Bachelor of Environmental Design

A Bachelor of Environmental Design, (B.Envd.), is an undergraduate course of study. Similar in nature to a pre-law degree, the B.Envd is designed as preparatory training for a professional course of study in architecture, and is one of several degrees offered as preparatory training for the Master of Architecture degree, the M.Arch II degree. An alternative three-year Master of Architecture exists for people with a bachelor's degree not related to design, the M.Arch I degree. A Bachelor of Environmental Design should not be confused with a Bachelor in Environmental Studies, which though similar, does not train one in architecture or design. Pre-architecture degree programs generally take four years of full-time study to complete and in some institutions allow an emphasis on urban planning, architecture or landscape architecture.^[1] Other pre-professional degrees include the B.S. in Architectural Studies, B.A. in Architecture, and the B.S. in Construction Management. Though the Bachelor of Environmental Design is not accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board NAAB, like other college degrees, programs in Environmental Design are accreditation through their host-institution schools by various regional agencies, such as the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, or the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The Bachelor of Environmental Design should not be confused with the M.Arch or the five-year accredited B.Arch degree.^[2]

Purpose and nature of training

Modern environmental design began as a series of separate disciplines that intersect between the professional worlds of architecture, product design, and the eco/environmental movement. These various different disciplines and similar philosophies include permaculture, complementary gardening, sustainable agriculture, zero-energy building design, passive solar architecture, pollution mitigation, cradle-to-grave, open space preservation, New Urbanism, sustainable transportation and traffic planning, multi-modal transportation design etc. With the development of a bachelor's degree, these various different disparate fields are brought into the fields of architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture as a unified but interdisciplinary field. In the academic world, environmental design may cross disciplines with departments of geography, environmental science, climatology, neuroscience, and various others. The most publicly known example of environmental design is LEED certified design, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Sustainable design is rapidly being adopted by governments around the world. On October 28th, 2010, the U.S. General Services Administration moved to mandate LEED certification in all new federal buildings.^[3]

List of environmental design degree–granting institutions

• Art Center College of Design
• Auburn University, College of Architecture Design and Construction
• Cornell University, Department of Design and Environmental Analysis
• Montana State University, School of Architecture
• North Carolina State University, School of Architecture
• North Dakota State University, Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
• Stony Brook University, Sustainability Studies Program
• Texas A&M College of Architecture
• Texas Tech University
• University of Colorado at Boulder, Environmental Design
• University of Houston, Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• University of Puerto Rico, School of Architecture
• University of British Columbia, SALA
• Dalhousie University
• University of Manitoba
• Griffith University
• Rutgers University, Department of Landscape Architecture

See also

• List of environmental degrees
• Bachelor of Architecture
• Master of Architecture
• Bachelor of Environmental Studies
• Bachelor of Environmental Science
• Urban planning education

References

1. http://www.archcareers.org/website/article.asp?id=13 "Arch Careers.org. Architecture Degree Programs", Retrieved on April 4th, 2013.
2. http://www.ncarb.org/Studying-Architecture/Difference-Between-NAAB-Accredited-And-Non.aspx "DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NAAB-ACCREDITED AND NON-ACCREDITED PROGRAMS", NCARB, Retrieved on April 4th, 2013.
3. Beatty, MaryAnne. http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/197325 "GSA Moves to LEED Gold for All New Federal Buildings and Major Renovations", the General Services Administration, Retrieved on April 4th, 2013.