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.
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.
BSSD Newsletter Archives
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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.
Join us in welcoming new sustainability-focused faculty to @faaatillinois . Today we are highlighting Teaching Assistant Professor Yvonne Gu from the Department of Landscape Architecture. Read about her inspiring perspective on sustainable design and the field of Landscape Architecture!
1. What role does sustainability play in your practice/research?
Sustainability is the core driver of my work at the intersection of architecture and landscape. In practice, I focus on nature-based stormwater strategies and “domestic hydrology”—turning walls, roofs, gutters, and small assemblies into water-active systems that store, filter, and cool. Through design-build prototypes (e.g., a low-tech greenhouse completed earlier this year that captures rain and moderates interior climate), I test affordable, repairable, locally maintainable solutions that couple ecological performance with everyday use. In research, I develop a decentralized infrastructural framework I call “Domestic Hydrology as Infrastructure,” which reframes courtyards, walls, roofs, and thresholds as active hydrological elements linking architecture and landscape.
2. What plans do you have for sustainability-related work now that you are at UIUC?
I’m launching student-engaged, design-build projects on campus that integrate stormwater capture, pollinator habitat, and public use. This includes installations (rain gardens/bioswales, water-revealing architectural assemblies), a practical stewardship toolkit (maintenance scripts, monitoring), and courses that pair environmental analysis with fabrication. We’ll measure outcomes—gallons retained, canopy benefits, biodiversity, and user engagement—to develop replicable household- and neighborhood-scale models for Illinois communities.
Did you see the BSSD student projects on the second floor of Art and Design? These posters were made by students in ARDT 451 Ethics of a Designer in a Global Economy (EDGE), a studio course that presents complex problems of social and environmental ethics within graphic design
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
✨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 🍂
Kaia Rytel received a BSSD Opportunity Scholarship last year. With the funds, Kaia was able to purchase materials for her ARCH 401 final project, a midcentury-inspired chair made using steam-bent timber production. The class focused on developing new skills in laser cutting, 3D printing, metalwork, welding, and wood carving. Her final project was an opportunity to apply these new skills. The scholarship also supported Kaia’s ability to create a high-quality book for her capstone project.
Do you have a project that needs funding? Applications for the Fall 2025 BSSD Opportunity Scholarship are open now and due October 10. Link to application in bio. Questions?: make an advising appointment to talk through your ideas.
BSSD is hiring two tenure stream Professors of Sustainable Design at the Assistant or Associate level. Apply by October 26. Visit https://go.illinois.edu/BSSDProfessor for additional details and to apply.
These interdisciplinary positions will have joint appointments across two of the academic units that contribute courses to the BSSD (detailed below), with a firm primary tenure home established in one of those units. We seek colleagues who bring vision, intellectual rigor, and expertise in emerging as well as traditional forms of sustainable design inquiry and research.
The curriculum draws on the research and teaching expertise of faculty from the School of Architecture, School of Art and Design, Department of Landscape Architecture, and Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Students engage in a rigorous, cross-disciplinary course of study that emphasizes systems thinking, ecological stewardship, and design excellence. Through this integrated approach, the program prepares students to shape sustainable communities, systems, and policies.
The ideal candidate will engage sustainable design from their area of research specialization, leading and collaborating on research across and between the units that support the BSSD curriculum within and beyond the College of Fine and Applied Arts.
The successful candidate will be expected to teach and develop new critical insights in one or more areas central to the BSSD curriculum.
In addition to teaching and research, the candidate will demonstrate a strong commitment to fostering a collaborative environment across teaching, learning, departmental service, and research activities. They will contribute to advancing the educational mission of the University of Illinois, a land-grant institution dedicated to access, education, research, and public service at both local and global scales.
Candidates must possess a doctorate or other appropriate terminal degree (e.g. MArch, MFA, MLA) in or related to sustainable design, architecture, landscape architecture, or urban planning.
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
Important Dates:
Application opens: Monday, Sept 22
Application closes: Friday, Oct 10 at 11:59 PM
Winners Notified: By Oct 14
Winners Return Signed Acceptances: By Friday, Oct 17, 11:59 pm
Funds distributed by the end of October
Eligibility: To qualify, students must be: enrolled as a continuing student in the BSSD program; registered for at least three-quarters time during the semester for which the scholarship funds will be applied; have a minimum GPA of 2.0
Selection Criteria:
Winners are selected based on the quality of the proposal, academic performance, and demonstrated potential for leadership within the field of Sustainable Design.
To apply, students must submit an online application form with a 1-page proposal and 1-page budget
