with the built environment but not with low-carbon building services.
Designing Net Zero Buildings | London South Bank University (lsbu.ac.uk)
Operating Net Zero Buildings
Operating Net Zero Buildings, one of four short courses on offer, was developed in response to the growing demand for organisations to mitigate operational carbon and demonstrate compliance with increasingly stringent targets. The course is aimed at facilities and maintenance managers with operational knowledge of buildings, but less formal knowledge of building performance. It teaches facilities managers how to operate buildings to deliver optimal comfort and cost and operation efficiency, and deliver best operational practices without reliance on fossil fuels, through an understanding of good control design and data management.
Operating Net Zero Buildings | London South Bank University (lsbu.ac.uk)
Procuring Net Zero Buildings
Procuring Net Zero Buildings, one of four Net Zero short courses on offer, is designed for those in decision-making roles seeking to procure more sustainable project portfolios—eg within councils or planning, social housing, or estate management. The course builds on existing knowledge to demonstrate new methods and practices that result in truly sustainable buildings that deliver to Net Zero requirements for their whole lifecycle. It includes the importance of whole-life carbon accounting and the role of procurement in reducing embodied carbon.
Procuring Net Zero Buildings | London South Bank University (lsbu.ac.uk)
Leadership and Management Net Zero Buildings
Leadership and Management for Net Zero Buildings, one of four short courses in this programme, is designed for mid-career professionals seeking to advance to team leadership or more strategic roles within the built environment. The course covers the global context of climate change and global energy supplies; the definition, boundaries, challenges and opportunities of Net Zero within the built environment; and the systems-change drivers, from national legislation to local policy and town planning as well as energy networks, grids, transportation and urban contexts. It teaches the complex skills required to develop Net Zero energy strategies, including lifecycle planning (operational / embodied carbon) and responsible sourcing and supply-chain management for all project types, whether new build, retrofit or RMI.
Leadership and Management for Net Zero Buildings | London South Bank University (lsbu.ac.uk)
