Architecture Commons^™

The Current State Of Practice Of Building Information Modeling, Kevin P. Brooks

Masters Theses

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has become extremely prominent in the construction industry in the past twenty years. It serves as a digital repository that can, when used to its fullest potential, combine all aspects of designing, building, and managing a structure in one place, alongside all the data produced in those processes. The construction industry has to date struggled to increase productivity alongside similar fields, such as the manufacturing industry, though the construction industry generally has far more stakeholders on one project than the manufacturing industry. Further, building designs are becoming more complex while project schedules are becoming tighter. As …

Thermal Efficacy Of Green Walls In Building Structures In The Northeast United States, Nathaniel Wright

Student Showcase

Climate change is one of the most threatening issues that humankind faces in the 21st century and there is indisputable evidence that our planet is experiencing global temperature rise, shrinking of ice sheets and sea level rise, warming oceans, and extreme weather events at an alarming rate. Urbanization drives these changes and creates the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. One method to mitigate this issue is urban greening, specifically the construction of green walls which take advantage of unused vertical exteriors of buildings. Despite existing literature on green walls especially in Europe and Asia, green walls must be researched more …

Umass Amherst Case Studies – Campus Center Plaza & Lederle Graduate Research Center, Elliott Hambrook

UMassBRUT Community

This presentation discusses Gale’s recent experience with repair projects at two (2) brutalist structures on the Amherst Campus at UMass. A board-formed concrete retaining wall at the base of the Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center (Marcel Breuer, 1970) was tastefully modified, but retained, as part of a waterproofing replacement project, addressing water infiltration and improving sight lines across the Campus Center Plaza. The panelized precast concrete façades of the John W. Lederle Graduate Research Center (Campbell, Aldrich, & Nulty, 1969) received new exterior sealants, enlarged panel joints, PCB removal and encapsulation, supplemental panel anchorage, and a waterproof coating.

Tall Timber In Denver: An Exploration Of New Forms In Large Scale Timber Architecture, Andrew P. Weuling

Masters Theses

Wood has been utilized by humans for thousands of years in the construction of our built environment. More recently, our expanded understanding of the material and the advancement of engineered wood have allowed us to use wood like never before. Concrete and steel, however, have emerged as the main materials used in large scale construction in the late 19^th and 20^th Centuries. As we are battling and searching for solutions to climate change, the importance of wood in large scale construction has increased as not only is its carbon intensity is lower than steel and concrete, but its …

Kc 4.3: Rural Landscapes Of The 20th Century, Stefania Landi, Concetta Lenza, Denise Ulivieri

ISCCL Scientific Symposia and Annual General Meetings // Symposiums scientifiques et assemblées générales annuelles de l'ISCCL // Simposios científicos yy las Asambleas Generales Anuales

During the 20^th Century, rural landscapes all over the world underwent rapid transformations as a result of many factors - including new socio-political and economic conditions, new agricultural practices and the mechanization of agriculture - resulting in radical transformations of land uses and in the introduction of new infrastructures and facilities, necessary for the storage and distribution of an ever increasing amount of products. Based on the existing documents and bibliography relevant to the topic (ICOMOS-IFLA, Principles concerning rural landscapes as heritage, 2017; ICOMOS-ISC20C, Madrid-New Delhi Document. Approaches to the conservation of twentieth-century cultural heritage, 2017; Meeus, Wijermans, Vroom, …

Northeastern Species In Hybrid Cross Laminated Timber, Hamid Kaboli

Doctoral Dissertations

Known in the building industry throughout the world, Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) is a massive timber building material with outstanding structural, fire, and seismic properties. CLT is a cost-competitive, sustainable construction material is a good candidate as a substitute material for concrete, masonry, and steel, in mid-rise and high-rise buildings. CLT is perpendicular layers of dimensional lumbers usually laminated together and forming a massive structural panel. This dissertation explores the viability of utilizing Massachusetts grown Eastern Hemlock and Eastern White Pine in CLT panels as pure or in conjunction with other high-value wood products. 59% of Massachusetts’ lands are covered …

Evaluating The Impact Of Double-Parked Freight Deliveries On Signalized Arterial Control Delay Using Analytical Models And Simulation, Aaron J. Keegan

Masters Theses

Freight deliveries on signalized urban streets are known to cause lane blockages during delivery. Traffic congestion associated with urban freight deliveries has gained increasing attention recently as traffic engineers and planners are tasked with finding solutions to manage increasing demand more sustainably with limited road capacity. The goal of this research is to evaluate two models for quantifying the capacity and signalized control delay effects of a lane-blocking freight delivery on an urban arterial. The two methods are: an All-or-Nothing model similar to methodology used in the Highway Capacity Manual 6^th Edition, and a Detailed model consistent with kinematic …

Integrated Urban Metabolism Analysis Tool (Iumat), Nariman Mostafavi

Doctoral Dissertations

A number of tools are available today for simulating different aspects of urban activity, but these efforts are fragmented and do not effectively reflect the interrelationships between very diverse groups of urban sectors and resource flows. There is a critical need for robust and reliable urban metabolism analysis tools that integrate socio-economic elements of urbanization and physicality of the built environment into evaluating sustainability in cities. This dissertation outlines the development of an Integrated Urban Metabolism Analysis Tool (IUMAT) that dynamically measures the environmental impacts of land cover, transportation, and consumption of energy, water and materials employing a holistic framework. …

Developing An Ecological Sanitation Transect, Ian Kolesinskas

Masters Theses

A sanitation problem exists for people across the globe: basic human waste collection and treatment is inaccessible to much of the world’s population; and the status-quo gray infrastructure system of sanitation is unsustainable and unsuitable for widespread application. A paradigm shift is needed: this thesis makes the case for developing an Ecological Sanitation Transect to bring back the closed loop that connects consumption, waste excretion, sanitation, and food production. The Ecological Sanitation Transect is a synthesis of ecological sanitation, where human excreta is reused, and the urban transect, where development density is conceptualized along a continuum from rural to urban. …

Syllabus: Solar Energy Systems And Building Design, Ho-Sung Kim

Sustainability Education Resources

This course introduces the fundamental concepts of solar building design and energy systems. Through project based study and possible field visits, students will explore the theory, technologies, applications, and benefits of solar design of buildings and discover how to utilize solar energy systems for residential and commercial buildings. Students will be required to research and document technology and complete a semester case study project in which they will examine various energy conservation aspects and economics underlying solar energy systems.

Application Of Stormwater Management Techniques For Mitigation And Education At The Stockbridge School Agricultural Learning Center, Samantha R. Anderson

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The Stockbridge School Agricultural Learning Center (SSALC) will be a 40-acre hands-on agricultural learning laboratory for students, staff, visitors, and neighbors. Still in its planning phases, the Center will be located on what is currently a hay field just north of UMass Amherst campus. A conceptual master plan was created in 2013 that is being used for fundraising as well as planning for agricultural demonstration plots and architectural hubs. Improperly managed agricultural landscapes are known as one of the biggest threats to water quality in the United States. As a model of forward thinking agricultural practices, properly managed stormwater on …

Campus-Wide Parking Vision Plan, Dennis Swinford, Niels P. La Cour, Vhb

Campus Planning Master Plans

The University of Massachusetts Amherst Parking Vision Plan is a key component of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Campus Master Plan 2012. With the campus in the midst of a $1 billion capital improvement program, the Campus Master Plan looks 40 years into the future, matching academic vision with upgraded facilities to strengthen the sense of community and enhance the campus's beauty. The Parking Vision Plan articulates a parking system vision and guiding principles that support the vision of the Master Plan; it institutes a blueprint for parking-related decisions and policies on the UMass Amherst campus. The report discusses …

University Of Massachusetts Amherst 2012-2021 Capital Improvement Projects, Douglas Vigneau, Juanita Holler, University Of Massachusetts Building Authority, John Mathews, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Ezra Small

Campus Planning Master Plans

In 2013 the University of Massachusetts, on behalf of the University of Massachusetts Building Authority and Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM), submitted an Expanded Environmental Notification Form for the University's 2012 - 2021 Capital Improvement Plan to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Office (MEPA).

Taken individually, the majority of the Projects, comprising of 13 building/space, 7 site/landscape, and 5 facility/ utility scale improvement projects, do not require MEPA review as most of the Project sites are confined to infill areas on campus that are currently or …

Umass Amherst Green Building Guidelines 2013, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Ted Mendoza, Ezra Small, Patricia O'Flaherty, Nariman Mostafavi, Mohamed Farzinmoghadam, Somayeh Tabatabaee Pozveh

Campus Planning Reports and Plans

Facilities & Campus Services, Sustainable UMass and Campus Planning support sustainability and energy conservation initiatives by providing in-house resources to campus staff as well as designers and contractors working with the University. The UMass Amherst Green Building Guidelines provide a framework for approaching new construction and major renovation projects at UMass Amherst that are undergoing LEED certification by focusing the conversation on green building aspects that are most important to the campus. They are intended to be the beginning of a dynamic conversation between designers, environmental consultants and constructors, university stakeholders, and users of new high performance buildings.

Climate Change Adaptation Chapter: Marshfield, Massachusetts, Joshua H. Chase, Jonathan G. Cooper, Rory Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Filipe Antunes Lima, Sally R. Miller, Toni Marie Pignatelli

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

Climate change, understood as a statistically significant variation in the mean state of the climate or its variability, is the greatest environmental challenge of this generation (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). Marshfield is already being affected by changes in the climate that will have a profound effect on the town’s economy, public health, coastal resources, natural features, water systems, and public and private infrastructure. Adaptation strategies have been widely recognized as playing an important role in improving a community’s ability to respond to climate stressors by resisting damage and recovering quickly.

Based on review of climate projections for the …

Prelude To A Master Plan: Ware, Massachusetts, Belen Alfaro, Bruno Carneiro, Margaret Engesser, Kathryn E. Fox, Evadne R. Friedman, Timothy Inacio, Anita Lockesmith, Christina Mills, Stephanie Molden, Meagen Mulherin, Russell Pandres, Vinicius Pereira, Brian Reid, Pedro Soto, Jennifer Stromsten

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

Prelude to a Master Plan offers ideas, recommendations, and a toolkit to help the town chart its own path towards that future. While the teams and individual students worked to ‘drill down’ into specific topic areas, the Studio defined three basic areas in order to think about how the various assets, challenges and ideas undermine or reinforce one another. The report is loosely organized in those terms: addressing the outlying rural areas and issues specific to these places, considering one of the key growth areas that has extended from town and the conflicts that arise from the many uses occurring …

Bioretention: Evaluating Their Effectiveness For Improving Water Quality In New England Urban Environments, Mary Dehais

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is one of the leading causes of water quality problems in the United States. Bioretention has become one of the more frequently used stormwater management practices for addressing NPS pollution in urbanized watersheds in New England. Yet despite increased acceptance, bioretention is not widely practiced. This study explores and evaluates the efficacy of bioretention for protecting urban water quality.

This research found that numerous monitoring methods are used by researchers and industry experts to assess the effectiveness of stormwater best management practices (BMPs) and low impact development (LID) practices that include bioretention. The two most common …

Western Woburn Greenway Study, Jennifer H. Masters, Bryan C. Aldeghi, Eric C. Kells, Maureen C. Pollock, Rebekah Lynne Decourcey, Carol Waag, Youjin Kwon, Kathryn E. Ostermier, Patrick T. Mcgeough, Ryan Patrick Ball

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

In spring 2010, the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst was asked to complete a landscape planning study, the “Western Woburn Greenway Study” for the City of Woburn, MA. The study was undertaken by a team of graduate students, supervised by Professor Jack Ahern. The goals of that study are as follows.

The City of Woburn currently has two large parcel groups of undeveloped land, Whispering Hill (the north focus area) and Winning/Shannon Farms (the south focus area) that are, or may become, available for acquisition (see “Scope of Project” below). The first …