Graduation design is the last key link of undergraduate education, which plays an important role in the formation of students’ employment and entrepreneurial ability. Taking a graduation design topic of the building environment and energy application engineering major of Chongqing University ( hereinafter referred to as ‘building environment’ major ) as an example, based on the background and purpose of the topic, the key content and task of the graduation design are analyzed and it be compared with the traditional graduation design. According to the 12 basic requirements in the general standard of China Engineering Education Certification, the important links of the graduation design are analyzed including the relationship between related work of each link and ability improvement and basic requirements. Through process analysis, the relationship map between graduation design ability training and basic requirements of engineering certification is proposed. In order to provide ideas and ways for the cultivation of graduates of related majors to improve their abilities through the graduation design of ‘building environment’ specialty based on the requirements of engineering certification.