Stressing Creativity, Institute Offers Distance Based Green Education including MSc in Green Building
The San Francisco Institute of Architecture, currently based in Berkeley California, is a Registered Provider of Continuing Education for the American Institute of Architects and offers over 40 distance learning architecture and ecological design courses for professional development and education. Over 5,000 architects have used SFIA’s continuing education courses. SFIA workshops are presented to architects, engineers, educators and students in all major cities of the United States. Over the years, SFIA has sponsored national and international design conferences that have had an impact on thousands of educators and professionals — especially those working in green building design practice and education.
The San Francisco Institute of Architecture received the prestigious 2009 First Award from the national Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, for SFIA’s Green Building Education Initiative. SFIA Director Fred A. Stitt received the award at a ceremony in the House of Representatives building in Washington DC on February 26, 2009. There he briefed architect attendees and congressional delegates and officials concerned with the future of green building and green building education.
The USGBC’s LEED program has made history and will continue to do so, as thousands of buildings, public and private, in every city, will be required to be green certified. This will be one of the few bright spots in the economy in the next few years. SFIA is offering a Master of Science in Green Building degree, which can be completed through self-paced, distance learning.
The Institute is working toward accreditation of its Distance Learning Program with specialized distance learning accreditation agencies. The Institute provides a range of Associate, Bachelor and Masters degree programs via distance and in-class learning. SFIA’s ecological design program will be accredited through a new nonprofit organization, the Berkeley Institute of Ecological Design. While the Distance Learning Architecture Program is not likely to be accepted by the National Architectural Accrediting Board, students can start with SFIA and continue later at other, accredited schools, dependent upon the entrance and transfer requirements of each accredited school.
The Institute has the following affiliations/memberships:
Tuition is $300 for each course, with discounts available for pre-payment of all 16 courses (discounted to $3,600 = $225/course), or by 4 course track (discounted to $960 per track = $240/course). Information may be found on the Institute’s website: http://www.sfia.net . At least one textbook is required for each course. The average cost through book services is $30 – $50 per book, plus shipping. (International students pay higher shipping costs.). The Institute welcomes international students as well. While there are no special tests or other requirements for international students, they must be able to perform all course work in English. |
The Master of Science in Green Building degree comprises 16 online courses, structured into the four tracks as follows:
There are no starting dates for Distance Learning. Courses can be started at any time and finished at any time. All courses are completely self-paced and do not coincide with the SFIA on-site class schedules. All courses are textbook based; studio courses also include design assignments. The student responds to each textbook chapter with a checklist summary “tell back” of the chapter content. This is an efficient method of learning, and is far more effective for retaining content than the traditional lecture/cram/exam method. Studio design and graphics work is submitted by E-mail or postal mail. |
Short URL: http://www.mygreeneducation.com/?p=5310
Posted by SBurke
on Jan 6 2010. Filed under Certificate, College, Graduate.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry