Interdisciplinary: Ph.D. Program In The Built Environment
Sustainability
There is little doubt that the ecological movement that began in the late 1960s and which has grown into strands with dozens of differing names (conservation, preservation, restoration, urban ecology, deep ecology, green building, smart growth, smart building, full-cost accounting, recycling, environmental policy, environmental ethics, environmental design and research, and sustainability) is becoming both an increasingly accepted part of our social value systems and, because it is institutionalized in programs such as the LEED building certification process that increasingly is required of public facilities, will be both socially demanded and professionally required. Though sustainable and environmental degree programs are increasing in number, there are very few in the area of built environment that provide a comprehensive and integrated approach. The demand in this area is expected to increase and be permanent.
As part of its national reputation for its environmental orientation, the College has experience in a whole range of sustainable activities, from the urban ecology group, hazards mitigation, sustainable landscapes and urban forms, or transportation, energy, and lighting research, to organizing series and roundtables on sustainability, to a range of recent developments: certificate programs, the Northwest Center for Sustainable Assembly Research. The Built Environment Program anticipates many new opportunities to cooperate with units that focus on related phenomena: natural environments as dealt with by College of Forest Resources, Ocean Science and Fisheries, and the existing Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Urban Design and Planning; built environments such as treated by Engineering; and artificial environments as engaged by Computer Science and Engineering, the Information School, Technical Communication.
To note demand in one specific sub-area of our proposed area of Sustainable Systems and Prototypes, in the area of construction of sustainable environments, not only is there new and increasing interest as social values and practices change, requiring more expertise in this area, but the retirement of the current senior cohort in this area soon is going to create an unmet demand for faculty, researchers, and practitioners.