Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning - UC Berkeley

Minor in Sustainable Design

Sustainable design implies making decisions at various scales of the built environment (buildings, communities, land use patterns, urban support systems) in ways that support environmental quality, social equity, and economic vitality. The minor in sustainable design is jointly offered by the Department of Architecture and the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, but also includes interdisciplinary courses across campus. The minor is open to all majors at UC Berkeley.

Advisers. Students may select as an adviser for the minor any tenured CED faculty member teaching a required minor course. For general questions about the minor, contact Susan Hagstrom at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it in the Department of Architecture (232 Wurster Hall), or Mary Anne Clark at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning (202 Wurster Hall).

Prerequisites

One course from the following:

CIV ENG 11 (3) Engineered Systems and Sustainability (Fa, Sp)
ENV DES 1 (3) People and Environmental Design (Fa, Sp)
ENV SCI 10 (3) Introduction to Environmental Sciences (Fa)
ESPM C10 (4) Environmental Issues (cross-listed with L&S C30V)

Required Courses

Five courses (minimum of 2 courses from each list below):

List 1: CED Courses

ARCH 140 (4) Energy and Environment (Sp)
ARCH 240 (3) Advanced Study of Energy & Environment (Fa, Sp)
ARCH 242* (1,2) Sustainability Colloquium (Fa)
ARCH 243 (3) Natural Cooling: Sustainable Design for a Warming Planet (Fa, Sp)
ARCH 244 (3) The Secret Life of Buildings (Fa, Sp)
ARCH 245 (3) Daylighting (Fa, Sp)
ARCH 249 (1-4) Special Topics in the Physical Environment in Buildings (Fa, Sp)
CY PLAN 119 (3) Planning for Sustainability
CY PLAN 254 (3) Sustainable Communities
ENV DES 105 (4) Deep Green Design (Fa, Sp)
LD ARCH 103 (5) Energy, Fantasy, and Form (Fa)
LD ARCH 110 (4) Ecological Analysis (Fa)
LD ARCH 122 (4) Environmental Science for Sustainable Development (Fa)
LD ARCH 130 (3) Sustainable Landscapes and Cities (Fa, Sp, Su)

* Note: The ARCH 242 colloquium may only count as a third course from this list.

List 2: Non-CED Courses

CIV ENG 103 (3) Introduction to Hydrology (Fa, Sp)
CIV ENG 107 (3) Climate Change Mitigation (Sp)
CIV ENG 113N (3) Ecological Engineering for Water Quality Improvement (Fa, Sp)
ENE,RES 100 (4) Energy and Society (Fa, Sp)
ENE,RES 101 (4) Ecology and Society (Fa) (offered alternate years)
ENE,RES 102 (4) Quantitative Aspects of Global Environmental Problems (Sp)
ENE,RES 151 (4) Politics of Energy and Environmental Policy (Fa)
ENE,RES 175 (4) Water and Development (Fa)
ESPM 100 (4) Environmental Problem Solving (Fa)
ESPM 102D (4) Resource and Environmental Policy (Sp)
ESPM 117 (4) Urban Garden Ecosystems (Fa)
ESPM 151 (4) Society, Environment and Culture (Sp)
ESPM 155 (4) Sociology of Natural Resources (Fa)
ESPM 161 (3) Environmental Philosophy and Ethics (Fa)
ESPM 166 (4) Natural Resource Policy and Indigenous Peoples (Sp)
ESPM 167 (3) Environmental Health and Development (Fa)
ESPM 168 (4) Political Ecology (Fa)
ENV SCI 125 (3) Environments of the San Francisco Bay Area (Sp)
ENVECON C101 (4) Environmental Economics (cross-listed as ECON C125) (Sp)
ENVECON C102 (4) Natural Resource Economics (cross-listed as ECON C102) (Fa)
ENVECON 162 (3) Economics of Water Resources (Sp)
ENVECON C175 (4) Economics of Climate Change (cross-listed as IAS C175) (Fa, Sp)
GEOG 1 (4) Global Environmental Change
GEOG 130 (4) Natural Resources and Population (Fa, Sp)
PUB POL 182 (4) Environment and Technology from the Policy and Business Perspective (Fa, Sp)
SOCIOL 123 (4) Corporate Social Responsibility and Green Business (Fa, Sp)
SOCIOL 128 (4) Society and the Environment