Building Engineering, MSc

Programme description

The challenges facing the built environment are complex, and do not fit neatly into a single discipline. Modern buildings need to be health-promoting, energy efficient, and sustainable throughout their life cycle. Achieving this requires expertise from the fields of physics, data science, engineering, environmental analysis and more. Aiming to meet strong international demand for technically oriented building engineers, this interdisciplinary education is at the interface between building physics, energy systems, and sustainability performance.

In the early stages of the programme, you focus on developing a shared foundation in building science, energy systems, and the broader context of climate change and urban transformation. The programme combines a mixture of theory and practice, including hands-on experience in a fundamentals lab, where you will work with core areas of the field. The aim is to build a common platform before you move into more specialised areas of study, with a wide range of electives to choose from. Courses cover diverse areas like HVAC technologies for indoor climate systems, analysis of airflows, heat and moisture transfer, life cycle engineering and sustainable design practices.

Digital tools are becoming an ever more essential part of modern building design. The programme addresses this through courses covering topics like AI-assisted design, automation, digital twins, and computational design. You will learn both what the tools can do and where their limits lie.

You will also complete project-based courses, which can involve working in mixed teams with students from different backgrounds like architecture. The aim is to place you in realistic design situations, where you have to communicate and collaborate with different stakeholders, and learn to balance competing priorities.

Job opportunities

After graduation, you will be well-positioned for roles in building consultancy and construction firms like Sweco and Peab, as well as at architecture companies like Wingårdhs and White Arkitekter. Other relevant employers include sustainability and energy consultancies, like AFRY, or public authorities and municipalities such as the Göteborgs stad or the Västra Götaland region.

Gothenburg itself is a city undergoing significant urban transformation and Chalmers has long-standing collaborations with many of these kinds of external partners in the region. These connections give you excellent opportunities for potential collaborations and contacts for thesis projects.

Many Swedish employers in the construction fields also look favourably on candidates with some Swedish language ability. As a student, you will get access to language course information to help you get started with this.

You will also be well-prepared for emerging professional roles in Building Engineering including building data analysis, building automation and smart building design, and sustainability strategy. The diversity of skills you will develop also make this programme an ideal stepping stone to further studies at doctoral level.

Research

The programme draws directly on active research across several departments at Chalmers. This includes research groups focused on areas like building physics, indoor environmental quality, digital twins of buildings and cities, life cycle assessment, positive energy districts and energy communities. The coursework is often informed by real studies and data on topics like energy performance, indoor thermal resilience, and building control systems. This ensures you get direct contact with current, real-world examples, rather than textbook problems alone.

Chalmers’ connections with industry partners in Gothenburg and Sweden ensure the programme is up-to-speed with current industrial research. Chalmers is also part of the Enhance network, with close links at TU Delft, TU Berlin, RWTH Aachen, and Politecnico di Milano, further broadening your opportunities for contacts and collaborations with international research partners. The programme is also an ideal preparation for further studies at doctoral level. The research environment is so broad that Chalmers itself also represents a major employer for graduates of this programme.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in: Civil Engineering, Architecture and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Energy Engineering, Engineering Physics or the equivalent

Prerequisites: Mathematics (at least 24 cr. including Linear Algebra and Mathematical Statistics), Environmental science/Sustainability science (6 cr.).
20 cr. completed courses, within the following subjects: Heat and Mass transfer, Building physics, Building services engineering/HVAC, Thermodynamics, Fluid mechanics, Building materials/Materials engineering.

Recommended courses: Multivariable analysis, Programming in a general-purpose programming language.

English language requirements: Prove your English proficiency

How to apply