Architecture Commons^™

Utilizing Biomimicry To Design Sustainable Architecture, Virginia Hammond

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nature has an integral relationship with architecture and serves as a sustainable role model and inspiration for designers. The process of biomimicry in architecture has the potential to produce more sustainable design solutions and foster a connection between humans and nature. Existing biomimetic design projects have varying strengths and weaknesses as examples of the process. Utilizing guidelines and references from key leaders in biomimetic design consultancy (Biomimicry 3.8), selected case studies are assessed for their ability to demonstrate the benefits of this design strategy. Using these evaluations, the case studies are diagrammed and critiqued to determine how new projects could …

Attainable And Sustainable Home Building Solutions, Katrina Matthews

Construction Management

Sustainability has fortunately been a recent concern in the construction industry as climate change continues to impose potentially insurmountable threats to the global environment. Although many new methods have been adopted in efforts to lessen the adverse environmental effects of construction-related activities, as a society, we still have much room for growth as the built environment accounts for almost 50% of global emissions. Many changes and standards must be adopted to make these solutions efficiently beneficial. To set industry standards, we must start with the most basic form of construction- residential building. This report covers two attainable framing solutions for …

Subterraneans: A Regional Earth Dwelling For Comfort And Beauty, Isaak Benchoff

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Subterraneans is a study of an affordable, self-sufficient, sustainable, and dignified housing prototype for the region of Northwest Arkansas. It is a design process investigation based on the ideas of turning a local, sustainable material into affordable homes that can be built within a community of people sharing land and resources. The homes would utilize as many natural materials as possible to minimize the impact on the Earth and the cost to the owners.

Research looked at many different vernacular building precedents as well as the work done by contemporary design firms in the area of economical, low-impact, and passively …

Precious Plastics - Plastic Brick Machine Fabrication, Timothy Ukaobasi Kanu, Evi Paraskevi Troulis

Architectural Engineering

The goal of this research is to determine the structural parameters of the recycled plastic polypropylene when molded into bricks resembling CMU blocks. To accomplish this, three mechanisms had to be assembled: the shredder, the injector, and the 1x1 mold. A tensile and compression test were to be performed on the plastic brick, and the values would be used to compare the tensile and compressive strength of PP plastic bricks, as well as their modulus of elasticity and stress vs. Strain performance. These values would be analyzed to determine whether it would be feasible to build an entire plastic wall. …

Thermal Energy Assessment Of New Constructed Bio-Based Insulation Material Applied In Buildings, Abeer Fuad Othman Dar Saleh

Architectural Engineering Theses

The building sector is moving towards energy-efficient design "low energy consumption". The development of bio-based thermal insulation materials contributes strongly to this approach. The implantation of these materials in the new designed buildings will have an excellent impact in reducing the energy consumption and subsequently saving the non-renewable resources depletion and in decreasing the waste generation.

In this research, the energy performance of a new bio-insulation material prepared from rice will be evaluated. Focusing on its physical and thermal properties such as thermal conductivity and fire reaction evaluation. The developed insulation sample has been made by heating a fixed quantity …

Resurrecting A Fallen Angel: Architecture Remediating Pollution In Mexico City, Karen Rios

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Mexico City's population of over twenty-one million inhabitants makes it the second largest city in the world. Consequently, air pollution levels in the capital are outrageous.

The following proposal is not an attempt at fixing the city's pollution issues but, rather, presenting an innovative solution to be adopted throughout the city. The thesis aims at solving the contamination crisis' physical and psychological aspects.

That is, a combination of architectural intervention and community involvement will help slow down the rising pollution levels in a once beautiful city. Perhaps starting at a micro scale and spreading throughout the city.

Transfused Architecture: Ascent Of A Developing World, Sandy Ferrier

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Because there is a lack of adequate health care facilities in developing countries, there is a substantial amount of unrealized, optimal health gains and effective, architectural interventions which are not fully realized. With 80% of its population living below the world poverty line, Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere. The United Nations Development Program’s 2014 report shows the extents of poverty at 75% mainly in the rural areas of Haiti. Only 25% of households benefit from adequate sanitation, thus people become more susceptible to infections and diseases. Reoccurring natural catastrophes have also dented the country's …

The Built Environment, Nicholas J. Petrarca, Aaron Boucher, Nathaniel Hall, Alejandro Lopez, Nicholas Reindel, Emily Setoudeh, Sean Westpahl, Lacy Williams

Architectural Engineering

This project was a very fast paced and high pressure design project where Architectural Engineering students and an architect worked with an noteworthy artist to design and construct a large steel sculpture made purely from recycled materials.

Towards A Localized Form-Based Code For Abu Dhabi Urban Neighborhoods, Arwa Khalid Sabri

Theses

Form-Based Code (FBC) is a sustainable planning tool that helps realize sustainable urban form and sustainable communities from different perspectives, including mixing of land uses, diversifying housing types, achieving walkability and cycling as well as permitting community involvement in decision making and design processes. It is therefore considered as a comprehensive tool that regulates different planning scales from master plan to individual buildings. Locally, Abu Dhabi Emirate lacks a FBC that could help achieve its sustainability-orientated 2030 vision and thus promote its envisaged sustainable urban identity. This research aims at studying to what extent the present form-related standards and guidelines …

Greening Greenpoint: Investigating Technology And Environment-Based Design, Adam Castelli

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates architectural design with a focus on technology and parametric, or computational, design strategies in relation to environmental simulation and sustainability. While numerous studies of new digital and parametric design technologies have been undertaken, few discuss their potential application or synergy with sustainable or environmentally focused design. However, there is increasing interest in bridging the perceived gap between these areas of focus in architectural design, as will be discussed in a section on recent symposia related to performance and design technologies. The research project seeks to apply insight gained from these studies to a design project to be …

The Water Wall: A Passive Solar Collection And Thermal Storage Device For Supplementary Radiant Heating, Rhett Roman Noseck

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Through the implementation of passive solar building systems, suburbia could take a fresh new step forward toward a progressively more sustainable direction. Making passive solar strategies a priority, master planned community developments would see opportunity to change the style and design of future suburban residences.

The focus and intention of this body of work is to research, design, fabricate, and test a prototype of a passive solar heating device using water as the medium for thermal storage. The size and shape of the design for the water wall device will be determined by the currently built suburban environment; however, for …

Material Sustainability, Jessica Meadows, Natasha Morris

Architectural Engineering

This paper addresses the sustainability of the materials used to construct buildings today. Timber, concrete and steel are analyzed for carbon output, cost, and recyclable-ability.

Analysis Of Stabilized Adobe In Rural East Africa, Grace Ying Yu Chen

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

ANALYSIS OF STABILIZED ADOBE IN RURAL EAST AFRICA

Grace Ying Yu Chen

This project seeks to assist people in rural East Africa by proposing sustainable building methods which implement affordable and durable adobe bricks for construction. Adobe, one of the oldest sustainable building materials in the world, is strong when dry but lacks structural integrity when exposed to moisture. Chemical additives such as cement and lime are added into the adobe mix to protect the brick against moisture decomposition. Once the chemicals are added and the mix is formed into a brick, a stabilized adobe brick is formed.

Cement, …