Appraise current knowledge, research and practice and develop a comprehensive and critical understanding of innovative construction technology and processes.

Module name Sustainable and Innovative Construction

Module code CON7SDC

• Assignment 2 Level 7 Programme start month and year March 2022 Assignment
• due time and date 10.00 a.m. (UK Time) Wednesday 27 July 2022
• Pass mark 50% Word count* 3,000 Assessment weighting 60% *for further information see the Word count and overwriting section.
• Submission details For this assignment, you are required to submit:
  • A report as a PDF (preferably) or Word (or similar) file. Please refer to the ‘Assessment preparation’ area of the module for further guidance. Submission of assignments All assignments must be submitted online in the module area of the VLE. The assignment submission link opens 21 days before the due date. Please refer to the information provided in the ‘Assessment preparation’ week for general submission guidance. NOTE: Postal submissions will not be accepted.

Learning outcomes Code Description

• LO1 Appraise current knowledge, research and practice and develop a comprehensive and critical understanding of innovative construction technology and processes. LO2 Evaluate different construction and innovative construction technologies, and critically analyse the application of sustainability principles.
• LO3 Critically appraise innovative construction technology used for developing sustainable buildings.
• LO4 Communicate effectiveness using various media used to illustrate appropriate construction technology. Scenario For this assignment, assume that you are an independent sustainability consultant. Your client is Universal Group plc and they have won a contract to design, build, fund and operate four new schools for a city council. Universal is a forward-thinking company and they have asked you to advise them on innovative and sustainable methods of construction for this project. You must make assumptions about the geographic location, the nature of the climate and ground conditions, and what buildings (if any) currently occupy the sites. State your assumptions in your introduction.

Task Provide a fully researched, referenced and well-structured professional report about an innovation that could be used on this project to help achieve ONE of the following objectives: Either

• Provide buildings that can be easily adapted, remodelled and extended as required to cope with different needs in the future. These might include needs other than education. or
• Provide buildings that are particularly well able to cope with climate changes in years to come. Your report should:
• identify and explain your chosen innovation (this could be a building material, a component or a complete element;
• critically assess key issues relating to the following: o innovation o sustainability o environmental impact.
• critically discuss whether your chosen innovation will be an improvement over more traditional methods of construction.
• provide a conclusion that critically appraises the value you think the chosen item can bring to this project in particular and to the construction industry in general.

Appendices

must not be used and an executive summary or abstract are also not required.

Reference list

You should include a reference list with a minimum of 15 separate relevant and appropriate sources that you have written about and cited within your work. The source of any images you have used should be cited where they are used and included in this list, but they do not count towards the minimum of 15 sources. A bibliography of uncited sources is not required.

Additional Guidance

• The report can be prepared using the knowledge and experience you gained from various module activities dependent on which topic you choose. There is guidance in the assignment preparation week on how you may present this professional report. Use images, tables, charts and/or graphs throughout where appropriate to convey information. As well as the guidance given in the assignment brief, you will find the ‘Study skills’ area of the VLE useful for preparing your report.
• The webinars leading up to the assignment submission deadline provide additional guidance and examples for the assignment task.
• Further information to support you with this assignment is available within the study materials for this module on the UCEM VLE. If you have any questions about this assignment, please contact your Module Team using the Assignment forum in the relevant Assessment preparation week on the VLE.
• Marking guidance for this activity This guidance is designed to help you to do as well as possible in your assessment by explaining how the person marking your work will be judging it.
• Your work will be assessed in relation to the requirements set out in the assessment criteria marking guide at the end of this document and the grading guidance section below.
• It is recommended that you read both of these sections before starting your assessment to learn what will help you to achieve the highest marks. Once you have finished you should review the assessment before submitting it, to check you have done what is required to achieve the highest marks. When you receive your feedback from your tutor you should clearly be able to see which categories you gained marks in and, where relevant, recommendations about how to improve your performance going forward.