Design for Sustainability
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this civil and environmental engineering course examining how sustainability principles apply to building design and construction. The curriculum covers two main assessment methodologies: life cycle assessment (LCA) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), explaining the fundamentals of each and how they guide engineering decisions. Specific topics include water and wastewater management, energy use in buildings, material selection, and construction practices. Materials include lecture notes, readings, and assignments from the original MIT course, freely available through OCW with no enrollment or certificate fee. The course suits engineering students or professionals wanting a structured introduction to sustainable design frameworks used in the built environment, grounded in real methodologies rather than general environmental advocacy.