Architecture Commons^™

Human Thermal Comfort In Transition Space, Asawari Anil Pawar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

ABSTRACT

HUMAN THERMAL COMFORT IN TRANSITION SPACES

Objective: To evaluate and identify the relationship between personal factors and the climatic conditions that influence the human thermal comfort in transition spaces and suggest solutions for adaptation of the built environment, that would encourage active and healthy living in the tourist as well as local community.

Background:

By 2050, there is a prediction that two-thirds of the world population will be living in urban areas, which would add more than 2.5 billion people living in cities (Melnikov et al., 2017). Since Las Vegas is one of the fastest growing cities in Nevada, …

The Built Landscape And Ecological Behavior: Patterns For Readdressing Environmental Thinking In Residence Hall Design, Sarah Keogh

Theses and Dissertations

This research addresses how architectural design processes and practices are implicated and/or reflected in social constructions of ecological thinking. It is generally recognized that human behaviors are affecting climate change and giving rise to a plethora of ecological issues; yet a transformation of widespread behavior has not yet followed. This raises questions. In the field of architecture, how can the built landscape function to encourage and support sustainable behavior patterns?

Looking at universities as locations that are embedded in their urban contexts and have influence both on their surrounding communities and on year after year of students who pass through, …

An Examination Of What Motivates Utah Residents To Adopt The Practice Of Rainwater Harvesting, D. Wayne Honaker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Although most of the earth is covered in water, a very limited amount of that water is fresh water, which is essential to our survival. Therefore, it is imperative that we do all that is possible to conserve and protect our extremely limited water resources, especially in arid regions such as the American West. While there are many ways and means to protecting and preserving our water resources, this thesis focuses on the strategy of rainwater harvesting (RWH) as it is done throughout the state of Utah. RWH is defined as taking the precipitation that falls on our built structures …

A Framework For Assessing Natural Lands And Finding Common Ground In The Bear River Range, Scott Mccomb

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

Forests, wetlands, grasslands, lakes and deserts make up the natural lands that humans and nature rely on. In the Bear River Range, these lands are becoming smaller and more disconnected due to residential and commercial development, agriculture, energy production and transportation corridors. In addition, natural lands are owned and managed by a variety of groups representing different values, priorities and traditions. For large-scale conservation to be successful, it needs to incorporate multiple priorities. The purpose of this study was to provide a process for identifying the remaining network of natural lands within the Bear River Range that indicate high ecological …

Optimal Design Of Green Roofs: Mathematical Model And Experimental Evidence, Jing Hong

Theses and Dissertations

Green roofs ease the heat island effect and decrease stormwater runoff. Optimizing green roof design helps achieve these goals more efficiently. This dissertation proposes energy and mass models of green roofs and validates them through experimental evidence.

The energy and mass transfer models proposed in this dissertation can be programmed in any simulation tools, and benefits architects and engineers optimizing their green roof design. The mathematical models of green roofs were validated by the measured soil temperature and water content of the Golda Meir Library green roof.

Using energy and mass balance models, this research found the effects of the …

An Investigation Of Daylighting Performance In Sidelit Spaces, Zhe Kong

Theses and Dissertations

The positive influence of daylight on people’s work and well-being has been confirmed in many studies. However, excessive daylight causes discomfort glare, which decreases work productivity, impairs occupants’ vision, and may even cause headaches. Substantial studies explored glare by correlating physical lighting measurements and subjective evaluations. With the development of High Dynamic Range (HDR) image techniques, dynamic changes of daylighting distributions can be effectively captured. Consequently, more studies paired HDR image techniques with subject evaluations to explore glare. However, studies merely relying on field measurements are not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but may also disturb occupants. To address these problems, …

Radical Social Ecology As Deep Pragmatism: A Call To The Abolition Of Systemic Dissonance And The Minimization Of Entropic Chaos, Arielle Brender

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper aims to shed light on the dissonance caused by the superimposition of Dominant Human Systems on Natural Systems. I highlight the synthetic nature of Dominant Human Systems as egoic and linguistic phenomenon manufactured by a mere portion of the human population, which renders them inherently oppressive unto peoples and landscapes whose wisdom were barred from the design process. In pursuing a radical pragmatic approach to mending the simultaneous oppression and destruction of the human being and the earth, I highlight the necessity of minimizing entropic chaos caused by excess energy expenditure, an essential feature of systems that aim …

Design Guidelines And Strategies For Thermal Solar Management Of Fenestration In The Desert Climate, David Mccredo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research evaluates the effects of varying thermal properties of windows in

residential energy use for the moderate altitude and 36'N latitude climate of southern

Nevada, which has a distinct cooling season. A selection of windows across different

shading conditions and total window areas were studied using BEopt energy simulation.

Findings demonstrate that for the specific climate, latitude, and altitude of Las Vegas,

Nevada, the most expensive “high performance” windows are not always the best

option in terms of total site energy use, and can be outperformed by properly shaded

less advanced windows. Under certain conditions, shading was found to …

Sustainable Interiors: Green Design Methods And Its Influence On Ecopsychology, Tillie M. O'Reilly

Student Theses 2015-Present

The profession of interior design proposes to enhance interior spaces through the use of furnishings, lighting, and color palettes while adhering to safety standards and building codes. Although designers follow strict codes to beautify a space, they may disregard the natural environment when choosing materials that are aesthetically pleasing. It is difficult for designers to design sustainably when they must balance many demands in design such as functionality, aesthetics, safety, and clients’ tastes. This paper addresses how sustainable design methods can be incorporated into the field of interior design to benefit the environment, while simultaneously improving the beauty of the …

Walls And Wilderness: Analyzing The Impacts Of Border Barriers On U.S. Government Lands Of The United States - Mexico Border, Bryce Garrett Fugate

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper seeks to describe the impacts of physical structures (fences, walls, barricades, etc.) on five selected areas of federally-protected U.S. lands along the U.S.-Mexico border that fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The five selected areas are: Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Big Bend National Park, Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument, the Tohono O'odham Nation Reservation, and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The research looks into the historical development of structures put in place on the U.S. - Mexico border, how they have become ever more ubiquitous in the region, and what …

Sustainability At Sit: A Look At The Past, A Plan For The Future, Taliesin Haugh

Capstone Collection

Climate change threatens our world and way of life. Intelligent development and investment could mitigate the worst threats of climate change, while simultaneously providing continuous growth for the global economy. The New Climate Economy proposes efforts to combat this ecological collapse that would result in $30 trillion in new annual economic growth by 2030. Stockholm Resilience Center agrees, giving a framework based on global ecological systems that calls for five critical tasks that can bring growth and stability: Renewable energy

Sustainable local food production

New development models, based on what has worked globally

Reduction of wealth inequity

Education, health, and …