Course Summary
Over the past five years the Dublin School of Architecture has developed a range of upskilling courses in Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) for building design professionals. NZEB is the energy performance standard required under the European Union Energy Performance in Buildings Directive (EPBD).
College Link
Career Sectors
This course prepares you for working in the Career Sectors below. Follow the links to get a fuller understanding of the sectors you are preparing for.
Entry Requirements
The PGDip BP(EED) course is open to the following categories of applicants:
• Registered Architects
• Professionally qualified architects who are or have been members of the RIAI, subject to interview.
• Registered Architectural Technologists
• Professionally qualified Architectural Technologists, subject to the requirements scheduled below.
• Registered Building Surveyors
• Chartered Engineers
• Professionally qualified Engineers, subject to a minimum 2.2 Level 8 qualification plus 2 years minimum relevant accredited professional experience, or equivalent.
• Other technical design professionals subject to a minimum 2.2 Level 8 qualification plus 2 years minimum relevant accredited professional experience, or equivalent.
Applicants may be required to demonstrate ability in architectural technical drawing and building fabric design.
Application Details
Applications for courses commencing in September 2025 will open in November 2024.
Commencement Date: September 2025
Fees
Year 1: €2,500
Year 2: €3,000
The Student
Career Interests
This course is typically suited for people with the following Career Interests. If these interests do not describe you, this course may prepare you for work you may not find satisfying.
Realist
Realists are usually interested in 'things' - such as buildings, mechanics, equipment, tools, electronics etc. Their primary focus is dealing with these - as in building, fixing, operating or designing them. Involvement in these areas leads to high manual skills, or a fine aptitude for practical design - as found in the various forms of engineering.
Realists like to find practical solutions to problems using tools, technology and skilled work. Realists usually prefer to be active in their work environment, often do most of their work alone, and enjoy taking decisive action with a minimum amount of discussion and paperwork.
Career Progression
For building design professionals such as architects, architectural technologists, engineers and building surveyors, an understanding of NZEB will be critical to professional survival. The NZEB standard will apply to all new public building from the end of 2018 and to all buildings by 2020. The need for NZEB upskilling is clear.
Graduates of the Postgraduate Diploma in Building Performance (Energy Efficiency in Design) will be uniquely qualified to design and assess the energy performance in new and existing building typologies including multi-unit residential and non-domestic typologies measured against national performance metrics.
They will be able to research and advise on insulation options assessed as safe in accordance with the best international standards and detail, specify and oversee the installation to ensure performance targets are met.
Graduates will understand the dynamics of thermal, moisture and air movement through building fabric and design the optimal balance of all three to ensure the integrity of any retrofit solution proposed and protect the structural longevity of the building fabric.
In short they will be leaders in the field of retrofit assessment and design. Their skills will be equally applicable to new build work where the principles of building fabric design are significantly more easily accommodated.
With energy analysis skills building on and enhancing their construction industry experience, graduates will be ideally placed to secure employment in the area of energy renovation of the existing building stock – an emerging and expansive field of construction activity across the European Union, in response to the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.
MRIAI and RIAI (Arch Tech) graduates will be eligible to apply for RIAI Sustainability Accreditation.
Duration
Mode of Study Part Time
Method of Delivery On-Campus, Online
Schedule
The delivery of TU413 Postgraduate Diploma in Building Performance (Energy Efficiency in Design) course suits those upskilling, re-skilling & returning to work.
As the programme is ‘nested’, please visit the webpage for TU412 PG Cert BP(EED) for Stage 1 information.
There are a range of ways in which the schedule and delivery have been structured to suit students who are fully employed professionals. The programme is designed so that most study takes place each week between Friday morning and Monday evening, at times the student chooses. Modules are taught one at a time.
In the (5-ECTS) taught modules the only fixed dates are webinars on the first four Tuesdays at 8pm, an online exam at 8pm on the second and fourth Thursdays, the feedback workshop at the end of the fifth week and the project submission. Once a semester the feedback workshop will be held on campus.
In the larger (15-ECTS) project module seminars are held on Fridays. In general these are online, though 2 or 3 will be held on campus to benefit student learning.
Flexibility is provided via (a) the online resources; (b) videoed lectures that can be repeatedly watched (slowed down or sped up); (c) the recording of webinars to allow later watching; (d) the provision of repeat online exams within the same semester; and the Autumn supplemental exams and project submissions.
A key aspect is that students may decide when they can view lecture materials. Students should plan for a weekly commitment of ~20 hours in most weeks of each module.