Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Design

Incorporating the disciplines of design, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban and regional planning, the Sustainable Design major focuses on the places, things, systems, and policies needed to help solve problems in a sustainable society.

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Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Design

The College of Fine and Applied Arts recognized a unique opportunity to draw on the expertise from across the college to create a new degree program: the Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Design. Incorporating the disciplines of design, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban and regional planning, this undergraduate major will focus on the places, things, systems, and policies needed to help solve problems in a sustainable society. Through a combination of existing and newly developed classes, students will experience an innovative, interdisciplinary, and unique course of study that will prepare them to enter jobs in the public or private sector guiding institutions and society to greater sustainability or continue their educational pursuits in a variety of graduate programs.

 

Why a Degree in Sustainable Design?

  • Rigorous broad-based education in design with a focus on building sustainable communities through intentional design of environmentally sensitive products, buildings, landscapes, and cities
  • Draws on disciplines of design, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban and regional planning
  • Focuses on the places, things, systems, and policies needed to help solve problems in a sustainable society
  •  Prepares you for the future in a sustainable world where ideas from many disciplines will be necessary to solve complex problems
  • After graduation
    • Enter jobs in design firms, planning agencies, industry, nonprofits, and public policy institutes
    • Continue preparation in a variety of graduate or professional programs such as landscape architecture, architecture, industrial design, graphic design, urban design, and urban planning or accelerated graduate design programs at Illinois

Study sustainable design at Illinois, a 2022 Gold STARS campus for sustainability performance awarded by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

 

Opportunities and Events for Sustainable Design Majors

Join Sustainable Design and related organizations in these ongoing events and activities, virtually and in person! As the faculty committee learns of relevant opportunities related to the major, they will be listed here. RSOs can email sustaindesign@illinois.edu to have their events included.

See upcoming events

 

BSSD Newsletter Archives

Catch up on news, opportunities, and events through our weekly newsletter! Subscribe here.

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The deadline to apply for ARCH 499, Community-Based Sustainable Design at Casa Pueblo in Puerto Rico is October 24!

This course will engage multidisciplinary and mixed-level students in dialogues on participatory methods to bridge the campus community divides, frustrating productive collaborations for sustainable design in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. Upper-level undergraduate and graduate students will, after six weeks of lectures and discussions, travel during Spring break to directly engage with local academics, artists, activists, and communities working with Casa Pueblo in the municipality of Adjuntas, PR. We will study and build upon the internationally recognized cross-cultural work of Casa Pueblo, which, since 1980, has fostered community self-reliance through energy independence based on localized cultural, scientific, and artistic practices. Beyond adaptation, their mission is to provide energy security during climate emergencies, promote economic activity, and create public spaces for “bottom-up” dialogs on solidarity, energy justice, and energy freedom for all.

Course begins the week of January 20, 2026

Travel during spring break: March 13 to 21, 2026

Instructor: Yazmin Crespo Claudio, Assistant Professor in the School of Architecture (ycrespo@illinois.edu)

Application Deadline: October 24, 2025

Casa Pueblo is a community-based organization in Adjuntas, founded more than 40 years ago, and dedicated to self-management, environmental protection, and renewable energy. It has become a model for grassroots sustainability and cultural resilience in Puerto Rico. Under the leadership of Arturo Massol-Deyá, Casa Pueblo has received numerous recognitions, including the Goldman Environmental Prize (2002) and the Sierra Club’s Environmental Justice Award, honoring its decades-long commitment to energy democracy and ecological justice.

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Oct 6 - SP 2026 Class Schedule Available on Course Explorer

Oct 10 - Do you have an academic or professional opportunity you’re excited about that requires funding to pursue? For Fall semester 2025, scholarships of $300 or $500 will be awarded to selected students based on the clearly defined benefit to the student’s academic or professional growth. Link in bio. For questions, email sustaindesign@illinois.edu or schedule an advising appointment. 

Oct 10 - Application deadline for the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP). URAP provides students with little or no research experience the opportunity to work with graduate students and post-doctoral scholars on their research projects, explore the culture and process of research, and build on existing abilities within a community of scholars. Learn more: https://undergradresearch.illinois.edu/programs/urap.html 

Oct 15 - BSSD Intercollegiate Transfer Deadline - Link in Bio

Oct 17 - BSSD Virtual Info Session https://enroll.illinois.edu/portal/prospect_susdesign 

Oct 17 - Deadline to apply for this spring break course that engages multidisciplinary and mixed-level students from the FAA in dialogues on participatory methods to bridge the campus community divides, frustrating productive collaborations for sustainable design in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. Upper-level undergraduate and graduate students travel to directly engage with local academics, artists, activists, and communities working with Casa Pueblo in the municipality of Adjuntas, PR. Visit https://go.illinois.edu/CasaPuebloSpringBreak for more info and to apply. 

Oct 17 - Halfway Point of Class Deadlines: Drop a course via self-service with no “w” grade; withdraw from semester without w grades; submit Cr/NC request; submit grade replacement; and last day to withdraw for minimum 40% refund

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✨Reminder ✨ Due one week from today! Get your applications in by Friday, October 10 at 11:59 pm

Do you have an academic or professional opportunity you would like to pursue but need additional funding to do so? The Opportunity Scholarship provides $300 or $500 awards to selected students. Funds are awarded based on clearly articulated benefits to the student’s professional or academic growth.

Link in bio and QR Code
Have questions?: email sustaindesign@illinois.edu or schedule an advising appointment 🍂

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