Architecture Commons^™

Integrating Air Handling Units In Office Buildings For High Performance, Yuebin Yu

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

This study investigates the thermal load features in office buildings and proposes an innovative Integrated Air Handling Unit (IAHU) concept in order to achieve energy savings with conventional office building air handling systems. The corresponding deduction of IAHU for an acceptable Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and better energy performance is conducted. The system variables and constraints are analyzed in detail to understand the feasibility and operability of IAHU. The control logics and implementation methods are elaborated for typical system layouts. With an IAHU operation, the internal heat gain can be transferred from an interior region into an exterior region in …

Searching For Innovation Through Teaching Digital Fabrication, Timothy Hemsath

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

The use of digital fabrication in the discourse and education of architectural students has become a common skill in many schools of architecture. There is a growing demand for computer-aided design (CAD) skills, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) logic, programming and fabrication knowledge in student education. The relevance of fabrication tools for architecture and design education goes beyond mere competence and can pursue innovation in what Branko Koleravic (2003) observed, “The digital age has radically reconfigured the relationship between conception and production, creating a direct digital link between what can be conceived and what can be built through “file-to-factory” processes of computer …

Using Popular Film In The Architectural History Classroom, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Putting popular films to use in the classroom offers many opportunities, starting with the mass appeal that recent movies bring to the study of architecture. More significantly, film can help to teach how architectural scale and space affect the viewer. The historical inaccuracies of many movies can provide teachable moments for the discussion of significant architectural issues. And, surely most importantly, film can breathe human life into the spaces of architecture, allowing students to meet the audience of architecture—past, present, and future.

Industry Participation In The Interdisciplinary Team Design Project Course Of A Master Of Architectural Engineering Program, Lauren M. Ronsse, Lily M. Wang, Clarence E. Waters

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

This is a case study of extensive industry participation in the capstone design course of the Master of Architectural Engineering program at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. This course, entitled Interdisciplinary Team Design Project, pairs teams of professional engineers and students to provide mentoring, assessment, and feedback, as the students work on interdisciplinary teams to design the building systems for a real-world project. For the spring 2010 semester, over 33 industry professionals participated in the course, each contributing approximately 40 to 50 hours of mentoring and assessment. This paper describes the course format and industry involvement, which provides students …

Hot Swap, Brian J. Mccracken

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Project Abstract : The current home personal computer allows for the exchange of parts so the user can easily upgrade or repair components as the users needs change. Hot Swapping, is the process of exchanging, upgrade/downgrade components with in a computer while the system is fully operational. The idea of maintaining a complex computer system, while it is fully operational and certain components can be exchanged as needed, has direct applications to the construction of a modern home. Current stick-frame housing techniques for home construction do not easily allow for major changes, or updates to the system, without portions of …

Investigation Of Patient Perception Of Hospital Noise And Sound Level Measurements: Before, During, And After Renovations Of A Hospital Wing, Cassandra H. Wiese

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Dissertations, Thesis, and Student Research

Acoustic conditions in hospitals have been shown to influence a patient’s physical and psychological health. Noise levels in an Omaha, Nebraska, hospital were measured and compared between various times: before, during, and after renovations of a hospital wing. The renovations included cosmetic changes and the installation of new in-room patient audio-visual systems. Sound pressure levels were logged every 10-seconds over a four-day period in three different locations: at the nurses' station, in the hallway, and in a nearby patient’s room. The resulting data were analyzed in terms of the hourly A-weighted equivalent sound pressure levels (𝐿_𝐴eq) as …

Multi-Channel Orchestral Anechoic Recordings For Auralizations, Michelle C. Vigeant, Lily M. Wang, Jens Holger Rindel, Claus Lynge Christensen, Anders Christian Gade

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Multi-channel orchestral anechoic recordings were obtained at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in June 2005. Every orchestral part of specific movements of two symphonies, Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, 3rd movement, and Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in g minor, 1st movement, were digitally recorded using five 0.5” DPA microphones, with four surrounding the musicians in the horizontal plane and the fifth directly above. The recordings were made in DTU’s large anechoic chamber, which has free space of about 1000 m3 and a lower frequency limit of 50 Hz. Each musician was recorded individually, and to assist with overall synchronization of …

Examining The Relationships Between Monaural And Binaural Classroom Acoustics Parameters And Student Achievement, Lauren M. Ronsse, Lily M. Wang, Paul L. Sim

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

This study investigates the relationships between several classroom acoustics parameters and student achievement. Detailed binaural room impulse response measurements were conducted in four elementary school classrooms in a midwestern public school system in the United States. Unoccupied background noise levels were also recorded in these spaces. Previous studies have compared how different room acoustics metrics predict speech intelligibility, while another investigation examined perception-based binaural metrics in a typical classroom. This study extends these previous research areas by comparing both binaural classroom acoustics metrics and unoccupied background noise levels to each other and to the standardized student achievement scores of students …

Sustainable Environments And Pro-Environmental Behavior, Jessica L. Kirk

Interior Design Program: Theses and Other Student Work

This thesis examines the ability of the sustainably designed building to alter occupant behaviors using LEED for New Construction and Major Renovation, Green Building Rating System™ as a standard of measure. A cross sectional survey compares the pro-environmental behaviors, intentions, environmental knowledge, and pro-environmental orientation of occupants working in a traditionally designed building and occupants working in a LEED-NC certified building located on the University of Nebraska - Lincoln Campus. While there is a visible increase in the pro-environmental variables for occupants working in the sustainable environment, data analysis indicates that these differences are not statistically significant for any of …

Regulating Green Buildings, Jeffrey S. Webert

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

Green buildings are becoming the new fixation for the building industry because of the impact they have on the carbon footprint and the cost savings they offer for utility costs. Governments have begun to produce policies and regulations that implement and mandate green buildings due to these successes. However, the policies are having troubles increasing the popularity and quantities of green buildings. There is a need for a way to produce better policies and regulations that will increase both the amount of green buildings their popularity. A decision-making tool, such as a decision tree, should be created to help policymakers …

Preservation Ethics In The Case Of Nebraska’S Nationally Registered Historic Properties, Darren Michael Adams

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation focuses on the National Register of Historic Places and considers the geographical implications of valuing particular historic sites over others. Certain historical sites will either gain or lose desirability from one era to the next, this dissertation identifies and explains three unique preservation ethical eras, and it maps the sites which were selected during those eras. These eras are the Settlement Era (1966 – 1975), the Commercial Architecture Era (1976 – 1991), and the Progressive Planning Era (1992 – 2010). The findings show that transformations in the program included an early phase when state authorities listed historical resources …

Awareness Of Daylighting On Student Learning In An Educational Facility, Alana S. Pulay

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

This study examines how awareness of the interior architecture of a building, specifically daylighing, affects students academic performance. Extensive research has proven that the use of daylighting in a classroom can significantly enhance students’ academic success. The problem statement and purpose of this study is to determine if student awareness of daylighting in their learning environment affects academic performance compared to students with no knowledge of daylighting. Research and surveys in existing and newly constructed high schools were conducted to verify the results of this study. These design ideas and concepts could influence the architecture and design industry to advocate …

Drivethru 2050, Thomas W. Weingarten Jr.

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

This thesis explores the architectural ramifications brought about by increased integration of our changing personal vehicles and the emerging business model of locally incorporated drive-thru/online shopping.

Site 27th & Capital Parkway, Lincoln, NE

Goals Building Integrated Vehicular Shopping

Short Term Create an architectural system for retail development that is more conscious of the personal vehicle and associated vehicular land uses (i.e. parking)

Long Term Reduce the need for under-utilized parking “dead-space” at retail destination centers

Bleeding Edge, C. Brett Rottinghaus

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Memorial Stadium can be a better contributor to it’s environ’s. The stadium currently is the largest element on the University of Nebraska at Lincoln’s Campus; however, it is used the least. In the year 2009 it was used for 12 events most of which were Cornhusker football games. Other events include a Larry the Cable Guy comedy show and State High School tournament finals. The circulation around the stadium is dynamic in the sense that it has a high level of fluctuation in its traffic. The traffic is either High density or low. I call this being turned into a …

Future Bionic, Ryan J. Huber

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Future Bionic is a study into how biological processes can be reinterpreted and applied to revolutionize the idea of performance in buildings. The term bionic refers to the combining of a natural system and a mechanical system or technology [bionics]. Biomimicry refers to the copying or imitation of a natural systems processes [biomimicry]. Future Bionic is a hybrid of both concepts, in which I am looking at how principles of bionics and biomimicry can be used to design a built environment that begins to blur the edges between the natural and man-made world. Both bionics and biomimicry can be used …

Riparian Efformation, Laura C. Brodersen

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

This thesis deals with two widespread issues facing contemporary society and the environment which it finds itself: 1. It is often assumed that what and where one calls home is straightforward, that our sense of home and identity are singularly rooted in a local place. Rather than being seen as an integral aspect of social life, mobility has been regarded as a special and temporary phenomenon classified under such headings as migration, refugee studies, and tourism. But increasingly, modern forms of dwelling, working, and playing involve circulating through a geographically extended network of social relations and a multiplicity of widely …

Aim - Austin Intermodal Transit Center, Nathan E. Bicak

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

This project will propose a new intermodal/multimodal center for the city of Austin, Texas that will serve both transit needs as well as social functions. Through research and programming it will become evident what types of spaces are necessary to carry out the latter.

Austin is currently in the process of researching and engineering a mass transit system for its ever-growing transportation needs, specifically a light-rail system. In the late 1960s Austin’s population was roughly what Lincoln’s is today, about 250,000 people. The greater Austin area now totals more than two million people. Through the course of this growth, little …

Icontinuum, Andrew S. West

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Many old Olympic stadiums are “white elephants” because they are valuable and the owners cannot dispose of them, but the cost of upkeep is out of proportion. This was proven to be a problem in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics: Beijing National Stadium costs $9 million to maintain annually and there was not a permanent tenant slated to use the facility. The stadium has seen only two major events since the Games concluded. This is a problem. This project proposes an Olympic stadium that is designed with a secondary purpose. London has already taken steps to improve the problem …

Hot Rod Theory, Ryan D. Henrickson

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

This thesis investigation will focus on the cultivation of a new design theory as a third option focusing on the area amongst the existing strategies of Historic Preservation and Adaptive Reuse. Preemptively before the theory can be developed, an understanding of the term Hot Rod must be clearly understood to fully realize the merits it may hold for architecture. The link between Hot Rod and Architecture as a generative exploration, from which architecture can relate specifically, brings out their historical significance. Both of which have individually shared and lost within a subculture to mainstream cultural transition.

Understandably, with the usage …

Economy Obsolete, Ashley K. Byars

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

NAS Alameda_Economy Obsolete:

Obsolescence: a decline in the value of equipment or of a product brought about by an introduction of new technology or by changes in demand.

Obsolescence is a term of growing importance in the global economy today due to advancements in technology, changing economic conditions and evolving cultural and social desires. One does not have to search the city, the web, or even one’s immediate neighborhood very thoroughly before running across discarded cell phones, microwaves, and other common household goods. Once an object is outdated, it is replaced with its successor and abandoned. Personal consumer items are …

Connection Through Creation Of Place: A Multimodal Center For Downtown Omaha, Bradley R. Isham

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Proposals and advocates for the reestablishment of the Omaha Streetcar have been around since the program was first ended in 1955. Similarly, regional passengers through Omaha once experienced both the Union Station (Durham Western Heritage Museum) and the Burlington Station, both were praised for their architecture, ease and comfort of travel. Passenger rail today operates at only a fraction of what it used to. A strong opponent to the railroad has always been the automobile. The automobile with its freedom and speed of technology has quickly surpassed the train and has quickly surpassed the train and has taken full control …

Dwellevator, Jacob A. Slobodnik

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

dwellevator (dwel-uh-vey-ter) -noun 1. a rehabilitative response to homelessness 2. the rehabilitation of derelict grain elevators

rehabilitate (ree-hu-bil-i-teyt) -verb 1. to restore to a condition of good health, ability to work, or the like.

It is estimated that there are over 3 million homeless individuals in the United States at any given time. Today’s homeless are far different than those of the past. History would have it that many of the past homeless were vagabonds looking to escape the rigid constraints of society, in search of a life with no rules, no restrictions, and most importantly, no responsibilities. The majority …

Piece To The Puzzle: Sustainable Elements Fitting Together, Heather C. Nelson

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Sustainability, green, and eco-friendly are very popular topics right now. Those words and many like them are being used in almost every industry. But it’s not just a trend, it’s a necessary movement. Using green building elements as a starting point for design, just as site, typology, and clients’ request are used, is how a sustainable building is created. These elements must be adjusted for every site because local materials, climate and community all play a role.

Deep investigation of the projects context is important. There are many factors of the site to consider. Physical aspects while important are just …

Impediments To And Opportunities For Fulfillment Of The Rational Comprehensive Intent Of The National Environmental Policy Act, Brian P. Mcmullen

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1960 (NEPA) initiated the study and practice of environmental impact analysis. Upon passage, NEPA transformed the process in which the federal government plans, seeks input on, and documents major projects of environmental significance. While NEPA has surely affected project-level incremental actions, its rational comprehensive mandate as expressed in Title II of the statute has remained largely unfulfilled. Neglect of Title II has occurred as a result of broad language in NEPA that is difficult for federal judges to interpret and administrators to implement. Political interference with the President’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has …

Ritsy: Flat-Pack Furniture For The Urban Nomad, Emily D. Fleming

Interior Design Program: Theses and Other Student Work

Today modern technology has allowed us the choice of vast geographical locations for living and working. About 1 in 6 Americans move each year. The highest mobility rates are found for young adults, ages 20 to 24 who were associated with over one third of the entire moving population, in a single year. (Hansen, 2008) The Americans of today enduring this behavior pattern are termed Urban Nomads. The ideals of such a person and behavior rest in the ability to live simply for the sake of mobility. The combination of our economy today, the exceedingly important environmental issues that arise, …

3one Publishing Firm, Laura Franzluebbers

Interior Design Program: Terminal Projects

No abstract provided.

Fusion Grocery Market And Red Velvet Cupcake Bakery, Megan Zuerlein-Betz

Interior Design Program: Terminal Projects

No abstract provided.

Pure Fitness Spa Cafe, Stephanie Land

Interior Design Program: Terminal Projects

No abstract provided.

302 Restaurant/Lounge, Mackenzie Minton

Interior Design Program: Terminal Projects

No abstract provided.

The Urban Winery: Italian Restaurant And Winery, Megan Lecher

Interior Design Program: Terminal Projects

No abstract provided.