Architecture Commons^™

Water Wise Landscape Practices: A Case Study For The City Of Gering, Christina E. Land

Community and Regional Planning Program: Professional Projects

This professional project is founded on my education, experiences, and networks. I have had the opportunity to use what I have learned thus far and be challenged to look at public planning from a different perspective. In partnership with the City of Gering I was able to get knee deep in the facility planning of the city owned property which is home to the Community Ever Green House. The project reviews how the property is integrated into the community and the impact it has. Then, identifies opportunities to improve overall functionality with a closer look at addressing hazard mitigation using …

Blue Carbon Science, Management And Policy Across A Tropical Urban Landscape, Daniel A. Friess, Yasmine M. Gatt, Tze Kwan Fung, Jahson B. Alemu I, Natasha Bhatia, Rebecca Case, Siew Chin Chua, Danwei Huang, Valerie Kwan, Kiah Eng Lim, Yudhishthra Nathan, Yan Xiang Ow, Daniel Saavedra-Hortua, Taylor M. Sloey, Erik S. Yando, Hassan Ibrahim, Lian Pin Koh, Jun Yu Puah, Serena Lay-Ming Teo, Karenne Tun, Lynn Wei Wong, Siti Maryam Yaakub

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The ability of vegetated coastal ecosystems to sequester high rates of “blue” carbon over millennial time scales has attracted the interest of national and international policy makers as a tool for climate change mitigation. Whereas focus on blue carbon conservation has been mostly on threatened rural seascapes, there is scope to consider blue carbon dynamics along highly fragmented and developed urban coastlines. The tropical city state of Singapore is used as a case study of urban blue carbon knowledge generation, how blue carbon changes over time with urban development, and how such knowledge can be integrated into urban planning alongside …

Evaluating Biophilic Design Characteristics In Lincoln Public Schools, Sarah Burr

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

A mixed qualitative-quantitative study was conducted in Lincoln, Nebraska to observe and evaluate the biophilic design characteristics in Lincoln Public Schools (LPS). There is a significant lack of nature in urban environments, especially in older buildings and schools, therefore incorporating natural elements in school buildings can promote the success of students and contribute to improved well-being. The research question this study aims to address is: How and to what degree are Lincoln Public Schools integrating biophilic design characteristics in their high school buildings? Four high schools were toured utilizing an evaluation form with 10 biophilic design characteristics and a 5-point …

Realizing The Vision Of Wcu’S Landscape Master Plan: A Panel Discussion, Josh Braid, Rodney Mader, Bradley Flamm

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

Bradley Flamm, WCU Office of Sustainability (Moderator), with Josh Braid, WCU Grounds Department, and Rodney Mader, WCU Campus Tree Committee Chair - Panel discussion: Realizing the Vision of WCU’s Landscape Master Plan

Monuments As A Lens To Understand Climate Change: A Survey Of Altered Indian Architecture, Mckenzie Davis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My project is asking in what ways climate change is impacting monuments in the developing world using case studies in India? The project will be a survey of sites occupying different positions in environment, religion, and history in order to assess the multitude of threats on cultural heritage created and/or exacerbated by climate change. The Taj Mahal (17th century) will be assessed in order to discuss the impacts of air pollution associated with an urban environ ment and drought along the Yamuna river, using a widely known icon of India to serve as a visualization of slow violence taking place …

The Future Of Architecture: Measuring The Sustainability Of Paradigm Shifting Architectural Interventions, Jake M. Cohen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Sustainable development in the built environment seems paradoxical given that the architecture, construction, and buildings sector is one of most polluting, wasteful, and inefficient industries. Despite this notion, the role of the architect is evolving and their influence on design is expanding beyond ideas for physical structures and into designing interactions between the built environment and components such as policy, material usage, sustainability, and urban regeneration. Architects that are able to implement paradigm shifting design ideas that improve the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability can be catalytic for systemic change and act as a vehicle to move away …

How Spirituality Intensifies Sustainability: A Case Study Of Ananda Valley In Northern Portugal, Mia Handler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The religious affiliations of citizens in the West are currently shifting away from the fundamentalist, traditional structures of the past towards more alternative spiritualities. Furthermore, as a result of the climate crisis, ecovillages are becoming increasingly popular. Ecovillages are intentional, “sustainable” communities that seek to reduce consumption, live in harmony with nature, and create strong social bonds. They are characterized by varying levels of spiritual involvement (Greenberg, 2014, p. 274). As such, the objective of this paper is to study the relationship between spirituality and environmentally-friendly practices and attitudes, using the ecovillage Ananda Valley – an Ananda Marga Master Unit …

Surface Urban Heat Island In South Korea’S New Towns With Different Urban Planning, Kyungil Lee, Yoonji Kim, Hyun Chan Sung, Seung Hee Kim, Seong Woo Jeon

Institute for ECHO Articles and Research

A new town is strategically built within a short period compared to naturally developed cities. It is considered an appropriate study area for analyzing the urban climate problems such as surface urban heat islands (SUHIs) that is differently generated according to urban planning and development. In this study, we suggest comprehensive method for determining and comparing changes in surface UHI distribution during 1989–2048 in two new towns with different urban planning. First, a substantial increase in built-up areas was observed from 1989 (< 5%) to 2018 (> 40%) in both new towns. However, SUHI phenomenon-increasing patterns were different of about 12.25% depending on urban …

Design, Development, And Characterization Of Highly Efficient Colored Photovoltaic Module For Sustainable Buildings Applications, Mohammad Khairul Basher, Mohammad Nur-E-Alam, Momtazur Rahman, Steven Hinckley, Kamal Alameh

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system is one of the contributors which has enormous potential to reach the goal of net-zero energy buildings (NZEB) that significantly reduce the use of fossil fuels that contribute to global warming. However, the limitations of the visual and aesthetic appearance of current BIPV systems make this aspiration unlikely. This study investigates the limitations of the single-color-based PV modules that are dull in appearance and have low photo-conversion efficiency (PCE). In order to solve this issue, we designed, developed, and characterized micro-patterned-based multicolored photovoltaic (MPCPV) modules which are applicable to net-zero building and development. Our …

The Design Of An Agricultural Youth-Centered Rural Development Program In Rwanda, Laetitia Igiraneza Sinyigenga

Honors Theses

Rwanda is primarily a rural, young, and agriculture-based country. The referred variables- agriculture, rural population, and youth- can be creatively merged to engage and empower youth for rural development. This paper indicates the utilization of cross-disciplinary knowledge to design an agricultural youth-centered rural development program in Rwanda. The program uses the interdependence of economic sectors (agriculture and education) with resources (environmental & natural resources and human resources) to boost rural community development. The program’s main activities- mentorship, agribusiness training, tutoring, exposure visits, and community work- highly reflect the requirement for advancing the selected main economic sectors and resources. There is …

A Call For The Library Community To Deploy Best Practices Toward A Database For Biocultural Knowledge Relating To Climate Change, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Abstract

Purpose – In this paper, a call to the library and information science community to support documentation and conservation of cultural and biocultural heritage has been presented.

Design/methodology/approach – Based in existing Literature, this proposal is generative and descriptive— rather than prescriptive—regarding precisely how libraries should collaborate to employ technical and ethical best practices to provide access to vital data, research and cultural narratives relating to climate.

Findings – COVID-19 and climate destruction signal urgent global challenges. Library best practices are positioned to respond to climate change. Literature indicates how libraries preserve, share and cross-link cultural and scientific knowledge. …

Chicago Community Area Data, 1930-2010, Nate Falling, Jacob Nelson, Miguel Torres, Richard T. Melstrom

School of Environmental Sustainability: Faculty Publications and Other Works

We are releasing a set of community area
statistics collected from fact book and census
profile data series. These statistics are in the file
Chicago_Community_Area_Data_1930-2010,
which is available from the attached dataset. The statistics do not reflect all of the
data contained in the historical sources.
Additional digitized data can be found at
https://robparal.com/chicago-data/.

Regenerating Agroecosystems By Overcoming Human Exceptionalism In Designing For Increased Equity Of Benefits From Ecoservices, Ali Loker, Charles A. Francis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Our commentary explores three critical issues related to ecosystem services. First is how ecoservices are currently designed and implemented primarily for human benefit without concern for how these impact other species. We conclude that awareness of this imbalance is the first step toward meaningful change. Second we observe that human exceptionalism guides most decisions, and ask whether we can overcome this mind-set to embrace ecoregeneration and design of resilient and mutually beneficial agroecosystems. Our attitude toward the challenge and moving toward greater humility about human roles that guide management decisions in the ecosystem is a requisite for change. Third we …

Indoor Air Quality Through The Lens Of Outdoor Atmospheric Chemistry, Jonathan P.D. Abbatt, Douglas B. Collins

Faculty Contributions to Books

Outdoor atmospheric chemistry and air quality have been the topic of research that intensified in earnest around the mid-20^th century, while indoor air quality research has only been a key focus of chemical researchers over the last 30 years. Examining practices and approaches employed in the outdoor atmospheric chemistry research enterprise provides an additional viewpoint from which we can chart new paths to increase scientific understanding of indoor chemistry. This chapter explores our understanding of primary chemical sources, homogeneous and multiphase reactivity, gas-surface partitioning, and the coupling between the chemistry and dynamics of indoor air through the lens of …

Bellingham's Housing Ecosystem, Malene Garcia

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The goal of my project was to understand what puts people at risk of becoming unhoused and what solutions are the most effective in combating and preventing houselessness.

To figure this out, I used Bellingham as a case study. I did research on homelessness in general, and then used that to guide my research specific to Bellingham. I focused on the causes of houselessness, the demographics of those experiencing houselessness, and the challenges that they face. Then, I researched solutions. To supplement this research, and get different perspectives specific to Bellingham, I interviewed people working in three different organizations: The …

Urban Forestry Management Plan: Canopy And Forest Structure Analysis Summary Report, Diamond Head Consulting

Sehome Hill Arboretum

The City of Bellingham is a community of more than 90,000 residents that stretches over 28 square miles, with an additional 8 square miles of Urban Growth Area (UGA). The City manages an expansive urban forest which includes several thousands of acres of forest and thousands of street trees. Bellingham’s urban forest is a valued asset within the community, as recognized in the City’s Comprehensive Plan vision and its Tree City USA status.

In this context, the City is creating an Urban Forestry Management Plan (UFMP) as a strategic plan to help maintain a healthy and desirable urban forest through …

Terra Dispositions: A Lithospheric Investigation Of Wet-Matter, Alec Rovensky

Architecture Senior Theses

Human intervention of the landscape by damming, filling wetlands and over-extracting is resulting in the rapid perversion of water bodies through the desertification or flooding of terrain and the ensuing contamination of reservoirs. In turn, these changes are disrupting ecosystems, reshaping geological borders, and causing irreversible damage that poses a threat to clean water supplies. As humans exert agency over local hydrology, there is scarce consideration of the ensuing ecological consequences. This thesis aims to expose the ecological transformations of territories laced with human agency by examining the residues left by water in order to deviate from the misplaced nostalgia …

Evaluating Urban Parks Accessibility And Equity: A Case Study Of Hartford, Ct And New Haven, Ct, Natalie Roach, Mara Tu

Honors Scholar Theses

Public parks provide cities with environmental benefits, positive health effects, recreational opportunities, community building, educational spaces, and public amenities. However, certain populations have been systematically denied their fair share of these benefits because of unjust practices in the creation and maintenance of urban parks. With a lens of environmental justice, the goal of this research was to assess park quality and accessibility of two Connecticut cities, Hartford and New Haven, by gathering publicly available information as well as using GIS tools.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) has an existing ParkScore rating system that evaluates the quality of a city’s …

Environmental Soft Law As A Governance Strategy, Cary Coglianese

All Faculty Scholarship

Soft law governance relies on nongovernmental institutions that establish and implement voluntary standards. Compared with traditional hard law solutions to societal and economic problems, soft law alternatives promise to be more politically feasible to establish and then easier to adapt in the face of changing circumstances. They may also seem more likely to be flexible in what they demand of targeted businesses and other entities. But can soft law actually work to solve major problems? This Article considers the value of soft law governance through the lens of three major voluntary, nongovernmental initiatives that address environmental concerns: (1) ISO 14001 …

The Influence Of Surface Types Towards Run-Off Water In Urban Park, Febby Andini

English Language Institute

Pavements in Alun Kapuas Park constribute 63 of run off water over the capacity of the soil to infiltrate. This water will potentially causes the flooding and puddling issues.

Meubles: The Ever Mobile Middle Ages, Elizabeth Emery

Department of World Languages and Cultures Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Medieval furnishings preserved in aristocratic estates and ecclesiastical institutions took on new life in the nineteenth century as the turmoil of the French Revolution reactivated their use value, transforming them into collectibles, fuel, or raw materials for new building projects. This essay relies on the taxonomies of reuse proposed by archaeologist Michael Schiffer to evaluate the preservation, recycling, and repurposing of objects such as medieval choir stalls, chests, and beds by conservators, architects, artists, and collectors Alexandre Du Sommerard, Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, Albert Jacquemart, Victor Hugo, Pierre Loti, and Frédéric Spitzer. These prominent figures' repurposing of antique furniture mirrors nineteenth-century constructions …

Some Papal Bull: 16th Century Alum Trade And English Royal Autonomy, Kyra Zapf

Summer Research

The early 16^th century saw the rise of a wealthy middle class fueled by a new and expanding global textile industry. With this expansion came opportunities for exploitation fueling the rise of a new economic nationalism at odds with the ideals of a unified Christian church. In this essay, I shall be looking at the popular alum trade in Italy, Spain, and England from the 14^th to the 17^th centuries and explore how the lucrative trade profoundly shaped early modern economies, social hierarchies, governance, and law.

Alum, a dye fixative was one of the first and most …

Arising: Hurricane (Superstorm) Sandy’S Impact On Design/Planning Professionals, Maxinne R. Leighton

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Standing by my bedroom window, looking out at the ocean, a huge wave comes and swallows up my building. Everything around me is gone, including me. I wake up. I am 13 years old and living in the Coney Island Houses on Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. With ongoing anthropogenic changes to the natural environment such as sea level rise and intensifying storms, coastal communities, especially ones segregated by class and culture, are particularly vulnerable in this context that challenges a way of life, and in some instances, threatens that life's survival. This dissertation focuses specifically on what one massive …

A Case Study: The Role Of Compassionate Cities, Healthy Cities, And Un Sustainable Development Goals In City Leadership And Planning, Lisa A. Berkley

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This research is a case study examining the relevance of three holistic city frameworks—Compassionate Cities, Healthy Cities, and UN Sustainable Development Goals—to the intentional or tacit thinking of city leaders, community leaders, and activists of Marina, California. Beginning with a discussion of the origin and development of the three frameworks, the study occurred in three phases: Phase I involved interviewing the five elected leaders, city manager, community development leaders, and two planners; Phase II consisted of a survey of appointed city leaders and community organizers and activists; and Phase III was an analysis of relevant public discourse, drawing from local …

Building A Green Dorm: How Colleges And Universities Across America Have Embraced Sustainable Communal Living, Theresa M. Blickenstaff

Student Publications

Building a dorm is hard work. Building a green, sustainable dorm is doubly so. With their extensive lighting, appliances, heating and cooling needs, fans, and laundry machines, traditional college residence halls are notorious for their large energy footprints. Particularly for colleges such as Gettysburg where dorm living is mandatory for some or all four years, the environmental impact of residence halls is particularly large. As leaders with long histories of inspiring change, colleges and universities in the United States have an obligation to promote sustainable practices. Gettysburg College has announced that in the next few years, it is planning to …

Measuring Up: A Case For Redrawing The System Boundaries Of Sustainability At The University Of Kentucky, Brent Sturlaugson, Rebekah Radtke, Anita Lee-Post

Architecture Faculty Publications

The primary goal of this paper is to examine the role that sustainability assessment and reporting plays in creating a sustainable campus for academic excellence. A prototype sustainability assessment and reporting system is developed for triple bottom line impact analysis of the built environment of the newly expanded and renovated Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky. The prototype system utilizes a toolkit to collect environmental, social, and economic data of the building's built environment for sustainable design performance analyses. The system also employs a comprehensive set of sustainability metrics to measure and report the building's …

The Impacts Of Tourism On Subak, Sawah, And The Environment, Reiley Adelson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this paper I wish to explore the topic of Sawah, Subak, and the impact tourism has on both of these important parts of Balinese culture. By starting with the history of subak, moving into the Green Revolution, then into the start of mass tourism, and coming all the way up until today, I would like to see how subak has changed and developed or how it hasn’t. I would also like to get a sense of what people see for the future of farming in Bali. To go about this, I talked with rice farmers, who are being directly …

Reimagining Future Sustainable, Climate-Resilient Urban Design For Apia, Samoa: Developing Plans For A Developing Nation, Alyssa Kaewwilai

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Small island developing states are arguably the most vulnerable, exposed nations on a global scale to the harmful effects of climate change. Particularly in Samoa, an abundance of environmental, economic, and social impacts have severe impacts on both the country as a whole as well as on an individual level. This study analyzes future mitigation strategies of land use and urban design to recreate Samoa’s capital of Apia as a more climate-resilient city to encourage economic growth and to ensure the well-being of all inhabitants. This planning is based upon current challenges of Samoa driven by climate change such as …

“In Principle” Versus “In Reality”: Assessing The Potential Of Adaptive Urban Governance Toward Urban Flooding In Ho Chi Minh City’S District 7, Cindy Pham Nguyen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Flooding has become the new normal in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). During the rainy season, many areas of the city experience severe inundation that seriously impacts infrastructure, traffic, and economic transactions. As the effects of climate change unpredictably and rapidly manifest in Southern Vietnam, the frequency and impact of urban floods are projected to increase. In addition, within the last few decades, HCMC has rapidly developed and urbanized, transforming itself into the economic center of Southern Vietnam. However, previous studies and international experts have determined that rapid, poor development may be exacerbating urban flood issues.

In recent years, city …

Primitive Palms: A Density Study On The Impacts Of Harvesting Natural Materials For Construction Purposes On Sumak Allpa Of The Amazon Rainforest, Zachary Bull

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In an effort to better understand how rural construction techniques affect a surrounding environment, this study combines a density test of the natural building materials used in the construction of a school on Sumak Allpa island of the Orellana Province in the Amazon basin of Ecuador. The focus of the study measures the density of the bamboo species Guadua angustifolia and the Panama hat plant Carludovica palmata on the island while noting a comprehensive compilation of the techniques and materials used in the building process. Using a mix of plots and transects, a comparison of harvested material to remaining material …