Environmental Design Commons^™

Managing Summer Camps: A Study Of Culture And Practices At Environmentally Conscious Camps, Landis Wenger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Supporting private landowners as they manage their land is essential to sustainability because sixty-one percent of land in the United States is privately owned and managed; therefore, it is crucial that we better understand the management practices implemented by private landowners and continue to development best management strategies. A significant portion of these land holders are summer camps. There are over 14,000 summer camps in America. Many summer camps already have cultures where they value their land and the ecosystems on their property; many have also sought to improve their land management practices as well. However, there is a lack …

The Role Of Theme Parks In Creating Sustainable Development, Islam Hamdy Elghonaimy, Salma Alsaeed

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

Theme parks offer various types of entertainment that compete in both local and international markets. They include attractions, rides, arcade games, souvenir shops, and restaurants. Over the years, the industry has been growing due to the increasing tourism rates. Designing a project like an indoor theme park would increase tourism rates, leading to a boost in the country’s economic status. The success of a theme park depends highly on the demand and user’s selection of the theme. The setting and location also play a vital role in the success of the park. The purpose of this research is to introduce …

Counteracting Crime Or Wasting Time? Examining A Blight Abatement Cpted Project In Philadelphia, Mandolynn Mcclusky

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examines the relationships between a blight abatement CPTED project and the total, violent, and property crime rate in Philadelphia from 2000-2019. After controlling for certain demographics (population, median household income, median age of population, poverty level, and unemployment rate) as well as the national crime rate, no statistically significant relationship was found between the CPTED project and the crime rates with the data and measurements available to the researcher.

The Myth Of ‘Mare Nostrum’: Themes And Exhibitions, Legacy And Experimentation In The Construction Of Mediterranean Fascist Italy, Aurora Roscini Vitali

Artl@s Bulletin

This essay aims to analyse the ways in which the myth of the Mare nostrum entered into the artistic iconography of the early twentieth century. It was highly amplified during the Fascist regime thanks to some relevant graphic works, monumental commissions and, above all, temporary exhibitions that were characterized by a propagandistic overtone. The representation of a Mediterranean (in fact Italian) common identity became a fundamental part of a pervasive political strategy. The stylistic choices were conditioned both by the need to emphasize the glorious return of “Latinness” and the incardination of the “new” fascist modernity.

Higher Sound Levels In K-12 Classrooms Correlate To Lower Math Achievement Scores, Laura Caroline Brill, Lily M. Wang

Faculty Publications in Architectural Engineering

Sound levels from occupied classrooms have been gathered from 220 classrooms across four grade levels (3, 5, 8 and 11) over six school days each and processed with k-means clustering into speech and non-speech clusters. Three metrics describing the classroom acoustics, including the average daily A-weighted equivalent level for non-speech, the average daily difference between the A-weighted equivalent levels for speech and nonspeech (a signal to noise ratio), and the mid-frequency averaged reverberation time, were analyzed against classroom-aggregated standardized reading and math achievement test scores, while controlling for classroom demographics including socioeconomic status. Interactions between the metrics and demographics were …

Environmental Sustainability In Lagos Periphery Housing, Funmilayo Mokunfayo Adedire Dr., Michael Babatunde Adegbile Dr

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

Peri-urban residential settlements in Nigerian cities grew phenomenally as a result of rapid urbanisation. But the spontaneous housing settlements are enmeshed in development-driven urban challenges. This study examines the environmental sustainability of a typical peri-urban settlement in Lagos, Ikorodu. A combination of case study based examination and application of International Urban Sustainability Indicators List framework (IUSIL) was used to achieve an integrated research method. Data were collected through primary and secondary sources including observation, structured questionnaires, interview and satellite images. Two stage clusters sampling was used to select 384 household heads as the study population. Quantitative data was done using …

Umass Dartmouth Science And Engineering (Seng) Building Systems Upgrades Project, Jillian Cornelius

UMassBRUT Community

Although UMass Dartmouth's Science and Engineering Building has long been viewed as an architectural treasure, its aging interior and structure have presented some challenges to users nearly 50 years after it opened. This talk examines Ellenzweig's extensive retrofitting of the UMass Dartmouth SENG building for accessibility, a new envelope, updated MEP, and fire-safety measures. After looking at the design phase and interactions with the Mass Historic Commission, the talk ends with an examination of the replacement of windows in the building.

Concrete Deterioration And Diagnosis, Matthew B. Bronski

UMassBRUT Community

Built primarily in the 1960’s, mid-century modernist concrete buildings are now at the age when we regard many as historic or architecturally significant (and thus as deserving of careful restoration and stewardship), but also at an age where many now exhibit significant deterioration. In this presentation, Matthew Bronski describes the most common maladies and deterioration mechanisms that can befall exposed concrete facades, outlines investigative and diagnostic approaches, and discuss the pros and cons of different rehabilitation treatment options, and the importance of tailoring the treatment to the malady.

Brutalist Structures – Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Theresa Wolejko

UMassBRUT Community

Until they were banned by the Federal Government in 1978, Polychlorinated Biphenyls or PCBs, were used extensively as sealants in Brutalist structures across the United States. As a result, these hazardous chemical compounds still reside in concrete buildings and present a danger to those looking to clean or renovate Brutalist structures. This talk explains the problems the University of Massachusetts Amherst has faced in dealing with PCBs over the last couple of decades and recommends some best practices for owners, designers, builders working on midcentury buildings which are suspected to contain these dangerous chemicals.

Concrete Diagnostics & Assessment, Michael Schuller

UMassBRUT Community

The process of repairing Brutalist architecture begins with diagnosis and assessment of the material conditions of these buildings. This talk focuses on the processes that engineers undertake in order to document and access historic concrete before conservators and designers can form a plan to save such buildings. The speaker gives insight into the diagnostic techniques, such a visual assessment, nondestructive evaluation, sounding, moisture and metal detection, and chemical analysis.

Concrete Conservation Strategies And Repair, Paul Gaudette

UMassBRUT Community

Drawing on the speaker's many years in the field, this talk gives a comprehensive overview of concrete conservation. Beginning with the goals and approaches to conserving concrete, the talk then covers common protection systems, petrographic and chemical studies, and the design of mixes used in repairs. In order to demonstrate these techniques, two case studies are examined, including a Brutalist building and building with architectural precast. The talk ends with some recommendations on how to best approach cleaning and conservation of historic concrete buildings.

Approaches To Renewing Brutalist-Era Lab Buildings, Jean Caroon

UMassBRUT Community

Given the immense amount of embodied carbon that mid-century Brutalist structures represent, we must redirect our focus from demolishing these concrete structures to renovating them to fit our needs in the 21st century. Higher education laboratory buildings from the 1960s and 1970s are a particularly challenging type of facility. This talk describes the work that Boston architecture firm Goody Clancy has recently undertaken in renovating over 1 million square feet of lab building space. The talk not only covers specific retrofits and envelope improvements to science buildings, such as the Gant Science Complex at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, …

Campus Sustainability, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham

UMassBRUT Community

Sustainability at the UMass Amherst Campus is part of a long tradition of Sustainable Development and is driven by a century of policy, culminating in the latest efforts of the Massachusetts Commonwealth to plan for climate change and carbon neutrality. This presentation provides a summary of current initiatives and processes that are underway to reduce the UMass Amherst carbon footprint and to plan for a transition to renewable energy. It gives an overview of the sustainability and campus engagement resources that Campus Planning makes available to the public and its community of faculty and students, so that they can understand …

Umass Brut: Re-Imagining The Plinth, John Amodeo

UMassBRUT Community

Modeled on UVA’s Lawn, Paul Rudolph’s mid-century Brutalist UMass Dartmouth buildings march down both sides of a gently sloped great lawn following the grade with one exception, the Auditorium, which is raised above the quad’s lawn on a 6’ high plinth, accessed by monumental stairs underscoring the entire building. With its entries elusively tucked into the ends of the building, the Auditorium steps were ceremonial at best and vacant, functionless and windswept at worst.

Evolving tastes, priorities and social behavior over subsequent decades, and even more recently, the pandemic, have made indoor/outdoor relationships, outdoor space, and universal access a top …

The Effects Of The Visual Environment On K-12 Student Achievement, Michael Kuhlenengel, Iason Konstantzos, Clarence E. Waters

Faculty Publications in Architectural Engineering

The varying indoor environments among educational buildings can have an impact on students’ ability to learn. This study looks at field data from 220 classrooms in the Midwest, United States, over a two-year period, to analyze the effects of the visual environment on student achievement. The visual environmental metrics considered within this scope include the three new view metrics introduced within the EN 17037 “Daylight of Buildings” standard (Horizontal Sight Angle, Outside Distance of View, and Number of View Layers), as well as standard daylight and electric lighting metrics, focusing on light availability and glare. To capture student achievement, math …

Construction Of An Apartment Building And Parking Garage, Kirsten Wilson, Kirsten R. Wilson

Honors College Theses

Construction projects are known far and wide to all people. Buildings we need for daily survival would not exist if it were not for the construction industry. Our homes, healthcare facilities, groceries, and other necessary amenities would be gone if it were not for the structures they are housed in. This project aims to simulate the lifespan of a construction job from the design phase to the preconstruction phase and stops at the final presentation before an agreement to start construction.

To create the simulation for the students, a fake RFP, or request for proposal, was created and given to …

Civichon 1.0: City In A Village, Catalogue For Civichon Exhibition In Vienna Biennale 2021, Albert L. Park, Kyong Park, Annie Pedret

EnviroLab Asia

No abstract provided.

Historic Millyard Revitalization Project: Ware, Ma, Andrew Carrano, Limin Chen, Wyatt Collins, Omar Eissa, Andrew Folger, Kevin Herlihy, Kerran Holmes, Samuel Huntress, Tharanah Lundi, Emily Menard, Aidan Murray, Meaghan O'Brien, Harrington Riendeau, Corrina Rossetti, Amelia Scofield, Yichen Wan, Jinning Yan

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

This project’s mission is to provide an all- encompassing destination for the needs of current and future employees, residents, and visitors of the Ware Millyard Historic District and the community of Ware, MA. The project aims to facilitate the revitalization and redevelopment of the Millyard and develop a communal campus which provides employment, housing, goods, services, as well as recreational and social opportunities for the region. The vision of this project is to facilitate the revitalization and redevelopment of the Ware Millyard Historic District by establishing an emerging industry within the site. Incorporating the cannabis industry and all of its …

التخطيط الإقليمي مدخل لمواجهة المخاطر المرتبطة بالتغير المناخي لأقاليم الساحل الشمالي في مصر, Mahmoud Aly Ahmed Mohammed

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

تعد التغيرات المناخية من أهم المعضلات التي تواجة العالم خاصةً في ظل القضايا الشائكة من الاحتباس الحراري وتزايد ارتفاع درجة حرارة الأرض، وذوبان الصفائح الجليدية وارتفاع منسوب مياه البحار والمحيطات، مما دفع منظمة الأمم المتحدة لإبرام إتفاقية التغيرات المناخية وبروتوكول كيوتو، اللذان يهدفان لخفض هذه الانبعاثات، وأعلنت الهيئة الحكومية الدولية المعنية بتغير المناخ أن دلتا النيل في مصر من بين المناطق الثلاث الأولى على كوكب الأرض الأكثر عرضة لارتفاع مستوى سطح البحر، وأشار تقرير البنك الدولي انه يوجد فى مصر عدة مناطق أوشكت على الغرق تشمل هذه المناطق شديدة الخطورة أجزاء من محافظات الدلتاوالإسكندرية ومحافظات البحيرة وبورسعيد ومحافظات دمياط ومحافظة …

Potentials Of Containers In Creating Modular Architectural Spaces, Karim Al-Khatib, Jinan Makkawi, Ali Kobeissi

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

Containers are currently considered as one of the inventive trends of framing architectural objects. Container architecture is defined as the type of architecture that is characterised by the usage of steel containers as a structural elements and architectural envelope that can be presented as a part of architecture or a function that an activity can happen in it. Due to the specific dimensions that the container has, architects tend to use it to obtain modularity in their projects and the modular design strategies refer to using the containers as a standard unit to carry out the process, these containers are …