Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Design

This minor focuses on engineering solutions for mitigating environmental impact in three domains water, energy and materials such as a plant for water or flue gas cleaning, recycling, or biomass processing. By offering an integrated sustainable design methodology it teaches you to take into account the future of available resources for water, energy and materials and the climate that we rely upon. Examples of sustainable design are reducing the use of raw materials, recovering materials from slurry or solid waste, recycling old building materials, or reusing old products or structures. Dominant concepts are circularity, water reuse, renewable materials and renewable energy. We also stimulate the search for synergy in the integrated design between the traditional subsystems for water, energy and materials. But also synergy with external systems, such as the use of locally available building materials or energy sources, or exchanging/coupling them with external parties within the region where your design system is planned. In Q1 you will gain the knowledge and necessary depth about the available techniques, resources and sustainability, and apply this in Q2 in a group of students in a multidisciplinary final assignment.

The final assignment concerns a practical design of an engineering (sub-) system that can meet the environmental requirements. This piece of engineering is then embedded, and adjusted where necessary, to also meet sustainability requirements. The complete procedure runs from basic concept to detailed design, where specifications of the use of space, water, materials, energy, environmental impacts and economic aspects (purchase, maintenance, costs) receive the necessary attention. Within each group, this requires some control of the different disciplines. Depending on the nature of the projects offered, an extra workshop can be arranged to convey specific knowledge and calculation skills. The case for the final assignment is formulated such that engineering and sustainability are covered and, if necessary, two responsible teachers will be added per group to supervise. For questions please contact the minor coordinator.

After this minor the student will:

• Have knowledge of technologies and systems dedicated to protecting the environment.

• Have knowledge of sustainable principles, such as circularity, recycling, reuse and renewable resources.

• Be able to apply life cycle analysis to assess environmental impacts of a technical design.

• Be able to apply the knowledge and skills taught in this course to come to an effective integral (prototypal) design.

• Be acquainted with the urgency to save strategic resources of water, energy and materials and our climate.

• Be acquainted with the advantages of striving towards synergy in the design of different technical systems.

Registration for this thematic minor is on a first-come, first-served basis and available places. (No lottery draw).

All TU Delft BSc students who feel confident about their basic knowledge of processes, chemistry, heat theory, mechanics, mathematics. The minor is also interesting for students from outside TU Delft with a similarly solid technical background.

Student at Leiden University, TU Delft or Erasmus University Rotterdam?
Check the eligibility matrix to see if your bachelor’s degree programme offers access to this and other minors at https://www.tudelft.nl/minor

Student at another educational institution?
External students cannot register via EduXchange. Interested in this minor, read the whole registration procedure at https://www.tudelft.nl/minor
For additional information on this minor, visit the TU Delft minor page.

Education Methods: Lectures and projects

Minor Assessment: Exact details will be announced by the responsible teacher during the first lecture and on Brightspace.