Architecture Commons^™

Green Student Centers' Influence On The Campus Environment, Krista L. Harrell

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Green building and design is an emerging trend in institutions of higher education. It is important to consider the practices and expectations of the users of green buildings. The attitudes of faculty, staff, and students play a key role in the overall successful performance of green buildings. This study offers direction for the intentional design and use of green student centers as influential facets of the total environment on college campuses. The research presents cases of how green student center design may be connected to environmental attitudes. This qualitative study examined to what degree three green student centers influence and …

[Re]Connection, Taylor Hahn

Masters Theses

In this thesis, I argue for a place where people can go to regain perspective, and to reevaluate their interactions, both with other people and their environment. This proposal explores ways in which architectural design creates a setting where the built environment is intrinsically connected to systems and forms of the natural environment. The design project consists of a facility in McLean, Virginia, just west of Washington, DC, on the southern bank of the Potomac River, for the temporary stay of people suffering from depression: who feel alienated in a world full of connections. Cases of depression are higher than …

Disappearing Vistas, Jessica Christine Bundy

Masters Theses

National parks have historically used long distance scenic views, known as vistas, to reveal iconic American landscapes to auto tourists. However, decades of budget constraints and inadequate management have prevented National Parks from maintaining vistas as originally intended. Many important vistas are disappearing due to encroaching vegetation. As a result, numerous complaints and concerns have been expressed by park visitors, especially within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Vistas still play an intricate role in the visitor experience of national parks – an experience worth protecting. In an effort to conserve this experience, ecologically sustainable vistas must be established that are …

Socio-Economic Revitalization Through Brownfield Reclamation, Corrin James Breeding

Masters Theses

Brownfields are defined as real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant (epa.gov). Brownfield remediation is land rehabilitation.

There are many brownfield sites that exist around the world today. These locations are nuisances because of their effect on the environment. They can be eyesores, riddled with dilapidated structures and debris that put chemicals into the soil, affect local watersheds, become prime areas for violence and/or other activities viewed as unsafe, etc. The impact these areas have on the health of living organisms is a …

3d Digital Modeling For Urban Design + Planning, Emmanuel Velazco

City and Regional Planning

Cities throughout the country face a number of challenges in dealing with the changing development needs of the 21st century. In urban planning, the fusion of social, environmental, political, economic, and functional considerations are required. Today, local, state, and federal governments are experiencing an economic downturn, making resources scarce to plan for smarter development, attain greater public interest, and economic revival.

The primary objective of this project is to provide innovative solutions in city and regional planning using software applications, such as Google SketchUp, that enable assessment of various urban design projects. A second objective was to create a 3D …

Like Laws And Sausages: The Tale Of A Mere Portion Of The Process To Develop The South Broad Street Corridor Plan, Amy R. Lopez

Master's Theses

The processes to develop community plans share certain standard activities and stages while remaining distinctive and without pre-scripted procedures. This study documents the process that yielded the South Broad Street Corridor Plan June 2012 draft. The objective is to present the decision-making processes and their connections to the final plan document along with the plan document itself.

A Conservation Plan For Reservoir Canyon Natural Reserve, San Luis Obispo, Ca, Brian M. Provenzale

Master's Theses

My thesis project is to create a conservation plan for the Reservoir Canyon Natural Reserve (RCNR) in San Luis Obispo, California. It is a professional project for the City of San Luis Obispo with the goal of eventual adoption by the City Council. The plan was motivated by City policy, which advises creating conservation plans for open spaces, and by a particular need to address management issues in RCNR that include plant and wildlife conservation, trail access, erosion, electrical utility easements, and other legal matters. The project consists of two main components: the conservation plan and a companion paper. The …

Form-Based Codes, Design Guidelines And Placemaking: The Case Of Hayward, Ca., Cindy Ma

Master's Theses

Throughout history planning codes and standards have been used to regulate the built environment for health, power, order, and economic reasons. More recently, in the urban design and planning field, planning codes and standards have emerged to become tools in the process of “placemaking”. The concept of placemaking builds from the desire of humans to create places, not spaces, which are unique, attractive, identifiable, and memorable. It is a concept that is comprised of visual and social components, recognizing the need for both in the creation of successful places. In the field of urban design and planning, form-based codes (FBCs) …

Deep Play, Urban Space, Adolescent Place: A Multi-Sited Study Of The Effects Of Settings On Adolescent Risk/Reward Behavior, Benjamin A. Shirtcliff

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The extant literature on the play behavior of youth normalizes adolescent behavior in public space as transgressional, resistant, and in need of social control. The dissertation counters this trend by looking to see if physical qualities, peer effects, and neighborhood context of settings play a deeper role in youth behavior. The study documented urban context, peer effects, physical features, and play behavior across 21 urban settings in New Orleans. Unobtrusive observations employed a highly innovative technique based on YouTube videos and analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Coded observations of risk-taking and prosocial behavior demonstrated some stability in behavior amongst adolescents—“youth” …

Get Your Butt Off The Ground!: Consequences Of Cigarette Waste And Litter-Reducing Methods, Joyce Lee

Pomona Senior Theses

Cigarette butts are rapidly accumulating on our planet; trillions of them are discarded every year. In this paper, I examine why cigarette litter is a problem. I first discuss the biodegradability of filters and its scientific basis, including ways to enhance degradation rates by chemically manipulating filters. I also talk about the persistence of cigarette chemicals and their potential toxic effects on children and animals. I consider other social, economic, and environmental consequences of cigarette filters and chemicals. Furthermore, I discuss various solutions smokers and non-smokers alike have created to address the problem of cigarette litter; these methods come from …

Teaching Old Buildings New Tricks: Benefits Of Retrofitting Indianapolis Buildings With Green Roofs, Sarah Elizabeth Strobl

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Not your basic rooftop garden, green roofs contain growing media and are planted with various types of vegetation. Green roofs can be either intensive, with soil depths above 6 inches and increased size and attractiveness of vegetation, such as trees and shrubs, or extensive, with soil depths between 2-6 inches and low, moss or grass-like plants that require little care (Getter et al. 2009, Indianapolis DPW 2008, Obemdorfer et al. 2007, US DOE 2004).

Although green roofs are initially more expensive than traditional roofing techniques due to the cost of additional materials, the long-term cost savings are high and can …

A Step Towards Sustainable: The Meshing Of The Mormon Church Headquarters' Environmental Earth Stewardship Practices With Modern Trends Of Sustainability, Natalie Watkins

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Planners and landscape architects are decision makers whose commitment to sustainable development is integral in transitioning our built environment into a renewable and more self sustaining system. The built environment is a place where the three pillars of sustainability comprising social equity, environmental bear-ability, and economic viability are clearly manifested. The recent decades or scientific research in this area have offered us opportunities to make changes in the built environment that will better support future generations of our local communities. However, social and religious community structures can make change difficult on the Wasatch Front where the headquarters of the Church …

A Factor Analysis Of The Health, Safety, And Welfare In The Built Environment Toward Interior Design As Perceived By Building Industry Professionals, Dana Marie Moody

Doctoral Dissertations

This research study created, piloted, and field tested a new instrument designed to collect perceptions toward an interior designer’s impact on the health, safety, and welfare of the public. It also established an initial profile of perceptions within building industry professionals, identified the salient factors within those perceptions, and determined the level of these factors through a factor analysis. The Health, Safety, & Welfare in the Built Environment instrument was developed using a Table of Specifications based on the subject content that interior designers must be familiar with in regards to protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public …

Modus Vivendi: Ecological Intervention In The Future Korean Dmz, Sunchung Christine Min

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea has been absent of any human development for 53 years. When the reunification between two divided nations occurs in the future, the land that stands as a buffer zone will become of interest to many as a potential open site for the beginnings of a new urban city, industrial complex, consumerism, and massive infrastructure. In other words, the DMZ is most likely to be consumed by its neighboring urban cities to meet the immediate needs of urban development and growth. However, it would be a shame if the last untouched landscape …

Designing An "Information-Experience" Using Creativity Science Theory And Tools, Stephanie Belhomme

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

An “information-experience” encapsulated by a technological/digital audio-visual tool presents data and potentially meaningful information to prompt actionable knowledge concerning: “unspoken creative process elements;” their profound impacts on both how well our “physiology of creativity” functions; but also on how well foundational creative thinking and behavioral prerequisites (energy, motivation, imagination, and ownership) are leveraged.

The product: 1) introduces the user to one component of the CPS (Creative Problem Solving) Facilitation Process - Exploring the Challenge; 2) features a content specific component which prompts exploration of the many correlations between societal, organizational / community, human physiological / behavioral data, and the direct …

School Facility Design: Are We Asking The Right People?, Dale C. Jerome

Ed.D. Dissertations

Realizing the need for changes in the design of new school facilities, architects and educators must reach beyond the norms of past designs. This mixed-methods study was conducted at four recently completed high schools. Questionnaires were utilized in the initial phase of research to identify statistically significant differences between the perceptions of teachers and students regarding the physical design characteristics of their learning environment. Structured interview sessions were then conducted with teachers, principals, and architects, to understand their perceptions regarding the involvement of students in the design and planning process of school facilities, and indicated the importance of providing a …

Cool Roofs At Pomona College, Jeremiah M. Steuterman

Pomona Senior Theses

The energy efficiency of a building is directly related to the heat transfer between the building and the outside environment. In order to limit the heat transfer to the building by solar radiation cool roofs have been developed which increase the solar reflectivity of roofs. This report investigates the potential application of high reflectivity coatings to roofs at Pomona College and the energy benefits that could result. Cool roofs are used to address two prevalent environmental concerns: high cooling loads and Urban Heat Islands. These two problems are linked and exhibit the potential micro and mesoscale benefits of reducing roof …

Legal Issues In Green Construction, Namrata Shrestha

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The most recent "green construction movement", made a significant impact on the design and construction industry in the United States. Organizations such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) have lobbied governmental entities to provide financial incentives to promote green construction. The green construction community also promotes the notion that a healthier working and living environment is achieved. Due to finical incentives coupled with projected long-term energy cost savings, many owners of new construction are considering green construction as an option. Accompanying the "green construction movement", new kinds of legal issues, particularly relating to green aspects such as certification, energy …

Biophilic Design At Pomona College: An Analysis Of The New Sontag And Pomona Residence Halls, John W. Hasse

Pomona Senior Theses

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for New Construction (or LEED-NC) has become one of the most commonly used green building standards during the turn of the 21^st century. While many champion LEED-NC, certain architects and academics believe that its low-environmental impact design approach toward green building isolates people from nature and thus cannot achieve sustainable development over the long-term. Pomona College’s green buildings, including its newest LEED Platinum certified Sontag and Pomona Residence Halls, exemplify this fact, as their designs fail to communicate their sustainable goals or inspire sustainable behavior. By examining the LEED-NC standards, the history …

Does Design Affect Behavior? A Case Study Of Pomona And Sontag Halls, Erin F. Morgan

Pomona Senior Theses

This paper investigates the successes and failures of architectural design techniques used to improve the sustainability of occupants. It looks broadly at research that has taken place in the past and focuses specifically on the strategies used in Pomona and Sontag Halls - two dormitories constructed at Pomona College.

Exploring German And American Modes Of Pedagogical And Institutional Sustainability: Forging A Way Into The Future, Lindon N. Pronto

Pitzer Senior Theses

Rooted deep in Germany's past is its modern socio-political grounding for environmental respect and sustainability. This translates into individual and collective action and extends equally to the economic and policy realm as it does to educational institutions. This thesis evaluates research conducted in Germany with a view to what best approaches are transferable to the United States liberal arts setting. Furthermore, exemplary American models of institutional sustainability and environmental education are explored and combined with those from abroad to produce a blueprint and action plan fitting for the American college and university.

Evaluating The Irish Technical Guidance Documents In The Context Of Sustainability, Rosemarie Macsweeney

Theses

Sustainability is more than just a “buzz word” or meaningless jargon; it is what is needed for survival due to the unsustainability of humanity in recent centuries. Sustainable buildings are only one element of the solution, but a very large one in terms of the amount of problems created socially, economically and environmentally by buildings. Humans now spend more and more time in buildings, most of their days in many cases, and so the regulation and policy mechanisms surrounding buildings are critical to the success of sustainability. The Irish Technical Guidance Documents (TGDs), are a set of twelve documents which …

An Empirical Study Of Particulate Matter Exposure For Transit Users At Bus Stop Shelters, Adam Moore

Dissertations and Theses

Congested traffic corridors in dense urban areas are key contributors to the degradation of urban air quality. While waiting at bus stops, transit patrons may be exposed to greater amounts of vehicle-based pollution, including particulate matter, due to their proximity to the roadway. Current guidelines for the location and design of bus stops do not take into account air quality or exposure considerations. This thesis provides a unique contribution to roadside air quality studies and presents an innovative method for the consideration of bus shelter placement. Exposure to roadside pollutants is estimated for transit riders waiting at three-sided bus stop …