Sustainable Design & Construction
CONE 5304 · Graduate coursework
Course overview
Sustainable Design and Construction connects the built environment with energy, water, materials, and community needs. Buildings operate as interacting systems: a change to lighting, ventilation, insulation, or water use can influence costs and performance elsewhere. The subject encourages evaluation over a building’s useful life, including operation, maintenance, and future renovation. This perspective supports practical decisions about improving existing facilities as well as considering new construction.
Contribution to a master’s education
Within my Professional Science Master’s education, this course provides a setting for integrating scientific evidence, technical calculations, and financial reasoning. Graduate-level work requires explaining why a recommendation fits a particular site and how the conclusion depends on assumptions. A design should be evaluated against a baseline, compared with reasonable alternatives, and assessed for feasibility. The process also requires translating specialized information into a proposal that decision makers and community users can understand.
Coursework: Exall Recreation Center
My collaborative proposal with Jessica Galindo Garcia considered a 15-year renovation approach for Exall Recreation Center in Dallas, Texas. The project brought together site observations, research, calculations, and energy modeling. Proposed measures included solar panels, HVAC and lighting improvements, water collection, efficient fixtures, and native planting. These elements connect environmental objectives with operating costs and the continued use of a community facility. The presentation documents a course proposal; installation and measured savings are not established by the portfolio.
Graduate-level evaluation and tradeoffs
The academic value of this project lies in the reasoning used to compare measures. Energy and water estimates depend on assumptions about demand, equipment performance, operating schedules, and maintenance. Measures may interact, so savings should not simply be added without examining overlap. Financial analysis must also consider the timing of costs and benefits. A strong graduate assessment identifies these dependencies, explains uncertainty, and distinguishes estimated performance from results that would require monitoring after implementation.
Connection to professional practice
This work supports environmental project management by linking site information with recommendations, responsibilities, and a realistic planning horizon. My fieldwork and business experience provide a practical connection to organizing resources and considering implementation constraints. The course contributes the ability to assess a proposal as an integrated system, communicate its supporting evidence, and explain the tradeoffs behind a preferred option. These skills are relevant to facility improvement, conservation planning, and sustainability decisions that must be both environmentally useful and workable over time.