Purpose This article presents the development and initial implementation of the Sustainable Adaptive Material Performance Level (SAMPL) pedagogical framework, a model designed to advance resilient and sustainable material selection competencies in higher-education design students. The study documents the design, theoretical grounding and preliminary classroom application of the SAMPL model as a contribution to pedagogical model development in sustainability education. Design/methodology/approach The SAMPL-guided curriculum was piloted as a pedagogical intervention in a university-level building materials course with 31 (n = 31) participants. The study was informed by literature-based discovery and integrative analysis. SAMPL's resilience engineering principles were integrated into contemporary building materials and finishes pedagogy. Student competency gains in systems thinking and sustainable technical performance literacy were assessed through pre- and post-tests targeting material resilience knowledge. Findings Preliminary pilot findings indicate that students' understanding and application of sustainable material performance indicators improved following the intervention, providing an initial indication of the model's potential that warrants further investigation through controlled efficacy studies. The results of the educational pilot study presented suggest SAMPL's potential effectiveness in advancing sustainability education. Practical implications SAMPL offers a theoretically grounded, approach for integrating sustainability competencies in higher education curricula. As a pedagogical model development contribution, this study provides the conceptual and curricular foundation for future controlled efficacy testing across multiple institutional contexts. Originality/value This work provides an innovative application of resilience engineering principles to sustainable design education. The study offers a replicable model for integrating sustainability competencies into higher education by directly linking curriculum outcomes to key SDGs.
Platt et al. (Sat,) studied this question.