Developing skills for smarter building operation

The 1st SEEDS Students’ Competence Building Course has officially launched at DTU Construct.

The MSc course, Smart Buildings in Operation, focuses on an increasingly important part of the smart building transition: how buildings are operated, controlled and optimised once they are in use.

As smart buildings and renewable-based heating and cooling solutions become more widespread, there is a growing need for professionals with the skills to work with building control, energy systems, data and flexibility.

The course aims to help address this skills gap by bringing these topics directly into higher education.

Bringing SEEDS into the classroom

A key part of the course is the use of the SEEDS Danish pilot building, Tech House, as a real-world case study.

Students explore the digital and operational layers of smart buildings, working with building data and Building Management Systems (BMS) to understand how building performance can be monitored and optimised.

This creates a direct connection between SEEDS research, education and real-world building operation.

Learning from advanced control and optimisation

The course also brings students closer to state-of-the-art approaches being explored within SEEDS, including:

• Model Predictive Control (MPC)
• Reinforcement Learning
• Building energy optimisation
• Energy flexibility

These topics form part of a 13-week learning journey, moving from smart building architecture and building automation to traditional control, advanced monitoring and optimisation.

From theory to practical experience

The course goes beyond lectures.

Students will visit DTU’s campus digital platform and a newly constructed campus building, giving them practical insight into how building systems, data platforms, automation and control strategies work together in real-world smart building operation.

This combination of classroom learning, real building data and practical experience helps students connect technical knowledge with real operational challenges.

Building the expertise behind the transition

The shift towards smarter, more flexible and renewable-based buildings requires more than new technologies. It also requires people who know how to operate, control and optimise these systems.

By bringing SEEDS research and pilot experience into the classroom, the Smart Buildings in Operation course is helping develop the skills needed for the next generation of smart building professionals.

From data to control. From research to practice. From learning to real-world impact.