Architecture Commons^™

Life Cycle Costing Template (Excel), Dermot Kehily

Reports

No abstract provided.

Building Low-Carbon Cities Through Local Land Use Planning: Towards An Appropriate Urban Development Model For Sustainability, Ting Wei

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses and Student Projects

The main purpose of this thesis is to study how to establish low carbon, attractive cities for human beings. This paper attempts to contribute to sustainable development by encouraging the development of low-carbon cities through local land use decisions. The study proposes to answer the following two research questions: 1) how well do the fastest growing cities in the U.S. implement low-carbon principles in their local comprehensive land use plans?, and 2) how can local land use plans be improved to achieve the goal of low-carbon cities? Through evaluating the local land use comprehensive plans of the top fifty fastest …

Reconnecting People To Springfield’S Riverfront: From The South End To Forest Park, Nathaniel J. Bernard, Matthew S. Gallagher, Amanda Hart, Kyle J. Jackson, Corey E. Lammerding, Michael Naughton, Nicholas A. Petrouski, Jim P. Reichheld, Michael J. Ritacco, Matthew J. Silveria, Rebecca Leona Tran, Alisha L. Walls

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

This report documents the work of the Senior Urban Design Studio on Springfield’s southern riverfront. What is Springfield’s riverfront of tomorrow? The primary goal of the project was to develop a vision to connect the neighborhoods of the South End and Forest Park to the Connecticut River. What are new imaginative ways to engage the southern waterfront of Springfield as a place for people? How can a landscape engage water-ecology with both functional and sensual-aesthetic values?

Our proposals offer new planning and design strategies for this great location in Springfield.

The studio articulated four major design objectives:

1. Improving and creating …

How Much Do U.S. University Students Know, And Want To Know, About Sustainability And Green Building? The Findings Of A Survey, And Possible Implications For General Elective Curricula., Jeremy R. Farner

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

Using the survey approach, this investigation examined the attitudes and interest of college students at two universities in different geographic locations within the United States. Approximately 24,000 students from all disciplines and majors at Weber State University (WSU) in Utah, and 4,000 at Purdue University in Indiana, were invited to participate in a study to determine current knowledge, familiarity, and interest in topics within the sustainability and Green Building educational arena. The goal of this study was to determine what students already know, would like to know, and how much interest there would be in developing …

Town Of Braintree - Monatiquot River Watershed Study, Benjamin D'Agostino, Elizabeth A. Englebretson, Carli Foster, Jeffrey Scott Fulford, Edward P. Haynes, Tracy Murphy, Sparky Vonplinsky, Eric Wojtowicz

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

Monatiquot River has played an important role in the Town of Braintree’s great industrial history. Over time, people’s relationship with the river has evolved from daily necessity and industrial utilitarian usage to scenery and recreational amenity. Currently, there is limited public physical access to the water and a lack of connection to regional greenway system. In addition, the extreme flood in March 2010 signified the prolonged urbanization impacts on floodplains and massive impervious surfaces in the watershed. Under the climate change effects, Braintree is likely to face more frequent and severe storms that affect safety and welfare of the increasing …

Interior Designer's Attitudes Toward Sustainable Interior Design Practices And Barriers Encountered When Using Sustainable Interior Design Practices, Leigh Bacon

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

The objectives of this study evaluated whether interior designer’s had a positive or negative attitude toward sustainable interior design practices. Next, it evaluated the three areas of perceived barriers interior designers encounter when using sustainable interior design practices (project capabilities, transition to sustainability, and knowledge and skills associated with sustainable design). The final objectives determined if attitudes and barriers affected the use of sustainable interior design practices, and determined whether the attitudes of interior designers and the barriers encountered by interior designers were related. Overall, attitudes toward sustainable interior design practices were positive. Barrier scores indicated that factors affecting project …

How Much Do U.S. University Students Know, And Want To Know, About Sustainability And Green Building? The Findings Of A Survey, And Possible Implications For General Elective Curriculum., Jeremy R. Farner

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

Using the survey approach, this investigation examined the attitudes and interest of college students at two universities in different geographic locations within the United States. Approximately 24,000 students from all disciplines and majors at Weber State University (WSU) in Utah, and 4,000 at Purdue University in Indiana, were invited to participate in a study to determine current knowledge, familiarity, and interest in topics within the sustainability and Green Building educational arena. The goal of this study was to determine what students already know, would like to know, and how much interest there would be in developing …

Creating Livable Neighborhoods In Old Hill And Six Corners, Springfield, Massachusetts, Ryan Ball, Tai-Hsiang Cheng, Rebekah Decourcey, Somaye Garmroudi, Youjin Kwon, Jennifer Masters, Pat Mcgeough, Kathryn Ostermier, Maureen Pollock, Laura Selmani, Feiqiang Tong, Carol Waag, Fangfang Wang, Andrew Weir, Lawson Wulsin

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

This report documents the work of the Graduate Urban Design Studio in Springfield’s Old Hill and Six Corners neighborhoods with 12,000 inhabitants. Both neighborhoods are challenged by a very low average household income, housing foreclosures, lot vacancies, lack of substantial home ownership, high traffic volumes and poor quality of open space. The primary goal of the project was to develop a vision to renew Old Hill and Six Corners to improve livability for their residents and create new opportunities for housing, recreation, working and commercial activities. Crucial keys to attaining this goal will be creating a stronger sense of place …

Biomimicry: Emulating The Closed-Loops Systems Of The Oak Tree For Sustainable Architecture, Courtney Drake

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Biomimicry comes from bios, life, and mimesis, to imitate. Biomimicry is becoming an increasingly well-known topic in the field of architecture, imitating nature’s designs and processes to solve human problems. This project uses the oak tree as a model, measure, and mentor to derive sustainable architecture. Biomimicry is examined as a holistic methodology with six steps: identify, interpret, discover, abstract, emulate, and evaluate. Using this methodology, this project investigates oak tree’s closed-loop systems including water, oxygen, and food. The synergies that exist within these systems are emulated to develop a complex green infrastructure of building and landscape systems. …

How The Grass Became Greener In The City: Urban Imaginings And Practices Of Sustainability, Cindy Isenhour

Anthropology Faculty Scholarship

Far removed from a direct connection to the land and environmental feedback, most urban inhabitants have little choice but to rely on external sources of information as they formulate their understanding of sustainability. This reliance on analytical, scientifically produced, and highly technical sources of information—such as life-cycle analyses, carbon footprints and climate change projections—solidifies definitions of sustainable living centered on technological resource efficiencies while concentrating the power to define sustainability with experts and the industrial and political elite. Drawing on 14 months of ethnographic field work in and around Stockholm, Sweden, this paper explores how urban alienation shapes ideas about …

Crossings, Noel Brady

Books/Book Chapters

Chapter concentrates on the bridges of Dublin’s river Liffey; their importance to the vitality of the city, its commerce and people. It also highlights the importance of crossings in the city linking and opening up new paths to growth and development.

Invention Center: A Building Of Inventions, Jonathan T. Archbald

Architecture Theses

In today’s world, the word sustainable often goes hand in hand with design. As a recent trend the LEED standards are used as a way to “prove” a building’s commitment to being sustainable. LEED however is only the tip of the sustainable iceberg of what design can actually be. The term Sustainable has to be linked with the term efficient. Sustainability is more than the design and construction of a project. It has to be involved with all aspects of a project’s life.