Building Services Design Engineer Degree Apprenticeship

You gain the underpinning knowledge of construction technology. The materials and techniques used to achieve the basic principles of construction technology are constantly evolving to enable the construction industry to deliver better quality buildings. Scarcity of resources and the continuing demand of more sophisticated clients, end users and other stakeholder interests, are driving the construction industry to provide buildings which facilitate enhanced environmental and energy performance, and greater flexibility, in response to ever increasing financial, environmental, legal and economic constraints.

You are introduced to different technological concepts used to enable the construction of building elements; from substructure to completion, by understanding the different functional characteristics and design considerations when selecting the most suitable technological solution.

You gain an overview of the industry’s size and operation of construction companies. Health and safety performance is considered and also how BIM has the potential to influence a range of construction processes and operations.

You develop an understanding of construction practice and management processes. You investigate and research the modern construction industry, both from the practical skills embedded within the industry through to its links with development on-site and the connection with construction management; including roles within the industry.

You develop basic knowledge of the properties of materials needed to successfully complete the other core and specialist modules. You analyse, apply, investigate and evaluate scientific principles and the properties and behaviour of materials in construction related situations. It is contextualised for construction, civil engineering or building services engineering and the delivery and assessment is tailored to your particular vocational needs.

This module develops your underpinning mathematical knowledge and techniques relevant to studies in construction and civil engineering. You are introduced to mathematical methods and statistical techniques in order to analyse and solve problems within a construction engineering context. It has been designed to enable you to develop your knowledge of algebra, trigonometry, calculus, statistics and probability, for the analysis and solution of realistic construction problems.

You apply the skills and knowledge that you developed in other modules of the course (and where possible experiences from work) within a major piece of work that reflects the type of performance expected of construction technologists. 

You develop your ability to identify, define, plan, develop and execute a successful project by working through a clear process. You develop a project brief, outlining a problem that requires a solution, as well as a project specification, the specific requirements of which the final outcome must meet.

You research the problem, undertaking a feasibility study, and consider a range of potential solutions using critical analysis and evaluation techniques to test, select and contextualise your preferred solution. You also provide a work and time management plan, keeping a diary of all activities, reflecting on their process and their learning throughout the project.

You gain a broad understanding of electrical machines, distribution of electric energy and lighting design basics, and develop the skills needed to design simple electrical and lighting installations in compliance with relative legislation and standards.

You look at the effective, energy efficient and controllable heating, sympathetic to the form and function of the building that are expected in today’s energy conscious world. You explore the legislation, standards and design guides associated with heating installations and apply these in producing design solutions for industrial, public and commercial buildings. You also produce design drawings and perform calculations necessary to size, select and specify the pipework, plant and equipment associated with these heating installations. This module focuses on the application of the principles, standards and legislation associated with the design, control, testing and commissioning of the boiler plant or other heat sources for low temperature hot water heating.

You develop skills in applying the principles of design and operation of air conditioning equipment and installations, and have an opportunity to experience the process of completing air conditioning designs in complex industrial and commercial applications. You also interpret the air conditioning requirements of buildings, develop practical air conditioning schemes for a range of environments, and evaluate the effectiveness of alternative schemes.

You develop mathematical knowledge in differential equations and numerical methods and extend your base of techniques to solve a variety of problems which arise in engineering domains. The emphasis is on developing competence in the identification of the most appropriate method to solve a given problem and its subsequent application.

Discover the principles and practices by which efficient and effective electrical and lighting services within buildings are designed, and examine the influences that affect optimum design, under normal and fault conditions. You explore energy efficient lighting, emergency lighting, final and sub-main circuits, fire and alarm systems, photovoltaic systems, all to be designed to meet current regulations.

Develop your knowledge of the design of commercial heating and air-conditioning systems used in a variety of buildings, and your understanding of engineering issues related to the specification, design and operation of low temperature hot water heating systems including heat emitter technologies, component sizing and system selections.

You will study technology, people, policy and process change required to adopt BIM as enabler of the future of construction. 3D visualisation, Virtual Reality, Augmented reality, offsite construction, 3D prototyping and component printing as opportunities for the Construction industry to adopt. You will consider different design processes in the construction industry in the advent of BIM and information as a technological and methodological breakthrough.

Explore computer aided design techniques used to analyse the thermal performance of a commercial building, including detailed consideration of the building façade in association with the effects of thermal mass, passive solar control and variations in casual heat gain.

Develop the knowledge and skills to become an information manager, or BIM manager in your future career. You study the methodologies to manage digital BIM based projects for the construction and engineering fields, learning how to create, manage and encourage other users to work within the BIM collaboration space.

You work in teams and develop key skills required to plan and manage civil engineering/construction projects. You consider a problem-solving scenario to identify and evaluate a range of alternative options to meet the Client’s requirements and the project objectives. This includes analysis of site/project constraints, planning process, buildability and sustainability considerations.

You expand your employability skills such as group work, project management and presentation skills to support problem solving in a technical engineering context.

The module features an intensive project week, where you work solely on this group project. Key milestones are set, including progress meetings with tutors acting as clients and, where possible, meetings with professionals involved in the construction industry acting as expert consultants and offering constructive feedback on your proposals.

The demand for energy – to run electrical devices, heat and cool buildings, and maintain industry – continues to grow and places considerable strain on the natural environment. The pressures of supporting economic growth, while seeking to minimise our environmental impact, has driven the research and development of new sources of energy.

You gain the knowledge and skills to implement suitable alternative energy technologies and understand their economic, social and environmental benefits within a broader context.

You cover energy systems, solar power systems, energy conservation, passive solar heating, wind energy, ocean energy technologies, hydro and micro-hydro turbines, geothermal energy, air pollution abatement, carbon dioxide sequestration and carbon trading economics.

You explore heating and air conditioning control applied to building services engineering systems, and develop an understanding of the interaction of control elements and system behaviour. Control strategy is developed through consideration of system objectives and building performance leading to the development of plant and systems schematics. And you gain an understanding of the selection and specification of final control elements, and the appreciation of control characteristics and intelligent control systems.

You develop the knowledge and skills for effective management of projects from conception, through to the design and construction stages, into end user and end-of-life cycles. You study how to manage stakeholders, communication and information sharing. And support different groups to ensure they are working to schedule, budget and contract.

Develop your independent learning skills by investigating an area of engineering for an extended research or design project.

Get trained in technical reports for knowledgeable readers before producing a report. You also give an oral presentation, poster presentation or both.