
Student Guide
Application and Admission Regulations
Intake 2021/2023 Syllabus_ Term I
Intake 2021/2023 Syllabus_ Term II
Intake 2020/22 Syllabus_ Term III
Study and Examination Regulations & Admissions and Approval Regulations, German (Valid for intakes after October 2019)
Appendix to the Study and Examination Regulations & Admissions and Approval Regulations, German (Valid for intakes after October 2019)
Study and Examination Regulations & Admissions and Approval Regulations, English (Valid for intakes after October 2019, translation, German version binding)
Appendix to the Study and Examination Regulations & Admissions and Approval Regulations, English (Valid for intakes after October 2019, translation, German version binding)
Study and Examination Regulations, German (Valid for intakes 2016-2018)
Study and Examination Regulations, English (Valid for intakes 2016-2018)
General Study and Examination Regulations of Technische Universität Berlin of 9 September 2020 (German Version)
General Study and Examination Regulations of Technische Universität Berlin of 9 September 2020 (English Translation)
Building Sustainability is a Master’s program which is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary course for those who plan a career in real estate project planning and management with a focus on implementing sustainability and acknowledging the relevance of different urban contexts.
The concept of the German „Energiewende“ – literally, energy transition – has gained international attention. It includes a variety of measures that aim at making Europe’s largest economy free of fossil fuels and nuclear energy. In order to attain this, all areas of energy production and consumption will have to go through a transition process. Besides mobility and industry, buildings are therefore one of the key factors for a successful Energiewende.
TU Berlin Alumni Program
The MBA program in „Building Sustainability – Management Methods for Energy Efficiency“ comprises skills, methods, and concepts to consider different approaches, to understand them, and to align them for reaching sustainable solutions. Such competencies are indispensable in every building, construction, and real estate project that takes energy efficiency and other sustainability criteria as balancing economic, social, ecological, and cultural aspects in responsibility for future generations into account.
In this regard, students will learn a lot from experts and from each other and hopefully enjoy the international, interdisciplinary teamwork as well as Berlin’s urban and cosmopolitan atmosphere.
Curriculum
The master program is taught over a period of three semesters. The first semester covers the technical, economic, entrepreneurial, and legal foundations for management decisions in the building sustainability sector; the second semester deepens this view through the Interdisciplinary project, Management, and the lecture series modules; the third semester broadens the view while simultaneously focusing on practice according to student’s individual interests. All semesters include lectures, tutorials, seminars as well as Excursions /presentations, online materials related to practice, and extracurricular activities. The master thesis due in the third semester concludes the program.
Program structure
Module Description
M01 Technology (9 ECTS)
In this module, students review and gain more in-depth general technical knowledge and knowledge of energy technologies and systems in the context of current developments taking into account social responsibility and sustainable development. The module also covers the most important technological insights, and the technological foundations of the subsequent modules are explained. Students will be able to define and evaluate various procedures, apply them to selected cases in the construction sector, and present options for optimizing them.
M02 Economics (6 ECTS)
This module is an introduction to economics. It covers the most important principles of economics taking into account social responsibility and sustainable development. The module engages with the latest research and encourages a critical and reflective approach in providing a grounding in economics for subsequent modules. Students are able to employ specialized knowledge and aspects of economics and to compare general and selected cases from the construction sector.
M03 Business (9 ECTS)
This module is an introduction to business studies. It covers the most important principles of business studies taking into account, social responsibility and sustainable development. The module engages with the latest research and encourages a critical and reflective approach in providing a grounding in business studies for subsequent modules. Students will be able to define the main features of business studies, apply problem-solving skills to case studies using different fields of knowledge, and, depending on the focus of their studies, present options for optimizing the construction sector.
M04 Law (6 ECTS)
This module is an introduction to legal principles and the legal framework for real estate at an international, European, and national level. Students will be able to use their own initiative to combine legal knowledge and skills in solving complex problems, evaluate cases independently and analyze and summarize legal situations.
M05 Management (12 ECTS)
Students are able to independently identify, analyze, and design strategic approaches taking into account the consequences of environmental changes for planning, management, and controlling. They do this by incorporating interdependent technological, economic, business, and legal processes in companies and organizations and taking into account social responsibility and sustainable development. Students will be able to define the main features of management in the construction sector, apply problem-solving skills to case studies using different fields of knowledge, and present options for optimizing the building sector.
M06 Lecture series (6 ECTS)
The students will be able to follow and identify key facts from expert presentations on the technological, economic, social, and environmental dimensions of problems in energy-focused planning and construction processes in individual buildings and across neighborhoods.
M07 Interdisciplinary Project (12 ECTS)
This module combines a number of subject-specific competencies in one project. The students will be able to evaluate and analyze buildings from an energy and economic perspective and implement new and innovative concepts in improvement and optimization strategies. This module offers insights into the planning, implementation, and operation of technologies (software, communications, and hardware) in building monitoring, control, and automation, with a particular focus on energy management. Students will gain a basic understanding of flexible and smart energy management in modern living environments. With the view of achieving a holistic energy balance, the students will develop a detailed knowledge of internal factors such as building configuration, user/usage, monitoring, control/automation, and decentralized generation. From the perspective of a smart building, they will also understand the relationship with external factors such as energy procurement, (regenerative) energy supply, legal and market frameworks for construction and operation. Students will also gain a basic understanding of the thermophysical principles of HVAC systems and the role they play in the energy management of a building. Graduates will be able to identify and assess the energy efficiency impact of options for smart building design and implementation, and compare these with other measures (e.g. smart heating compared with changes to the building envelope).
M08 and M09 Compulsory electives (6 ECTS each)
Two of the following modules must be selected:
- Compulsory elective:Energy-Efficient Societies
- Compulsory elective: Sustainable Urban Development
- Compulsory elective: Integration of Renewable Energies
- Compulsory elective: Efficiency Management A
- Compulsory elective: Efficiency Management B
- Compulsory elective: Managing Sustainable Innovations A
- Compulsory elective: Managing Sustainable Innovations B
M10 Master thesis (18 ECTS)
Lecturers
In addition to their own engineering, planning, architecture or economics studies, participants will gain technical, economic and management skills tailored to the building sector, and will be prepared for a management career in leadership positions across the boundaries of their own fields. In addition to sector-specific fundamentals, the program includes project and life cycle management modules as well as a global perspective regarding different approaches to energy-efficiency.













Experts
Lecturers are full time professors of TU Berlin, expert professors from cooperating international universities, senior industry managers with a strong academic background, or senior executive staff of regulatory bodies.

Academic Director

Academic Program Manager

Founder of Circular Berlin

Owner of monomer
Zero-Waste Coaching for plastic-free life

Expert for sustainability &
founder of the Berlin Social Academy

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

International Climate Initiative (IKI)
Federal Environment Agency, Germany (UBA)

Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS)














Oberbaudirektor Hamburg



Federal Environment Agency, Germany (UBA)
Advantages & Opportunities
The Master’s program in Building Sustainability is intended to give young engineers, architects, economists and planning scholars from universities, enterprises, planning offices and public authorities the opportunity to gain interdisciplinary specialist knowledge. The program enhances their professional skills in the area of sustainable and energy-efficient building management while taking into account the urban context of buildings, thus preparing them for specific challenges resulting from urban development and climate change.
In order to transfer the theoretical knowledge to practice, a strong focus will be on interdisciplinary group projects. The program is therefore particularly suitable for young professionals who seek a leadership position in international companies. It requires at least one year of postgraduate working experience.
Learning and studying in small groups of up to 30 students allows for individual and excellent learning conditions.
Quality Assurance
Part of sustainability is quality management. Quality should not be left to chance, but be the result of a continuous improvement process. The TU Berlin changed its quality focus from the quality assurance of individual study programs to the evaluation of the university as a system. The TU Berlin has designed its quality assurance procedures in such a way that the participating actors can develop themselves in a responsible manner and in dialogue with each other. System accreditation leads to the accreditation of all study programs offered by a university.
“The subject of system accreditation is the internal quality assurance system of a university in the field of study and teaching. The structures and processes relevant for teaching and studies are examined to ensure that they achieve the achievement of the qualification objectives and the high quality of the courses, whereby the requirements of the Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK) are the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ESG). and the criteria of the Accreditation Council apply.
A positive system accreditation certifies the university that its quality assurance system in the field of study and teaching is suitable for ensuring the achievement of the qualification objectives and the quality standards of their degree programs. Degree programs that are set up according to the specifications of the accredited system or have already been subject to internal quality assurance according to the specifications of the accredited system are thus accredited.” (Own translation after German Accreditation Council of 20/02/2013.)
Currently, the final phase of the accreditation process has started and received the label of the system accreditation in the near future is possible. Please visit the webpage Central Evaluation and Accreditation Agency ZEvA for more information.
Tuition Fees
From October 2022, the tuition fee for the master program is 19,800 Euro (6,600 Euro per semester) plus the regular TU administration fees of currently 307.54 Euro per semester. The tuition fees cover all courses and materials; the regular administration fees include the semester ticket for using the public transportation service in the city of Berlin (tariff zones ABC).
Schneider Electric is offering scholarships for this program.
The following search engines can help you to find a suitable scholarship:
- International Education Financial Aid
- International Scholarships
- Scholarship Positions
- Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst „FindingScholarships“
- Study Portal supported by the European Commission
- StipendienLotse des BMBF
- MyStipendium
- WeMakeScholars
- Begabtenförderungswerke
International Scholarships Programs:
- Aga Khan Foundation
- African Development Bank
- Asian Development Bank
- Ford Foundation
- Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership
- International Federation of University Women (IFUW)
- UNESCO
- World Bank
German Foundations:
- Hanns Seidel Foundation
- Heinrich Böll Foundation (information sheet)
- Heinrich J. Klein Foundation
- Friedrich Naumann Foundation
- Konrad Adenauer Foundation
- Rosa-Luxemburg Foundation
- Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED)
- Katholischer Akademischer Austauschdienst (KAAD)
- Cusanuswerk
- Peter Fuld Stiftung
- Stiftung Industrieforschung
- Studienstiftung des Abgeordnetenhauses von Berlin (information sheet)
Other National Scholarship Programs
Arab Region
- The website of Bibliotheka Alexandrina lists a number of scholarship providers in the countries of the Arab region.
- Bibliotheka Alexandrina
- Arab Council for the Social Sciences
Australia
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Egypt
- Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership
- Qalaa Holdings Scholarship Foundation
- Cusanuswerk
- El Masry Foundation for Community Services
- Information Technology Industry Development Agency – ITIDA
- Citadel Capital Scholarship Foundation
- Misr El Kheir
- Mohamed Rachid Charity Association
- Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD)
Germany
- Bildungskredit vom Bundesverwaltungsamt – BAföG Deutsche Bildung AG (information sheet) Festo-Bildungsfonds
- Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
Indonesia
Korea
Mexico
Russia
Testimonials
Team

Academic Director

Academic Program Manager

Academic Program Manager

Administrative Coordinator

Student Assistant
Application
The application deadline is April 30th of each year for a start in October of the same year.
You can send us your application documents from February through April 2022 for the next academic year 2022/2023 starting in October 2022.
Required application documents:
- Motivation letter in English (max. 1 page A4)
- Tabular Curriculum Vitae with information about educational and professional background
- University degree(s) recognized by German universities (at least 210 ECTS)
- Proof of work experience of at least one year (preferably in the relevant working areas of energy) after completion of studies
- Proof of knowledge of the English language at level B2 (or higher) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) – not required for high school graduation with English language
- Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or Graduate Record Examination (GRE) – only if available
The number of students is limited to 30 per year. An admission committee will decide about selection based on results of former studies, the study profile, and further relevant qualifications that were attained outside the university.
For more information, please check The Application and Admission Regulations. (English translation, German version binding)
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If you have any questions regarding the application procedure of Building Sustainability, please contact us: contact@master-in-energy.com