Official Study Guide for Germany
Building services, supply engineering, facility management
Supply and building services engineers plan, design, build and operate the infrastructure of single-family homes, residential complexes, commercial buildings or public facilities such as hospitals and schools.
Overview of the academic discipline
At their core, the degree programmes deal with issues relating to the supply of water, electricity, gas and heat. The curriculum therefore includes topics such as the disposal of waste water and waste as well as the air conditioning and ventilation of buildings. Equipment with modern energy technologies (solar systems, combined heat and power, heat pumps), fire protection systems and lifts are also covered in this field of study.
Facility management as a separate division manages and administers existing buildings, systems and facilities with the aim of optimising economic efficiency and value retention and ensuring smooth operations. Infrastructure management, on the other hand, focuses on the effects and requirements of these buildings and facilities in connection with the surrounding areas and communities.
Which topics are included in the curriculum?
Students in this field take basic modules in mathematics, chemistry, physics and engineering, including technical mechanics, electrical engineering, materials and design engineering, measurement and control engineering, thermodynamics, energy and environmental engineering and pipeline construction. In many cases, the technical and scientific programmes are supplemented by electives in law and business administration.
Depending on the specialisation, different specialisations and compulsory elective modules are added; students of ‘Building Services Engineering/Building Energy Technology’, for example, study subjects such as piping and apparatus engineering, fluid mechanics or smart control. For prospective facility managers, the curriculum includes building biology, sustainable construction and operation and geo-information systems. Those studying supply engineering will expand their expertise in areas such as hydrogen management, environmental impact of combustion technology or plant hydraulics for heating and cooling supply.
In the comparatively small field of infrastructure management, students deal with geographically broader topics such as railway technology, disaster control, public transport or surveying.
What all degree programmes have in common is their high practical relevance and extensive practical component.
What are the requirements?
Some universities organise an internal selection process, and a pre-study internship is often required or recommended. Important school subjects are maths, physics and computer science.
What study programmes are there to choose from?
The degree programmes in this area can be studied at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Most degree programmes are offered at universities of applied sciences. Only a fraction of the degree programmes in building, supply engineering and facility management are offered at universities.
The degree programmes are either generalist in nature (‘Energy and Building Technology’, ‘Technical Building Services’, ‘Supply Engineering’) or have a focus, often in connection with sustainability (such as ‘Sustainable Building and Energy Systems’). Degree courses such as ‘Infrastructure Management’ also deal with topics such as urbanisation, transport planning and construction as well as climate change, sustainability and environmental protection. Related degree programmes such as ‘Real Estate Engineering and Real Estate Management’ or ‘Construction and Real Estate Management’ sometimes teach similar content, but tend to be categorised as industrial engineering.
What job opportunities are there after graduation?
Employment opportunities for engineers in building and supply technology exist in project planning and construction management at companies in the fields of sanitary, heating, air conditioning and ventilation technology, swimming pool and hospital operating technology, in operational monitoring at industrial companies and large building complexes with their own energy supply, such as hospitals. They are also needed in development, testing and sales at manufacturers of utility systems and products as well as in planning and monitoring at local authorities and building authorities. Utility companies for gas, water, electricity and district heating as well as engineering and expert offices also rely on graduates of these courses
Facility managers work in construction, real estate and building management companies, property management companies and estate agents, property developers, housing and real estate companies, among others.
Infrastructure managers, on the other hand, are primarily employed in urban and construction planning, both in the private sector and by public authorities.