Unit Synopsis
This unit will introduce building ergonomics, including its effects on human performance and comfort; "universal access" design considerations; and engineering services associated with residential, low rise commercial and industrial building projects. Using industry regulations, standards and codes of practice, students will examine the principles of building services requirements, installation, operation and maintenance relating to: energy usage and needs; natural, extractive and air conditioning ventilation; natural and artificial lighting; security and communications, hydraulic service supply and disposal systems; fire protection; and acoustics.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 1 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
There are no pre-requisites for the unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Written Assessment | 25% |
| 2. Written Assessment | 35% |
| 3. Written Assessment | 40% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 70.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 21.57% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: SUTE
To make feedback more clear
Developing detailed rubrics for all assignments is recommended to clarify marking criteria for students.
Detailed marking rubrics were developed for all assessment tasks in the unit and published on Moodle well in advance of each assessment opening, so that students had clear guidance as they prepared their work. The rubrics specified performance standards for each criterion and grade band, and were explicitly referenced in lectures, tutorials, and assessment briefings to support student understanding of expectations and to improve the transparency of marking.
Source: UC reflection
To improve overall satisfaction
To ensure clarity and alignment with learning outcomes, it is recommended that the assignment briefs be revised to better support focused, high-quality responses. Adjustments to the structure and expectations—such as revising word limits or question design—may help promote more relevant and concise student work. These revisions aim to improve overall satisfaction while maintaining academic rigour.
The assignment briefs were systematically revised to ensure explicit alignment with unit learning outcomes and to support focused, high‑quality responses. This included clarifying the task's purpose and its links to specific learning outcomes, refining question design to reduce overlap and ambiguity, and adjusting word limits and sub‑questions to ensure expectations for depth and scope were realistic and transparent. The revised briefs also provided clearer structural guidance (for example, suggested headings and response formats) while maintaining academic rigour and student independence. Building on these changes, the unit team will continue to review student feedback and grade distributions in subsequent terms. It will make further refinements as required to sustain or improve student satisfaction.
Source: Student Feedback
Students suggested providing more consistent feedback on assessments.
Student feedback indicated that different markers used different methods for returning feedback (e.g. Turnitin comments and rubrics, uploaded feedback files, or comments in Moodle), which made it difficult for some students to know where to look. In response, the teaching team has standardised and clearly communicated the locations of feedback for each assessment, specifying in the unit profile and on Moodle whether feedback will appear in Turnitin, as an uploaded file, or in a Moodle feedback area. In future offerings, we will provide step‑by‑step guidance in Week 1 and reminders after each assessment release, showing students exactly how to access their feedback in the designated platform to minimise confusion and improve uptake.
In Progress
Source: Self-reflection
Review and update of materials and power point slides in the Moodle.
It is recommended to review and update all course materials and PowerPoint slides in Moodle to ensure content is current, accurate, and aligned with learning outcomes.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Describe building ergonomic factors affecting human performance and comfort
- Identify “universal access” service amenities required for the physically disabled
- Discuss energy usage and needs for residential, low rise commercial and industrial building projects
- Explain natural, extractive and air conditioning ventilation, natural and artificial lighting, security and communications, and hydraulic service supply and disposal systems using industry regulations, standards and codes
- Identify fire protection measures used in residential, low rise commercial and industrial building projects
- Interpret building acoustic requirements using industry regulations, standards and codes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | ||||
| 2 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | |||
| 3 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | • | ||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | |||
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • | • | ||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • | |||
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | ||||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |