Green Civil Engineering

Green civil engineering is managing, designing, constructing and maintaining the built and natural environment, using technologies and techniques that provide services to society, while working within the carrying capacity of local ecosystems and the planet.

Our department is working towards a green future where:

  • we are carbon neutral or net positive
  • we use only renewable water and do not pollute it
  • we renew infrastructure and only construct sustainable infrastructure
  • engineers understand how natural ecosystems function and are skilled and motivated to protect biodiversity

Towards these goals, students in our undergraduate program take core courses in:

  • Sustainable development in civil engineering
  • Building science fundamentals
  • Environmental engineering
  • Environmental policy
  • Sustainable transportation systems

Many other undergraduate courses address sustainability concerns. There are also several fourth year technical electives aligned with the emphasis on green civil engineering, such as:

  • Solid waste, air and water pollution
  • Resilient smart cities
  • Green building design
  • Infrastructure for indigenous and rural communities
  • Building and district energy simulation
  • Water & sanitation for developing countries:
  • Energy systems decarbonization
  • Groundwater hydrology
  • Drinking water contaminants - chemistry, toxicology and greener interventions

Teaching and research at the graduate level follows four broad themes:

 We aim to be the greenest civil engineering department in Canada addressing the most pressing global environmental and sustainability challenges through engineering design, science and practical solutions. Our research and graduate programs focus on green civil engineering solutions for Canada and beyond. Our undergraduate program teaches fundamental competencies supplemented with cutting-edge ideas from environmental science, building science and industrial ecology.
— UVic Civil Engineering Vision Statement