University Of Colorado

Our vision for the Environmental Design (ENVD) degree program in Boulder is to provide innovative interdisciplinary education to prepare students for practice and advanced study in the design-based fields of architecture, landscape architecture and planning, with the knowledge that those professions are in the midst of significant change. ENVD faculty have created curriculum to address the new challenges facing design professionals – greater sustainability of buildings and cities, global needs for housing, responsible resource management, and adaptation to the impacts of climate change.  This fall we have nearly 800 students in studios, lectures, and seminars taught by 30 faculty with outstanding academic and professional expertise in adaptive buildings, urban design, and landscapes that support society’s domestic, civic, cultural, and industrial/commercial activities.  Students are learning to apply state-of-the-art educational technology including computing tools, digital image databases, fabrication equipment, and media for display and presentation of designs. Their curriculum also draws from Boulder Campus scholarship in the sciences, social sciences, and technology fields in order to enable ENVD graduates to develop new standards and materials for “green” buildings, anticipate the environmental, social, and economic impacts of development, and design for energy and water efficiency in buildings and communities.