Education in the field of Building Engineering, better known as Architectural Engineering in the United States, is the study of the integrated application of engineering

Engineering

Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

 principles and technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

 to building design and architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

. For professional practice see architectural engineering

Architectural engineering

Architectural engineering, also known as building engineering, is the application of engineering principles and technology to building design and construction...

.

Discipline

Building engineering is an interdisciplinary engineering discipline, better known in the US as architectural engineering

Architectural engineering

Architectural engineering, also known as building engineering, is the application of engineering principles and technology to building design and construction...

, that offers a general engineering approach to the planning, design, construction

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

, 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
  Civil engineering
  Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
  
   for building structures and foundation;
• Mechanical engineering for Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning system (HVAC
  HVAC
  HVAC refers to technology of indoor or automotive environmental comfort. HVAC system design is a major subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer...
  
  ), and for mechanical service systems;
• Physics for building science
  Building science
  Building science is the collection of scientific knowledge that focuses on the analysis and control of the physical phenomena affecting buildings. It traditionally includes the detailed analysis of building materials and building envelope systems...
  
  , lighting
  Lighting
  Lighting or illumination is the deliberate application of light to achieve some practical or aesthetic effect. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight...
  
   and acoustics
  Acoustics
  Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics...
  
  .
• Electrical engineering for power distribution, control, and electrical systems;
• Chemistry and biology for indoor air quality
  Indoor air quality
  Indoor air quality is a term referring to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants....
  
  ;
• Architecture
  Architecture
  Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
  
   for form, function, building codes and specifications;
• Economics for project management
  Project management
  Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing, and managing resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end , undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value...
  
  .

Building engineering students may be trained in the life cycle of a building. Technical problems and appropriate solutions are studied to improve the performance of the building in areas such as:

• Energy efficiency, passive solar engineering, lighting and acoustics;
• Construction management;
• HVAC and control systems; Indoor air quality;
• Advanced building materials; building envelope;
• Earthquake resistance, wind effects on buildings, computer-aided design.

The building engineering graduate may work as a consulting engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

, design engineer

Design engineer

Design Engineer is a general term that covers multiple engineering disciplines including electrical, mechanical, industrial design and civil engineering, architectural engineers in the U.S...

, project manager

Project management

Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing, and managing resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end , undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value...

, construction manager

Construction

In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...

, cost engineer, facility manager, conservation-utility director, HVAC engineer, operation manager, process engineer, or in research and development, among other career possibilities.

Specializations

• Building Indoor Environment covers the environmental aspects in the design, analysis and operation of energy-efficient, healthy and comfortable buildings. Fields of specialization include: thermal comfort, air quality, lighting, acoustics, HVAC and control systems.
• Building Envelope
  Building envelope
  The building envelope is the physical separator between the interior and the exterior environments of a building. Another emerging term is "Building Enclosure". It serves as the outer shell to help maintain the indoor environment and facilitate its climate control...
  
   is an application area which draws from all areas of building engineering, especially building science and indoor environment. It focuses on the analysis and design of building envelopes, including durability, heat and moisture transfer and interaction with the indoor environment.
• Building science
  Building science
  Building science is the collection of scientific knowledge that focuses on the analysis and control of the physical phenomena affecting buildings. It traditionally includes the detailed analysis of building materials and building envelope systems...
  
   focuses on the analysis and control of the physical phenomena affecting the performance of building materials and building enclosure systems.
• Building Structure
  Structure
  Structure is a fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to the recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns and relationships of entities. This notion may itself be an object, such as a built structure, or an attribute, such as the structure of society...
  
   area concerns with the principles of structural mechanics, material behavior and their applications to the analysis and design of steel, reinforced concrete and timber building structures. Fields of specialization include: wind and seismic effects on buildings.
• Construction Management
  Construction management
  Construction Project Management is the overall planning, coordination and control of a project from inception to completion aimed at meeting a client’s requirements in order to produce a functionally and financially viable project that will be complete mingement is project management that applies...
  
   includes construction techniques, construction processes, planning, scheduling; project tracking and control, labor and industrial relations, and legal issues in construction.
• Computer Aided Engineering is an exciting area in Engineering. Even though computers have become ubiquitous in the architecture-engineering-construction industry, their present use is mostly limited to drafting, analysis, member sizing, cost estimation, and construction management. Computers have tremendous untapped potentials in the field of Building Engineering.
• Energy Efficiency is also an application area which draws from the building science and building environment areas. It includes analysis, design, and control of energy-efficient or low-energy buildings, HVAC
  HVAC
  HVAC refers to technology of indoor or automotive environmental comfort. HVAC system design is a major subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer...
  
   systems, solar energy utilization and intelligent buildings.
• Architecture
  Architecture
  Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
  
  
• Construction engineering
  Construction engineering
  Construction engineering is a professional discipline that deals with the designing, planning, construction, and management of infrastructures such as highways, bridges, airports, railroads, buildings, dams, and utilities. Construction Engineers are unique such that they are a cross between civil...
  
  
• Plumbing
  Plumbing
  Plumbing is the system of pipes and drains installed in a building for the distribution of potable drinking water and the removal of waterborne wastes, and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures in such systems. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping...
  
   and piping
  Piping
  Within industry, piping is a system of pipes used to convey fluids from one location to another. The engineering discipline of piping design studies the efficient transport of fluid....
  
   (hydronics
  Hydronics
  Hydronics is the use of water as the heat-transfer medium in heating and cooling systems.Some of the oldest and most common examples are steam and hot-water radiators. Historically, in large-scale commercial buildings such as high-rise and campus facilities, a hydronic system may include both a...
  
  )
• Fire protection engineering
  Fire protection engineering
  Fire Protection Engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to protect people and their environments from the destructive effects of fire and smoke....
  
  
• Building power systems
  Electrical engineering
  Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
  
  
• Lighting
  Lighting
  Lighting or illumination is the deliberate application of light to achieve some practical or aesthetic effect. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight...
  
  
• Acoustics
  Acoustics
  Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics...
  
  , noise
  Noise
  In common use, the word noise means any unwanted sound. In both analog and digital electronics, noise is random unwanted perturbation to a wanted signal; it is called noise as a generalisation of the acoustic noise heard when listening to a weak radio transmission with significant electrical noise...
  
   & vibration
  Vibration
  Vibration refers to mechanical oscillations about an equilibrium point. The oscillations may be periodic such as the motion of a pendulum or random such as the movement of a tire on a gravel road.Vibration is occasionally "desirable"...
  
   control

Education

Building engineering and Architectural engineering academic programs would normally provide an accredited academic degree

Academic degree

An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...

. The completed degree may be designated as a Bachelor of Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering

The Bachelor of Engineering is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at universities in Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, Finland , Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Korea,...

, Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

, Bachelor of Technology

Bachelor of Technology

The Bachelor of Technology is an undergraduate academic degree conferred after completion of a three or four year program of studies at an accredited university or accredited university-level institution...

 or Bachelor of Applied Science

Bachelor of Applied Science

The Bachelor of Applied Science, often abbreviated as BAS, BSAS. BASc or BAppSc is an undergraduate degree awarded for a course of study that generally lasts three to four years in the United Kingdom and Australia, and four to six years in Canada, the Netherlands and the United States.-Usage:In...

 depending upon the university or institute. The length of study is between three to four years and the program 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, the aural and visual environment, building envelope design, 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 Engineering

A Master of Engineering or Master of Technology or Master of Science in Engineering A Master of Engineering (Magister in Ingeniaria) (abbreviated M.Eng., ME or MEng) or Master of Technology (abbreviated M.Tech. or MTech) or Master of Science in Engineering A Master of Engineering (Magister in...

, Master of Applied Science

Master of Applied Science

Master of Applied Science is a professional Master's degree...

, an Engineer's degree

Engineer's degree

An engineer's degree is an advanced academic degree in engineering that is conferred in Europe, some countries of Latin America, and a few institutions in the United States....

, or a Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 in Engineering. The Master and Engineer's degree may consist of either research

Research

Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

, coursework

Coursework

Coursework is the name for work carried out by students at university or middle/high school that contributes towards their overall grade, but which is assessed separately from their final exams. Coursework can, for example, take the form of experimental work, or may involve research in the...

 or a mixture of the two. The Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 consists of a significant research component and is often viewed as the entry point to academia

Academia

Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...

.

Architectural engineering educational programs are accredited in the United States by ABET Inc.

Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology

ABET, Inc., formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, is a non-profit organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology...

, formerly known as the "Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology".

United States

Programs in the United States, with those accredited by ABET

Abet

Abet may refer to:* Abet Guidaben , former Philippine Basketball Association basketball player* ABET, Inc., a non-profit organization that accredits higher education programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology....

shown with their year of initial accreditation, are:

• California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA (ABET 1975, AEI)
• Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA (ABET 1991, AEI)
• Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL (ABET 2003, AEI)
• Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (ABET 1936-61 and 1980, AEI)
• Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee, WI (ABET 1988, AEI)
• Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO (ABET 2006, AEI)
• North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC (ABET 1969, AEI)
• Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK (ABET 1986, AEI)
• Penn State University, State College, PA (ABET 1936, AEI)
• Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN (ABET 1977, AEI)
• Texas A&M University, Kingsville, TX
• University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO (ABET 1936, AEI)
• University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (ABET 1936, AEI)
• University of Miami, Miami, FL (ABET 1962, AEI)
• University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE (ABET 2004, AEI)
• University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (ABET 1960)
• University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (ABET 1938, AEI)
• University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (ABET 1986, AEI)

Others

• Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport
• British Columbia Institute of Technology
• Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
• ESTP
• University of Greenwich
• Loughborough University
• Queen's University
• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China
• University of Newcastle
• Università Di Pisa, Italy
• Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
• Politecnico di Milano, Italy
• Politecnico di Torino, Italy
• Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
• Victoria University, Australia
• Universiti Malasya Perlis, Malasya
• University of Westminster, UK
• Polytech de Annecy-Chambér, France
• Engineering College of Aarhus, Denmark