UCL Bartlett (Faculty of the Built Environment)

Discover The Smart Energy and the Built Environment MSc

The video introduces UCL’s new MSc in Smart Energy and the Built Environment, launched by the Bartlett Faculty, which has just been ranked the world’s top program in built‑environment studies for the fourth consecutive year. The Energy Institute’s mission—to tackle climate change, energy security and affordability through impactful research and diverse community engagement—underpins the degree’s design. Speakers outline the rapid transformation of the energy system: decarbonisation, electrification of heating and cooling, and the shift from flexible fossil‑fuel generation to a more diverse mix of renewables, nuclear and carbon‑capture technologies. Because future supply will be less flexible, the programme emphasizes demand‑side management, storage, and smart‑grid solutions as essential, cost‑effective pathways. Key remarks include the claim that “smart energy is a revolution in the way we work,” and that the MSc is a “vocational degree” aimed at equipping students with both hard skills—modeling, data analytics, coding—and soft skills such as communication and project management. The curriculum combines core modules on fundamentals, society, and smart‑distributed technologies with a wide selection of electives and a research‑focused dissertation linked to industry partners. The implications are clear: graduates will be ready for a booming job market in a sector critical to climate goals, while the interdisciplinary training equips them to develop and implement the smart‑energy solutions needed for resilient, affordable, and healthy built environments.