Studying Sustainability Implications in Syllabus of Architectural Engineering Course in Iranian Universities

Architectural engineering is an interdisciplinary course. It has a strict relation with civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering. This study focuses on the status of sustainability in two different syllabuses of the architecture bachelor’s courses in Iran. Content analysis approach was applied along with conceptual and rational methods for the analysis of mentioned syllabuses by using Maxqda software. In the first stage, conceptual analysis was performed by using some codes related to social, economic, and environmental sustainability. In the second stage, the architecture expert panel compared sustainability criteria and their education in two syllabuses as a rational content analysis. The results of the research indicated a significant difference between the former and the present architectural engineering syllabuses: Conceptual content analysis proved that environmental implications in the new syllabus were decreased in comparison to the former syllabus. Conceptual content analysis also indicated that cultural-social and economic codes in the new syllabus increased considerably. The rational content analysis demonstrated that cultural-social implication decreased in the new syllabus, while environmental and economic values were emphasized in the new syllabus compared to the former one. Finally, it was concluded that the application of tangible design methods for sustainable architecture education, integration of quantitative and qualitative design criteria, and sustainable integrated design approaches should be added to the syllabuses of architectural engineering education.