BSc in Building Sciences in Troy United States | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

The four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Building Sciences prepares students for the broad range of roles and opportunities presented by the building industry. The building sciences focus on the design and construction of building systems such as structures, enclosures, environmental systems, lighting, and acoustics as well as their management, performance, and building diagnostics. The degree consists of 130 credits.

Students in the Building Sciences program declare a concentration, prepare and submit a plan of study at the end of the second semester. The plan of study must be approved and filed with the Building Sciences program director. The program director must also review the plan of study annually.

The study of Building Science focuses on phenomena that inform the design of next-generation buildings. As the complexity of building systems, design and analysis tools increase to match ever-expanding performance expectations in a sustainability-minded world, a foundational understanding of first-principles is increasingly vital to diverse sectors of the design and construction industry. Using a holistic approach, students in the Building Sciences program develop an understanding of buildings as a set of interconnected systems that can be built, modified, and adapted to meet requirements for functionality, energy optimization and human comfort.

In addition to establishing a solid grounding in fundamentals relating to materials, structure, energy, heat transfer, enclosure and management, students also gain an awareness and critical perspective of the design process before selecting an area of concentration such as construction management, structural engineering, sustainability, lighting or architectural acoustics. Individualized concentrations may also be crafted with approval of the Building Science program director.