Bachelor of Arts (BA)
The Sustainable Environmental Design major recognizes that the emergent, multidisciplinary field of sustainable design is growing rapidly. As the world population urbanizes, the planning and design of resilient, resource-efficient, healthy and socially just cities and metropolitan regions is profoundly important. The College of Environmental Design, with its long-standing expertise in sustainable urbanism and design, is an ideal setting for an undergraduate major in sustainable environmental design, with a focus on the built environment.
The major offers students a critical understanding of the sustainability challenges facing urban regions in California and around the globe and equips them with the technical, analytic, and design tools key to devising creative solutions. Graduates have many career paths and fields of graduate study open to them. Students who complete this major will:
- Understand the application of physical, biological, and social science in the design of sustainable cities and metropolitan regions.
- Understand sustainable urban technologies and design strategies.
- Comprehend issues of equity and social justice as they relate to sustainable cities and regions.
- Evaluate and monitor the present state and future potential of built environments in terms of sustainability.
- Comprehend the implications of policy and institutions and their potential to shape future sustainable cities and regions.
Program Overview
Features of the major include the following:
- The gateway course, ENV DES 110 is taken by all incoming SED first years and transfer students. The course is an opportunity to meet your cohort and explores varying interpretations of sustainability through the fields of design, economics, law, and advocacy. Guest speakers will walk students through various career and life paths in the field of sustainability, and demonstrate how the field is being constructed in real time. The course will also introduce students to various concentrations, dual-degrees and certificate programs available to SED majors.
- LD ARCH 12, Environmental Science for Sustainable Development, introduces students to the scientific basis of sustainability as explored through the study of energy, water, food, natural resources and the built environment, with a focus on the application of scientific insights to sustainable development strategies. The course emphasizes hands-on learning through field-based exercises such as measurement of atmospheric particulate matter, micro-climates, channel form, aquatic insects and water quality, and direct observations of green infrastructure, green building methods, and urban agriculture.
- A Critical Approaches course, ENV DES 102, Climate Changes and City Planning: Adaptation and Resilience . The course challenges students to think critically about the idea of sustainability, develop critiques of current sustainable urbanism/design practice, and envision the institutional and behavioral changes required for a more sustainable future.
- A Methods/Technology course, LD ARCH C188 /GEOG C188, Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS has become a basic tool for a wide range of analytic tasks across all environmental design fields. The course addresses both GIS theory and applications, offering a dynamic analytical framework for gathering, integrating, interpreting, and manipulating temporal and spatial data.
- A set of upper division courses on energy and environment, deep green design, the nature of cities, planning for sustainability, ecological analysis, and sustainable cities and landscapes.
- A capstone workshop course, ENV DES 106, Sustainable Environmental Design Workshop. Linking sustainability science and technology with urban form and social dynamics, the workshop requires independent and collaborative research with an external client organization to offer innovative strategies for sustainable environmental design.
Admission to the Major
Students must declare one of the CED majors at the time of application to the college; however, current UC Berkeley students may apply to change into CED. Transfer applicants must complete two years worth of lower division coursework to be considered for admission to CED. For information regarding admission to the major for freshmen, transfer students, and current students who wish to change majors or colleges, please see the College of Environmental Design (CED) page in this Guide or the CED website.
Sustainable Design Minor Program
The Department of Architecture and the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning jointly offer a Sustainable Design Minor program. This minor program is open to undergraduate students at UC Berkeley except those in the Sustainable Environmental Design Major.
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