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I am a Mechanical Engineering student at Washington University in Saint Louis, graduating after the fall 2015 semester. I was recently presented with an offer to work in the residential construction field, overseeing the complete renovation of roughly 10 multifamily dwellings in the St. Louis area. I intend to take the position, and have been trying to find some relevant online courses on MIT Open Courseware to take this summer.

My electives have centered around HVAC design, mechanical systems in buildings, project management, and sustainability in building design, and I do have a firm grasp on basic Statics. I do, however, lack a firm understanding of the specifics regarding residential building code, architecture, structural design etc.

As an ME I'm not really sure where to begin, or what will be of greatest importance to me in day to day operations. I would welcome the opinion of practicing Civil/Structural/Construction engineers in related fields who could shed some light on the subject.

If it is of any relative importance, the buildings I will be involved with are primarily brick and mortar, and most were built in the 1920's and 1930's.