Critical Thinking and Communication

The article by Calrecycle, ‘Green Building Materials' (2023), briefly introduces the benefits of incorporating green building materials into buildings, the selection criteria, and the procedures that lead to the selection of products. Green buildings have many advantages for the environment. Some of the advantages include using renewable sources which leads to lesser electricity and utility bills. In addition to that, the life cycle cost of the building will be reduced by a tremendous amount. There are also other advantages such as better well-being of occupants and freedom in the design of the building. Next, the selection criteria are separated into five categories: ‘Resource efficiency, indoor air quality, energy efficiency, water conservation, and affordability ‘(para.7). These factors are what building owners consider before selecting appropriate green building materials for their building. Lastly, building owners use ‘research, evaluation, and selection’ (para.14), to narrow ...

The CalRecycle article on 'Green Building Materials' gives a brief introduction to sustainable building and states that it is advantageous to building owners as it has more flexibility, cuts down money expenditure, boosts occupants' well-being and ability to perform, energy saving, and lastly, costs lesser to upkeep or replace over the building's life. Secondly, the article tells the audience defines green building products or materials as environmentally friendly and that it plays an important role in reducing waste over the whole life cycle of the building. This information is followed by the material or product selection criteria which are categorized into resource efficiency, indoor air quality, energy efficiency, water conservation, and affordability which the article goes on to describe in detail. Thirdly, the article states 'three basic steps of product selection': researching, evaluating, and selecting. The research part requires the collation of data an...

“Communication skills are an essential component in the education of engineering students to facilitate not just students’ education but also to prepare them for their future careers.” Marc Riemer, Faculty of Engineering, Monash University (2007) The above-stated quote suggests that communication skills are very vital in both students' education life and working life. I do agree with this statement to a high extent due to experiences I have faced during my Polytechnic education and when I was working for a company. The reason I agree with this quote from an engineer's point of view is the fact that engineers have to be really good at communicating as they are responsible most of the time for instructing the construction workers on what the exact plan is for the building. If they were to not deliver their instructions clearly, there may be great consequences that may affect the construction of the building.  An example of when I learned that communication is key to all jobs was ...

Dear Professor Blackstone, I am writing this descriptive formal letter to introduce myself to you. A little educational background information about myself will be, before enrolling in SIT civil engineering, I studied at Temasek Polytechnic and took a diploma course on green building and sustainability. I chose to take up green building and sustainability diploma due to my deep interest in saving the environment. Hence, through the diploma course, I hoped to learn how buildings can be built in the most environmentally friendly way with the least amount of pollution. During my course of study, I developed a higher interest in the building construction sector and its engineering aspect. Hence, I decided to pursue SIT civil engineering degree program. One of my communication strengths would be how I can easily find common topics to discuss with people whom I have newly met. This is due to my large range of interests and hobbies. For example, when I meet someone new, I ask about their ...