San Francisco Institute of Architecture offers the world's most comprehensive distance learning program in and Ecological Design for technical, undergraduate and postgraduate home study. It is possible to start at any time and there are no time limits for completion. Students may start at any time and there are no time limits for completion.

1. Ecological Design Program One, Associate of Arts Degree and Technical Certificate in Ecologial Design (total 36 units).

Courses:
     -  Basic Principles of Ecological Design
     - Case studies in Ecological Design
     - Alternative Materials and Construction
     - Solar Energy Systems
     - Building Energy Systems
     - Energy Conservation and Building Retrofit   Systems
     - Permaculture and Bioremediation
     - Landscape Architecture and Plantscaping
     - Pattern in Nature
 
You can take substitute courses in Program One. You can choose up to three of the elective courses listed below under Program Two as substitutes for any courses listed in Program One.

2. Ecological Design Program Two, Bachelor of Science in Ecological Design Degree (total 54 units, including the 36 units from the Associate of Arts Degree and Technical Certificate in Ecological Design)
 
Courses:
     - Advanced Principles of Ecological Design
     - Case studies in Ecological Design and Bioclimatic Architecture
     - Alternative Materials, Construction, and   Engineering
     - Solar Energy and Wind Systems
     - Building Lighting Systems
     - Indoor Air Quality
     - Advanced Permaculture and Bioremediation
     - Site Analysis
     - Patterns of Organic Architecture
     - Underground and Earth-Sheltered Construction
     - Ecological Land Planning and Real Estate   Development
     - Recycled Construction Materials
     - Buckminster Fuller's Design and   Construction Methods
     - Wind Energy Systems
     - Energy-Saving Retrofit Systems
     - Toxic Materials and Healthy Environments 
 
3. Ecological Design Program Three Master of Ecological Design Degree (total 75 units including 54 units from the Associate of Arts Degree and Technical Certificate and the Bachelor of Science in Ecological Design degree).

Courses:
     - History of Ecological Sciences
     - Case studies in Ecological Design and   Land Planning
     - Indigenous Peoples' Building Methods and Materials
     - Advanced Integrated Bioclimatic Design
     - Alternative Lighting and Energy Systems
     - Building Energy Management
     - Urban Ecology
     - Exterior and Interior Plantscaping
     - Organizing Principle and Nature-Based Architecture
     - Advanced Technology and New Materials
     - Co-housing and Other Alternative Living Systems
     - Student-Initiated Independent Study and Thesis Project

Tuition is $300 for each 3-unit Ecological Design Distance Learning Course. The average cost through book services is $30 - $50 per book, plus shipping.