Architecture Commons^™

Parametric Bamboo, Dominic Reilly

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis project explores the potential of using bamboo as a sustainable material in building parametric designs. The construction industry has a significant impact on the environment, and the use of sustainable materials in architecture is becoming increasingly essential. Bamboo is a versatile and sustainable material that has been used for centuries in various cultures worldwide. Bamboo is a fast-growing grass that can grow up to 91 cm per day and matures in just three to five years, making it an excellent alternative to traditional building materials like wood and synthetics. The project aims to investigate the properties of bamboo …

Landscape Design That Enhances Socialization And Community Through Climate Resilience, Guidelines For North Texas Universities., Melissa N. Brown

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses

Landscape architects must balance social, economic, and environmental considerations while creating places that people will love. And, in the words of American Society for Landscape Architects Fellow Mary Margaret Jones: “If we don’t make places people love, they won’t be taken care of”. (ALSA Interview, n.d.) Consideration for the user experience will result in spaces that people are more likely to love.

The growing student population at the University of Texas at Arlington means that every space must be used to its full potential. The green and open spaces on a university campus are more than circulatory routes between buildings. …

The De-Centering Of Architecture, Uthman Olowa

Masters Theses

Housing insecurity is arguably the most pressing issue in our society. In the United States, home/land ownership has been the primary source to generate wealth. Yet, so many people are disproportionately affected and denied access due to this system. Historically, it has also been difficult for people of color to own their own property and receive adequate housing in viable neighborhoods. A person’s ability to obtain quality housing affects other areas of their lives; it affects their ability to attend school in a certain district, and their proximity to work, healthcare, and entertainment. Interventions from both the public and private …

Investigation Of Natural Pozzolans: Analyzing The Practicality Of Natural Pozzolans As A Partial Substitute For Cement In Grout Production, Jadyn I. Breien, Andrew J. Baro, Logan T. Marino

Architectural Engineering

This senior project aims to investigate whether natural pozzolans are more sustainable than fly ash and a sufficient substitute for cement in the production of grout. By following the intent of the ASTM (American Society of Testing and Materials) standards, a conclusion will be made to determine if natural pozzolans can contribute comparable strength in compression. The objective is to prove that natural pozzolans should be utilized in the production of grout rather than alternatives such as fly ash because it can provide similar strength while being more economical and more sustainable.

The Dwelling And The Shed: Redefining The Homestead, Ryan Mattox

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The homestead is the frontier of exploration. It is the place that shows people can take care of themselves through self-sufficient means. This place also looks at making a more sustainable population. That is partly due to the individual needing to take care of the environment around themselves so that the environment can provide for them.

My thesis project will look to create a technological and sustainable residential module that can be replicated and modified to create community based on self-sufficiency by means of sustainability. To achieve this goal, my thesis will look at combining the architectural elements of the …

The Bahay Kubo Alternative, Reesa Winters

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis “The Bahay Kubo Alternative” aims to create an architectural solution that successfully provides alternative building methods, materials, planning, and strategy for current and future stilt homes in the Philippines.

The goal is to increase the longevity of stilt homes and give the residents a sense of ownership and belonging. Moreover, it incorporates adaptable design strategies that take future community growth as well as health & wellness into consideration. This thesis proposes modular stilt homes with alternative structures and designs to prepare the residents for natural disasters and provide them with cleaner environments.

Slums are a sad result of …

Desert Safe Haven, Deja Dortch

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The purpose of this thesis is to inform on the materials, technologies, spaces and structure needed to architecturally and sustainably achieve human comfort and create a mother nature-proof safe haven in the becoming harsh climate of the USA. All the while implementing minimum HVAC, using primarily passive and active systems towards a net zero home. Studies have shown there is a real threat with the rate in which the climate is changing. Temperatures are rising worldwide which is causing droughts, more frequent fires, glaciers to melt, sea levels to rise, more severe hurricanes and storms, etc. Sustainability is a way …

Individual For Housing, Hayden Tyler Dill

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly half of the adults in America are unmarried and half of the population has no interest in joining the dating market. It’s a lonely tale for many, but humanity learns to adapt if we cannot overcome. Let us not make homes for individuals an afterthought. To help solve this problem, I propose to evolve an old typology focused on individuals living in a community setting.

The Metabolism movement focused on biological growth with an emphasis on modular and capsule designs. As Kisho Kurokawa says, architecture like cells is “part of a continuous natural …

Equity In Healthcare Design: Sustainable Placemaking Interventions For Refugees And Displaced Communities, Eunji You

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Since 1990, the city of Clarkston has brought thousands of refugees from Asia, Africa, South America, and beyond. Now, roughly half of the population constitutes refugees that represent 60 different languages and nationalities. In Clarkston, a sustainable healthcare facility is integral for the design of a family-centered medical facility to promote health equity by providing access to care at all levels. Infant mortality is rising amongst minority groups, and advanced care for adults and children of all ages and disabilities in low-income areas is becoming more inaccessible. The design of the healthcare facility aims to strengthen racial-ethnic minority groups in …

Cherokee Architectural Traditions: A Southeastern Environmental Design Precedent, Josie J. Tunnell

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The New Solar Kiosk Model: A Sustainable Solution To Address The Uptake And Access Of Renewable Technologies To Create Energy Kiosks That Improve Women’S Income In Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Kiryandongo District, Northern Uganda., Musiimenta Joy Kellen

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

This thesis was carried out in the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement in Northern Uganda to test a new model to improve access to clean energy technologies in the refugee settlement. The settlement hosts more than seventy-five thousand refugees, including the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the Bududa landslides in Eastern Uganda. The literature review shows the challenges faced in the humanitarian sector. The challenge is met in providing lighting and improved cooking technologies to all refugees in settlements and camps globally. The refugees tend to cut down trees in the surrounding forest, and the wood is used for firewood to cook …

Construction Of A Sustainable High-Tech Greenhouse, Miguel A. Sadler

Construction Management

The purpose of this project is to assess the feasibility for farmers to upgrade from conventional farming methods to using sustainable, high-tech greenhouses. For all intensive purposes, the values presented in this paper are based off the assumption that a farmer already owns their land and can use this paper as a reference to see what it would look like if they wanted to make the upgrade to high-tech greenhouses. To assess the viability of this project my partner and I set out to complete all the preconstruction activities that a project team would need to complete for a potential …

Live-Learn Cal Poly: A New-Urbanist Vision For A More Livable And Sustainable Campus, Emily Huang, Justin Wong

City and Regional Planning

Universities across the nation have begun a mixed-use initiative in an effort to densify campuses and diversify retail and housing choices to increase student residency on campus. The movement to model the built environment after traditional mixed-use urbanism has been shown to improve capital flow within the local submarket on campus, foster flexible learning environments to support student success, and reduce automobile dependency. In order to reflect Cal Poly’s Master Plan moving forward, this report intends to follow the guiding principles outlined in the Master Plan while proposing sustainable and efficient land use designs to accommodate future growth at Cal …

Ecological Urbanism | Design Strategies For Bridging The Social Gap In Kolkata, Varshil Patel

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Kolkata, India, also known as a “City of Joy” for its vibrant diversity and as one of the most important cultural centers in the country, exemplifies many issues that are related to overpopulation, weak enforcement of planning regulations, informal housing, natural ecological degradation, and lack of social cohesion. The development of modernized neighborhoods in the outskirts coincided with the internal migration of the middle class and furthered the social gap. Wetlands east of the city, which used to provide a substantial amount of food and livelihood for the city, have been diminishing due to urban development. The lack of necessities …

Industrial Issues & Architecture, Nhac Le

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Thesis Summary: Industry-The economic activity concerned with the processing of massive raw materials and manufacture of goods in factories- has been created in the developed country in the 19th century. Because of the priority in the economy, Industry has been shifting around the world where it could take advantage of cheap raw materials, labors and open policy to growth. The rush of industry has been created a lot of negative impact on society and environment in developing countries. This thesis position itself within the realm of physical relocation of Western industry to propose an architectural and infrastructural response that raises …

Peering In: Improving Existing Buildings With Colorful Increments, Daire Heneghan

Master's Theses

Existing office buildings’ embodied energy, history and culture offer something a newly constructed building cannot. On the other hand, new office buildings’ adoption of new technologies and building philosophies offer a range of sustainable efficiencies previously unavailable. Combining these efficiencies with elements that embrace human diversity and well- being offer the opportunity to not only mend our existing buildings’ deteriorating physical bodies but aid in creating workplaces that promote good physical and mental health.

This project provides recommendation on how an existing high-rise commercial building can incorporate a number of incremental improvements that continually evolve to meet rapidly changing market …

The Importance Of Passive Sustainable Design, Caitlin Raymond

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Sustainability is a topic regularly discussed within today’s culture. Many people are worried about society’s future due to pollution, excessive use of nonrenewable resources, and more. Even with all of the growing awareness and promotion, the historical context and more specifically the passive design techniques used in buildings have received little attention. It is imperative to increase this awareness, as well as increase the application of passive sustainable techniques to ensure that sustainable building is efficient and effective. This project has two portions, a literature review and a design project. The literature review assembles research and techniques collected on passive …

Can We Make Chinatown A More Sustainable Environment: Rethinking And Remaking Chinatown, San Francisco?, Zhen Wang

LSU Master's Theses

Since nineteen century, Chinese immigrants in the United States had a great contribution to the economy and transformation of landscape by gold mining, transcontinental railroad construction and agriculture cultivation, applying techniques that were learned from ancestors thousands years ago in China. And Chinatown as the first destination of continuing Chinese immigrants transformed from a ghetto to the top tourist attraction of the city in San Francisco with commercial-oriented development in more than a hundred years. This paper will explore the transformation of the image and representation of Chinatown by analyzing Chinese culture influences, American confinement, and pop culture impact, to …

Sustainable Design In The Healthcare Environment, Shannon M. Griffin

Honors College Theses

From creating an efficient business to helping people heal, there are various and difficult goals in a healthcare project. There are significant issues in healthcare design that can be harmful to the people that inhabit the spaces and to the environment. Through evidence-based research, this paper will outline the latest developments in sustainable design and how they can be implemented to solve the current building-related issues in healthcare facilities. Lastly, the solutions will be put into practice in a Healthcare Design Capstone Project utilizing the elements of sustainable design to achieve the goal of sustaining the health of occupants, the …

Predicted Performance Of A Skytherm North, A Highly Insulated Building Envelope System And A Frost Protected Shallow Foundation, Kitrina Ann Stratton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

How do you design a durable, sustainable, and financeable Net Zero Energy house for a cold weather climate using little or no external energy that is also affordable? Reviewing all of the factors that would influence the design and materials selection of an appropriate response to the issues, the perfect system for housing people, whether it is in response to affordability, durability, comfort, cultural sensitivity, appearance or being locally appropriate, is using some kind of straw bale construction system with an integrated frost protected shallow foundation and a SkyTherm North design.

The focus and intention of this research is to …

Methane Production By A Packed-Bed Anaerobic Digester Fed Dairy Barn Flush Water, Sean Richard Thomson

Master's Theses

Packed-bed digesters are an alternative to covered lagoon digesters for methane production and anaerobic treatment of dilute wastewaters such as dairy barn flush water. The physical media of packed-beds retain biofilms, often allowing increased treatment rates. Previous studies have evaluated several types of media for digestion of dilute wastewaters, but cost and media fouling have setback commercial development. A major operational cost has been effluent recirculation pumping.

In the present effort, a novel approach to anaerobic digestion of flush dairy water was developed at pilot-scale: broken walnut shells were used as a low-cost packed-bed medium and effluent recirculation was replaced …

Block 271, Reviving An Industrial Artifact, Jared Thomas Pohl

Masters Theses

Vacant industrial sites are scattered throughout our cities all across the country. These sites, these remnants of industry, are occupied by a very interesting category of buildings. They are artifacts from an industrial era that served very unique and specific functions. These service buildings suffered programmatic failure and have lost their vitality. They have entered a form of hibernation, waiting for the post-industrial epoch to wake them up.

The building stock under investigation makes up a large portion of the city’s structures. Identifiable by their heroic scale, clean articulated lines and tendency to be vacant, these service buildings raise arguments …

Architecture As Pedagogy: Designing Sustainable Schools As Three-Dimensional Textbooks, Ester Ehrlich Schwartz

Masters Theses

The importance of school buildings has been recognized as a fundamental element of modern society. Today, roughly a quarter of America’s population, including our youngest citizens, spend the majority of their days in school buildings. Still, many of our nation’s schools are in disrepair, with systems in need of repair or replacement.

Over the years, strong evidence and research have shown that school building impact student’s health and their ability to learn. Green schools mean healthier environments for students and staff. Pragmatically, we also know that that green schools save money. Energy-efficient buildings help reduce energy costs, which in turn …

A Critical Evaluation Of The Sustainable Sites Initiative's Guidelines And Performance Benchmarks 2009 As Applied To The Design And Development Of The Orem, Utah Intermodal Center, Jeffrey E. Dzikowski

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In 2006 the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the United States Botanical Garden, and additional stakeholders joined together to form the Sustainable Sites Initiative^TM (SITES^TM), an organization dedicated to the promotion of sustainable land development and management practices. As part of this effort SITES recently released its Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009, a document which provides a voluntary guideline and rating system for the development, operation, and maintenance of sustainable landscapes.

This guideline and rating system is currently being tested through the Sustainable Sites Initiative pilot program, in which a select …

Value Add And Sustainable Parking Strategies: A Financial Evaluation And Real Estate Developer Perspective, Ryan Letzeiser

All Theses

Innovative techniques for parking lot design over the past 15 years have resulted in new approaches which address stormwater concerns on commercial real estate sites. A mixed method approach was taken to establish financial value in these new techniques being used. Sheraton Station, a proposed mixed use Transit Oriented Development (TOD) site with multi modal transportation in Hollywood, Florida was used as a research and demonstration project to evaluate ways to make sustainable parking lots more cost effective for real estate developers. After conducting interviews and a survey to evaluate real estate developers' perceptions on the use of sustainable features …

Sustainable Waterfront Revitalization: Baltimore, San Francisco, And Seattle, Lindsey L.M. Miller

Master's Theses

The urban waterfront areas of the United States have grown increasingly neglected and derelict due to changes in traditional industrial uses and their physical severance from the downtown core. A revived interest in urban living has brought downtown property values up, including waterfront areas, and has jump-started a movement towards waterfront revitalization. In an effort to understand the specific characteristics that make some waterfront revitalization projects more sustainable over time than others, this paper employed a case study approach. Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, San Francisco, and Seattle’s Central Waterfront were selected for analysis based on three specific perspectives: recreation; development; and …

Funding Sustainable And Humanitarian Architectural Projects, Joslyn R. Olsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this project is to identify sources of funding for sustainable building projects and create a catalog of the findings. This study targeted the nonprofit, humanitarian, and private organization sectors with the goal to encourage subsequent projects that may positively impact the quality of life for people in need.

It has been predicted that in the next 25 years 75% of America's built environment will be either new or renovated. The downside is that new buildings cause substantial ecological damage due to the extraction of materials and account for as much as 40% of all greenhouse gases. As …

Substituting Residential Rainwater Harvesting And Greywater Reuse For Public Water Supply: Tools For Evaluating The Public Cost, Jennifer L. Ferguson

Master's Theses

The intent of this project is to provide tools for public administrators to implement and evaluate the cost of an alternative on-site residential water supply using rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse in their jurisdiction. These tools are then applied to the city of San Luis Obispo (SLO), California as a case study to demonstrate how rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse could be implemented to supply all residential potable and non-potable water needs, completely replacing the current centralized publicly-managed water system. Further, energy and direct fiscal costs of the alternative system are compared with the current system. A cost analysis is …