Building Engineering as a Discipline

Building construction is an ancient human activity. It began with the purely functional need for a controlled environment to moderate the effects of climate. Constructed shelters were one means by which human beings were able to adapt themselves to a wide variety of climates and become a global species.

Building construction today is a significant part of industrial culture, a manifestation of its diversity and complexity and a measure of its mastery of natural forces, which can produce a widely

varied built environment to serve the diverse needs of society.

Education in the field of Building Engineering as one of the areas of civil engineering is the study of the integrated application of engineering principles and technology to building design and architecture. Building engineering is an interdisciplinary engineering subject that offers a general

engineering approach to the planning, design, construction, operation, renovation, and maintenance of buildings, as well as with their impacts on the surrounding environment. The discipline requires pertinent knowledge integrated from traditional well-established disciplines: civil engineering for building structures and foundation; mechanical engineering for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system (HVAC), and for mechanical service systems; physics for building science, lighting and acoustics; electrical engineering for power distribution and control; chemistry and biology for indoor air quality; architecture for form, function and specifications; economics for project management.

Building engineering students are ideally trained in all phases of the life cycle of a building, and learn to appreciate buildings as an advanced technological system requiring close integration of many sub-systems and their individual components. Technical problems and appropriate solutions are studied to improve the performance of the building in areas, such as energy efficiency, construction management, HVAC and control systems, advanced building materials, earthquake resistance, wind effects on buildings, computer-aided design.

The building engineering graduate may work as a consulting engineer, design engineer, project manager, construction manager, cost engineer, facility manager, conservation-utility director,

20 Английский язык для студентов строительных специальностей

UNIT 1. BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 21

HVAC engineer, operation manager, process engineer, or in research and development, among other career possibilities.

Building engineering academic programmes normally provide an accredited academic degree. The completed degree may be designated as a Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Technology or Bachelor of Applied Science depending upon the university or institute. The length of study is four years and the programme consists of basics of engineering and sciences (technical drawing, engineering mechanics, mechanics of materials, thermodynamics, mathematics, computer programming, surveying), subjects in building engineering sciences (structural analysis and design, soil mechanics, building engineering systems, building economics, construction management, thermal environment and building service systems). In some programmes, elective courses allow students to specialize in one or more sub-disciplines.

Graduates may pursue a postgraduate degree, such as a Master of Engineering, Master of Applied Science, an Engineer's degree, or a Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering. The Master and Engineer's degree may consist of either research, coursework or a mixture of the two. The Doctor of Philosophy consists of a significant research component and it is often viewed as the entry point to academia.