Building Performance - Energy Efficiency in Design - Bolton Street

What is... Building Performance (Energy Efficiency in Design) ?

In the words of the World Green Building Council "while we must continue to focus on addressing operational carbon, we must now rapidly increase efforts to tackle embodied carbon emissions at a global scale, too". New terms such as #zeroenergy #wholelifecarbon, #netzerocarbon and #zerocarbonbuilding reflect the widened focus. It is clear that Society looks upon the Built Environment to do much of the 'heavy lifting' in a drive to carbon neutrality and sustainability. The upcoming revision to the Environmental Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and our Building Regulations will bring this widened focus into normal design and compliance practice.



Clearly, architecture, engineering and surveying practices, and the growing number of consultants that support them, need to grow capacity in technical skills and knowledge relating to the performance of buildings. As practices can't wait for university graduates (who may or may not have the required learning, but don't yet have the necessary judgment), they must look at their existing teams to upskill. The only way busy professionals can upskill is part-time. Online learning technology has made this learning journey accessible and satisfactory for a far wider group than was ever possible before.



TU414 MSc in Building Performance (Energy Efficiency in Design) and its constituent parts (TU412 PG Certificate BPEED, TU413 PG Diploma BPEED and various CPD certificate courses) was created by Technological University Dublin to provide transformative learning & upskilling in key areas of technical building design to cross-disciplinary groups building design professionals.



In a great sign of faith in this programme and the willingness of hundreds of building design professionals to upskill, the Irish Government continues to provide Springboard funding (a 90% fee subsidy) for successful applicants to TU412 PG Certificate BPEED (aka Year 1 of the MSc BPEED) since 2018. As Year 1 costs €2,500, the 90% subsidy reduces the fee payable to €250.

Module listing:

Year One

Semester 1

Decarbonising Building Design [Mandatory]

The Reflective Building Design Practitioner [Mandatory]

Building Energy Modelling Using DEAP [Elective]

Building Energy Modelling Using PHPP [Elective]



Semester 2

Hygrothermal Risk Assessment for Building Performance [Mandatory]

Thermal Bridge Calculation for Building Performance [Mandatory]

The Reflective Building Design Practitioner [Mandatory]

Building Performance: Net Zero Carbon Residential Design Project [Mandatory]

Minimum Entry Requirements?

The TU412 Postgraduate Certificate in Building Performance (Energy Efficiency in Design) course is open to the following categories of applicants:

- Registered Architects

- Professionally qualified architects who are or have been members of the RIAI, subject to interview.

- Registered Architectural Technologists

- Professionally qualified Architectural Technologists, subject to the requirements scheduled below.

- Registered Building Surveyors

- Chartered Engineers

- Professionally qualified Engineers, subject to a minimum 2.2 Level 8 qualification plus 2 years minimum relevant accredited professional experience, or equivalent.

- Other technical design professionals subject to a minimum 2.2 Level 8 qualification plus 2 years minimum relevant accredited professional experience, or equivalent.

How to Apply

Applications will open in February 2025.



There are 40 places available on the one-year TU412 programme. At €2,500 this is superb value, given content, tuition from experts, access to software, access to standards etc. Please fill out this form to apply for a place at the standard fee: https://forms.office.com/e/dFHjPyzmkB



TU Dublin has secured a subsidy from HEA Springboard+ for 28 of the 40 places. The subsidy reduces the fee payable by 90% (i.e. from €2,500 to €250). It is clear there will be competition for those places so a ranking process will be applied. Those wishing to apply for subsidised places can apply directly to Springboard+ at this link: https://springboardcourses.ie/details/14212. If you are unsuccessful in securing a subsidised place, we may direct you back to fill out the above form.



Non-EU Students

Non-EU students, not resident in Ireland, are not eligible to apply for part time programs that are delivered on-campus. Applications for part time courses that require on-campus attendance will not be processed and the application fee will not be refunded.

1 year part-time, blended delivery.



Schedule

The delivery of TU412 Postgraduate Certificate in Building Performance (Energy Efficiency in Design) course suits those upskilling, re-skilling & returning to work.



There are a range of ways in which the schedule and delivery have been structured to suit students who are fully employed professionals.



The programme is designed so that most study takes place each week between Friday morning and Monday evening, at times the student chooses. Modules are taught one at a time. A key aspect is that students may decide when to view lecture materials; there are few fixed teaching events.



- In the (5-ECTS) taught modules, the only fixed dates are webinars on the first four Tuesdays at 8pm, an online exam at 8pm on the second and fourth Thursdays, the feedback workshop at the end of the fifth week, and the project submission. Once a semester the feedback workshop will be held on campus.



- In the larger (10-ECTS) project module, seminars are held on Fridays. In general these are online, though 2 or 3 will be held on campus to benefit student learning.



Flexibility is provided via (a) the online resources; (b) videoed lectures that can be repeatedly watched (slowed down or sped up); (c) the recording of webinars to allow later watching; (d) the provision of repeat online exams within the same semester; and the Autumn supplemental exams and project submissions.



Students should plan for a weekly commitment of ~20 hours in most weeks of each module.

Commencement Date: September 2025.

What are my career opportunities?

Graduates of the TU412 Postgraduate Certificate in Building Performance (Energy Efficiency in Design) will be qualified to apply a range of NZEB and building performance design tools to assess the energy performance in new and existing buildings.



They will be able to research and advise on insulation options assessed as safe in accordance with the best international standards and detail, specify and oversee the installation to ensure performance targets are met.



Graduates will understand the dynamics of thermal, moisture and air movement through building fabric and understand the need to design the optimal balance of all three to ensure the integrity of any retrofit solution proposed and protect the structural longevity of the building fabric.



Their skills will be equally applicable to new build work where the principles of building fabric design are significantly more easily accommodated.



With energy analysis skills building on and enhancing their construction industry experience, graduates will be ideally placed to secure employment in the area of energy renovation of the existing building stock – an emerging and expansive field of construction activity across the European Union, in response to the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.



MRIAI and RIAI (Arch Tech) graduates will be eligible to apply for RIAI Environmental Accreditation.



Progression

The Postgraduate Certificate sits within the larger TU414 MSc in Building Performance (Energy Efficiency in Design). This includes:



TU412 Postgraduate Certificate, which is focused on the acquisition of technical knowledge and tools to deliver Zero Carbon building design.

TU413 Postgraduate Diploma, which is focused on the application of Net Zero Carbon design tools & wider sustainability metrics to deliver the emerging Whole Life Net Zero Carbon building design.