by AF0313 h3 — March 15, 2010—University College London (UCL) is launching a master’s degree program in partnership with the Building Construction Authority (BCA) in Singapore, to encourage environmentally friendly building practices.
The program is aimed at building professionals who will be taught by leading experts from UCL’s Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment at the BCA Academy in Singapore.
The first Masters program at UCL to be taught outside London, the MSc in Facility and Environment Management will help Singapore reach its target of having 80 percent of buildings in the city “Green Mark certified” by 2030.
Specifically tailored for Singapore students, the program will be delivered through “blended learning,” a combination of traditional face to face teaching by visiting UCL lecturers, and distance learning using live video links, one-to-one Skype tutorials, podcasts and video seminars.
The need for the course has arisen out of the increasing call for more sustainable cities, especially in tropical zones, such as Singapore, where more than 50 percent of carbon dioxide emissions can be attributed to buildings. To address this issue, the government of Singapore has identified a need to train 6,000 “green” facility managers over the next 10 years. The top tier of these professionals will be taught in the UCL masters program, with the first students due to start in September 2010 at the BCA Academy.
