The program requires that 4 courses be taken, each taking 2 weeks of study time. In total, program will take about 60 hours to complete. It spans 8 weeks of learning, with 1 one-week break between courses.
The program is offered during the Winter/Spring session each year (February – April). Students may register and complete all courses in one session or spread out the courses (in order of prerequisite requirements) over a 2-year time frame.
Each course in this program will require approximately 15 hours of learner’s time. The program has 4 mandatory courses:
- Building Embodied Carbon Accounting
- February 3 – 14, 2025
- Building Operational Carbon Accounting
- February 17 – 28, 2025
- Negative Carbon Emission Strategies
- March 3 – 14, 2025
- Zero Carbon Building Practices
- March 31 – April 11, 2025
Courses must be taken in sequential order, as they build on one another, but may be taken individually, in different sessions within a two-year time frame, to receive the micro-certificate.
Completion Requirements
To successfully complete the program, students are required to:
- Complete all assignments and learning activities for each course and the overall program.
- Achieve a minimum score of 50% or higher on each assignment within a course.
Failure to meet these requirements will result in non-qualification for course and program completion.
Timeline to Completion
Participants have the flexibility to set their own timeline to completion, within a maximum of two years.
Course Descriptions
Course 1: Building Embodied Carbon Accounting
Embodied carbon emissions are derived from the manufacturing, transport, installation, use and end-of-life of building materials. This course focuses on carbon emissions across the entire life cycle of the building including upfront carbon from material production and construction phases, embodied carbon during the use stage and carbon emission happening at the end-of-life cycle.
Course 2: Building Operational Carbon Accounting
Operational carbon emissions are associated with energy use and the release of refrigerants during regular building operations. This course will cover the direct emissions including fugitive emissions from refrigerants, combustion of fossil fuels and combustion of biogenic materials. This course also covers indirect operational emissions that do not occur directly by the building, such as emissions from district heating and cooling and grid electricity.
Course 3: Negative Carbon Emission Strategies
Negative emissions are emissions reductions that occur outside of the value chain or life cycle of a building. This course will cover negative emission solutions such as carbon offset projects, carbon capturing and green power export as renewable energy.
Course 4: Zero Carbon Building Practices
This course will provide opportunities for professionals to design and plan their building carbon emissions based on the knowledge learned from the first three courses. The final project will be offered for students to achieve zero/low carbon building from their professional background based on the knowledge learned from the previous three courses and their industrial experiences.
