HNC Construction Unit 1 Individual Project Assignment Brief: Energy Efficient Construction

This HNC Construction and the Built Environment Unit 1 Individual Project assignment, “The need for energy efficient construction solutions”, asks you to act as a building services engineer and project manager. You compare construction techniques and materials for energy efficiency, choose one project, specify its design and materials, plan and evaluate the programme of works, then present a full project report and presentation.

Unit 1 Individual Project Assignment Brief

Scenario

Cities are growing fast and the construction industry is under pressure to cut carbon and reach net zero. You are a building services engineer for a large contractor working on government projects, now commissioned as lead consultant to guide a project that improves energy efficiency through better construction techniques, thermally efficient materials, assembly details that avoid cold bridging and condensation, and energy efficient products.

Assignment Tasks

Choosing your construction project

• Represent the energy use of a conventional build and produce at least two feasibility reports on alternative construction techniques and their primary materials.
• Choose one project with the best potential to cut carbon and conserve energy, set out its specification and explain how the technique, materials, assembly and products achieve this.
• Evaluate why choosing the right project matters, considering the natural and urban environment, location, energy and resources, planning, logistics, time and cost.

Design and material specification

• Finalise the design proposals and full materials specification, judge whether the primary material can be optimised and suggest complementary materials for other elements.
• Describe suitable techniques and specifications for reducing energy use, supported by sketches or drawings.

Managing your construction project

• Programme the works using suitable tools such as bar charts, critical path analysis or network analysis, and plan the people and construction information needed.

Evaluating your construction project

• Explore project management strategies that could speed up construction and reduce cost and environmental impact.
• Compare your planned resources, timescales and costs with similar real projects and justify your preferred approach against the original specification.

Project report and presentation

• Produce a report that records your findings at each stage, with supporting evidence, and present the final outcomes and recommendations.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

LO1 Formulate a project that will provide a solution to an identified problem

• P1: Select an appropriate construction-based project, giving reasons for your choice.
• P2: Identify the main components of a project specification.
• M1: Explain why the project specification is of fundamental importance to a successful project outcome.

LO2 Manage a project within agreed timescales and specification, documenting the process throughout

• P3: Identify potential resources, costs and timescales.
• P4: Describe a range of appropriate techniques for generating realistic potential solutions.
• M2: Prepare and update a project management plan, using standard systems of time and resource tracking.
• D1 (LO1 and LO2): Evaluate the relationship between project identification, feasibility and project planning, considering the impact of project scope on time and resources.

LO3 Evaluate potential project management solutions

• P5: Explore project management strategies to determine suitability for a given project.
• P6: Justify the selection of your preferred solution, with reference to the initial project specification.
• M3: Compare the outcomes of your initial planned resources, timescales and costs against actual outcomes.

LO4 Produce a project report and deliver a presentation of the final project outcomes

• P7: Produce a written report identifying each stage of the project.
• P8: Use appropriate forms of referencing and citation in the written report.
• P9: Prepare a presentation of the final project outcomes using industry-standard software.
• M4: Present your final project outcomes and recommendations to a selected audience.
• D2 (LO3 and LO4): Appraise your own performance in managing the project, draw conclusions and recommend improvements for the future.

Answer

Request Answer of this Assignment