[Poly U MSc in BSE] Subjects Description

The programme content is structured to provide flexibility for students to choose a

combination of subjects reflecting several focuses depending on the professional background
of the student, namely, Building Electrical Services Focus, Energy Efficiency Focus and
Building Environmental Quality Focus. Apart from the compulsory core subjects for both PgD
and MSc levels, students will have the flexibility to choose a range of core / elective subjects
provided under the above focuses (subject to availability on a first come first serve basis).
Students are advised to stipulate an agreed programme of study with the Programme Leader
upon enrollment during the first semester of study.
Enrolment
Enrolment to the programme typically takes place at the beginning of the first semester of an
academic year. Each taught subject is equivalent to 42 hours of class contact plus
approximately 100 hours of student centred study. Taught subjects are of one semester
duration (currently 14 weeks). Meetings between class tutors and programme participants
may be on a weekly basis of approximately three hours per week, or they may be scheduled
for more intensive periods of learning over weekends. Formal assessment of each subject is
typically through a combination of coursework assessments and a final examination.
BSE511 - Lighting Engineering
To provide students with up-to-date knowledge of lighting technologies and practice. The
emphasis will be on the importance of lighting in relation to health, safety, and well-being;
economics and energy conservation; and human productivity and creativity.
Photometrics of various kinds of lamps and luminaries as well as electrical characteristics of
various lamp and ballast systems are examined. Lighting objectives of various types of
buildings and outdoor spaces are identified and various design techniques and calculations
are examined. The balance between performance, comfort and energy consumption are also
examined.
In addition to lectures and guided reading, students are required to do an evaluation of a
lighting scheme and present their work in seminars.
BSE512 Engineering Intelligent Buildings
To provide practising engineers with enhanced knowledge of specialist electrical system
design and operation.
The emphasis will be on design methodology and the troubleshooting of operational
problems. A critical review of current practices with a view to developing a total systems
design approach, with integration and co-ordination aspects will be emphasised.

BSE 515 - Electrical Installations in Buildings

To provide practising engineers with thorough knowledge and critical appreciation of electrical
installation design and operation in modern, large high rise buildings and complexes.
The emphasis will be on design methodology for safe and economic system performance,
and the troubleshooting of operational problems. A critical review of current practices with a
view to developing a total systems design approach, with integration and co-ordination
aspects will be emphasised. The subject will place emphasis on efficient supply, distribution
and utilisation of electrical energy in buildings.

BSE521 - Air Conditioning Control and Operation

To provide practising building services engineers with enhanced knowledge and critical review
of technical, environmental and economical aspects of air conditioning systems critically.
The theme is on system control and operation, aiming to evaluate air conditioning system
operation and performance with respect to the indoor environmental conditions and energy
requirement.
It provides a structured summarised course on air conditioning systems for graduates working
in BSE but lack of previous formal learning of air conditioning. Fundamentals will be covered
by brief review and self-study guides. Enhanced materials will be covered in lectures. Tutorial
time slots will be arranged within lectures wherever appropriate to allow free discussion and
clarification of queries. Workshops and student seminars will be organised to facilitate
findings that may not be readily appreciated from books and sharing of experience gained
from work.
BSE522 - Building Energy Simulation
To enable students to critically examine and apply mathematical and computer modelling
techniques in the formulation of simulation models for thermal systems and components
related to modern buildings.
The subject contents emphasise on the application of principles of heat and mass transfer
and air-conditioning and refrigeration engineering in establishing numerical simulation models
for the prediction of heat transport in buildings, energy consumption of buildings for airconditioning and the performance of air-conditioning systems.
BEng graduates and MEng students of this University will find the subject an extension of the
subjects HVACR Services I & II, HVACR Systems Analysis and Design Simulation Software in
the BEng and MEng courses. The subject also helps students to integrate their knowledge in

building heat transfer and HVACR systems with their mathematics and computing techniques.
This subject is also offered to MSc students who are electrical or mechanical degree holders
with some knowledge and/or experience in air-conditioning systems. This group of students
will find the subject a supplement to their knowledge in the field and to their understanding of
the theoretical background of building and system simulation software they may come across
with in their professional practice.
Teaching and learning activities embrace formal lectures, computer workshops, case studies
and student presentations.
BSE531 - Computational Fire Modelling for Building Design
To equip the students with the basic theories and techniques in computational fire modelling
for evaluating and improving active control and passive fire design of buildings.
BSE532 - Fire Engineering Systems
To equip the students with an in-depth and up-to-date knowledge of fire engineering systems
associated with the building services industry, based on a rational and critical analysis of the
systems.
BSE533 - Fire Dynamics
To provide students a detailed theoretical base of fire dynamics, active and passive fire
control design of buildings.
To study the burning properties of materials and fire design.
The study will emphasise the theoretical fire extinguishing mechanism and appraisal of
applications of active fire protection systems, and detail fire behaviour of materials.
The subject also includes the investigation and appraisal of current development and
research in building fires and services systems. The syllabus will always be revised and updated in conjunction with the development and needs of fire services.
BSE534 - Legislation Aspects of Fire Safety Management
To equip the students with knowledge of the Legislation Aspects of Fire Safety Management.
The purpose is to provide the students with legislation knowledge with respect to fire safety
management, so that they can learn about the regulations in relation to the fire services
installation and the recommended practices for buildings of different uses; and integration
with the fire safety for the building as a whole. Comparison with the overseas regulations and
the use of fire statistical records to improve the fire safety provisions and management

strategies will also be discussed.

It will be at the level of practising building services engineers who are working in the area of
fire engineering or interested to learn more.
BSE535 - Design Considerations for Fire Safety Management
To provide fire protection engineers with appropriate design knowledge for fire safety
management.
To review the design criteria in various fire safety design.
To review main performance characteristics, limitations and applications of existing fire safety
systems.
BSE541 - Building Acoustics
To extend knowledge of students on acoustics, noise and vibration control to acoustical
design of special rooms and the practices of noise and vibration control, and to enable
graduates to become specialists of their design office.
To train students in greater breadth and depth to achieve a satisfactory acoustical
environment.
The subject will start with a discussion on indoor noise and vibration sources and their effects
on human beings.
Acoustic design needs of various indoor environments will be identified. Noise and vibration
control methods will be discussed and examined.
Instrumentation, measurement techniques and acoustic application software will be examined
and discussed. The use of equipment will be demonstrated.
Seminars will be used for the introduction of concepts and fundamentals of the subjects.
Tutorials will be conducted to supplement the lectures for the application and better
understanding of complex engineering theories. Students are required to read and discuss
course materials and relevant publications at seminars and to prepare alternative solutions to
problem
BSE542 - Energy Efficient Buildings
To provide students with an overall view of energy use patterns in buildings, particularly large
air-conditioned buildings, taking account of environmental and economic factors.
To enable students to understand the processes of energy audit and survey, including the use

of appropriate instrumentation, in order to identify opportunities for energy conservation and

demand limitation in existing buildings and in new designs.
To enable students to integrate and to apply their knowledge of efficient operation of building
services systems, to upgrade existing buildings and improve designs for new buildings.
The focus is on the design, operation and maintenance of existing buildings, to examine
practices which lead to efficient or inefficient performance, and to quantify performance for
benchmarking and comparison purposes. The subject will include mini-projects such as
surveys of existing buildings and practices. The subject will discuss country-wide, system
specific and building specific approaches to upgrading performance, such as embodied in US
EPA energy star type programmes, ASHRAE and CIBSE guides, etc.
The teaching will be conducted by a combination of lectures and student seminars, roughly in
equal proportions. Students will be required to actively contribute to the development of the
subject by conducting surveys and bringing forward data on various buildings.
BSE543 - Building Environmental Performance
To enhance the awareness of environmental issues and the impact that buildings have on the
environment,
To evaluate the ability of new and existing buildings to meet a range of environmental
performance criteria
Students are provided with a number of documents relating to the environmental performance
of buildings. These generally comprise the background information provided in HK-BEAM
documents. Students are required to deliver seminars and review papers on the various
topics. Suitability of the environmental assessment criteria and consideration of further criteria
are investigated.
BSE547 - Indoor Air Quality Engineering
To identify Indoor Air Quality as part of a much broader aspect in building environmental
performance.
To acquaint students with indoor air quality issues, the corresponding health impact and
health risk. To examine mitigation through good design, operation and maintenance practices.
The objective is to allow practitioners to understand the health and comfort issues, health
risks and mitigation measures for new and existing buildings.
To realise the importance of indoor air quality management in buildings.
BSE551 - Facility Management: Professional Practice

This subject provides an introduction to Facility Management covering a review of its

evolution as a discipline. It examines the role of the Facility Manager in an organisational
context and its implications as a distinct professional that has implications on existing
traditional professions in the construction and property industry. The practice focus of the
subject is to provide a critical review of current practice of the delivery of Facility Management
services with a high proportion of professional and academic input from the FM industry
in Hong Kong and overseas. The subject content looks into the aspects of management
leadership;

corporate

culture;

Facility

Management

organisational

framework;

the

organisation of the function and teams; ethics and accountability; regulatory and legal issues;
contracts and contract procedures; quality and design issues.
BSE552 - Facility Planning and Project Management
The practice of FM involves both strategy and implementation. This subject focuses on the
context of facility planning and the practice of project management. At a strategic level, facility
planning translates business strategy into specific facility plans for implementation. Project
management skills are then needed to implement the project within time, cost and quality. The
subject content places special emphasis on long range and master planning for facilities;
space forecasting, planning and management; design-build cycle; interior design; budget and
cost estimation. At the implementation level, techniques of project management and their
applications to Facility Management are examined together with risk assessment and disaster
planning recovery.

BSE554 - Maintenance Management of Built Assets

The role of physical assets as an enabling resource is not obvious to many owners in both the
public and private sectors. Being a durable product with inherent attributes of large financial
investments with life-cycle implications during the asset-in use phase in terms of reinvestment needed, a comparatively protracted procurement and disposal process,
operational buildings require specific skills in optimizing its useful lives. A growing corporate
awareness of the need to manage their property assets and occupancy costs has resulted in
greater professionalism in the area of maintenance management of built assets.
This subject examines the corporate barriers Facility Managers face in convincing corporate
management to invest in protecting the functional value of operational built assets. The
subject content covers contemporary issues in maintenance management of built assets, the
maintenance management process as part of a whole-life asset management approach,
technology impact and tools in demand assessment, prioritizing and budgeting, procurement,
performance review and audit.
BSE556 - Building Services Engineering Maintenance Management

To provide the students with a detailed knowledge of the practice of building services
engineering operations and maintenance.
To develop a critical understanding of the acquisition, installation, operation, maintenance and
disposal of building services systems.
To provide an opportunity for students to critically review standards, practices and procedures
for the operation and maintenance of facilities.
BSE562 - Technology Integration for Facility Management
Technology is having a profound impact on everyday business. This has significant impact for
the Facility Manager from both an organisational perspective and from the perspective of
meeting stakeholder demands. To remain competitive, the Facility Manager must understand
both the use of technology and how advances in technology can be harnessed to improve
service delivery and client satisfaction.
The focus of this subject is the application and implications of technology for the Facility
Manager. The subject examines technology from three separate perspectives embedded
technologies (building technology, materials, energy and supporting technologies etc.),
Enabling Technologies (those technologies which support the Facility Manager in their work)
and Enhancing Technologies (those technologies associated with information management,
collaboration and information aggregation including portals, data mining etc.)
BSE574 Research Methods
To develop an understanding of scientific research methods and to critically examine their
application in a particular aspect of building services engineering, facilities management, or
fire and safety engineering.
To develop sufficient expertise to adopt and use an appropriate research strategy to
undertake a dissertation project.
To know the techniques necessary for collecting, presenting, synthesising and analysing data.
To develop a dissertation proposal, suitable methodology and programme to enable an
initiation of the integrated research project in building services engineering, facility
management, or fire and safety engineering.