Environmental Design Commons^™

House As Mediator: Integrative Typology As Connector Between Land And Sea, Samantha Kudish

Architecture Thesis Prep

Rather than the water being an obstacle to coastal residential communities, water can act as an opportunity. Instead of barricading these areas from the water, integrating it with the area would create communities that are capable of living in unison with the ocean. This can introduce new typologies of housing that can withstand the continuing rise of sea levels. Blurring the line between land and sea by living with the sea will allow coastal regions to stay afloat, benefiting from ever-changing water conditions. A proposed new housing typology would introduce a new program to coastal neighborhoods, rather than putting up …

Building Envelope For Energy-Efficient Residential Homes, A Case Study For The U.S. Department Of Energy Challenge Home Student Design Competition, Milica Tajsic

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With the continuous rise of population and expansion of urban areas, the need for additional housing and infrastructure is growing rapidly. Building sector is consuming a vast majority of the natural resources to meet the needs of urbanization and is in need of efficient, sustainable solutions that are viable for the customer, the economy and the environment. The building sector is both the problem and the solution to the issues of the carbon footprint of our society (Architecture 2030, 2011).

The envelope (roofs, walls, and foundations) and windows typically account for 36% of overall energy use, or about 14.3 quads …

An Emerging Vocabulary: Architecture Of Performance, Jeremy H. Stock

Kaleidoscope

Re-chartered at the University of Kentucky in 2005, the Triangle Fraternity – a brotherhood of students studying Architecture, Engineering, and Sciences – now seeks to establish a visible presence by building a new fraternity house on-campus. To enable this investigation, professors Gregory Luhan, Peyman Jahed, and Bruce Walcott developed a design + energy studio experience that provided a framework for an integrated design team to use a systems-thinking approach to generate a range of scalable, net-zero energy prototypes. These prototypes can be applied in a variety of contexts and have the potential to address larger issues, such as energy efficiency …

Making Better Decisions About Built Assets: Learning By Doing, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

Climate change presents significant challenges to society (e.g. Stern, 2006; Bouwer and Aerts, 2006). Many have concluded that climate change is the most important problem facing humankind, and indeed other life on Earth. The construction industry, which contributes 5-10% of national GDP globally, has a prominent role to play in meeting this challenge given that the built environment demands 40-50% of global resources and generates a proportional amount of waste (Langston and Ding, 2001). Climate change adaptation is about human response to this challenge, thus mitigating the impacts of a changing climate (Burton et al., 2005).

Identifiying Adaptive Reuse Potential, Craig Langston

Craig Langston

How to adapt existing building stock is a problem being addressed by local and state governments worldwide. In most developed countries we now spend more on building adaptation than on new construction and there is an urgent need for greater knowledge and awareness of what happens to commercial buildings over time.

Sustainable Building Adaptation: innovations in decision-making is a significant contribution to understanding best practice in sustainable adaptations to existing commercial buildings by offering new knowledge-based theoretical and practical insights. Models used are grounded in results of case studies conducted within three collaborative construction project team settings in Australia and …

Method And System For Optimal Coordination Control And Soft Repair Of Multiple Rooftop Heating And Cooling Units, Haorong Li

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Techniques are described that may be implemented in an adaptive control device to regulate multiple zone environmental units based upon multiple temperature values and multiple airflow values, where each temperature value and each airflow value is related to the temperature and the airflow in a specific zone. In an implementation, the input interface of the adaptive control device is configured to receive multiple temperature values and multiple air flow values from multiple zone sensors. The adaptive control device may calculate multiple operational values based on the multiple temperature values and the multiple air flow values. An operational value indicates a …

Syllabus: Sustainable Green Infrastructure Planning And Design, Robert L. Ryan

Sustainability Education Resources

Green infrastructure planning requires a systems approach to improving ecological function while providing vital ecosystem services for human populations. This course will introduce students to the concepts, theories, and applications of greenway and green infrastructure planning at multiple scales, including the site-level, neighborhood, and regional scales. A particular area of focus will be the relationship of green infrastructure for improving hydrology and riparian corridors as part of comprehensive green space planning for recreation and cultural resources. The course will look at a wide range of systems including water, transportation, and food systems. A case study approach will be used to …

Virtual Surface Temperature Sensor For Multi-Zone Commercial Buildings, Yuebin Yu, Denchai Woradechjumroen, Daihong Yu

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Multi-zone structure is commonly used in small commercial office buildings, retail stores and supermarket. While there is no adjacent wall between the zones, the impact of a neighbor zone on the current zone can be approximated and analyzed through the application of virtual walls. It is critical to accurately estimate the virtual wall surface temperature in order to evaluate the model uncertainty and apply improved supervisory control on multiple rooftop air-conditioning units (RTUs). We propose an innovative virtual surface temperature sensor based on system-identification to solve this challenge. The validation of the virtual temperature model is processed by the three …

Hybrid Of Natural Element Method (Nem) With Genetic Algorithm (Ga) To Find Critical Slip Surface, Shahriar Shahrokhabadi, Vahid Khoshfahm, Hamed Nabizadeh Rafsanjani

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

One of the most important issues in geotechnical engineering is the slope stability analysis for determination of the factor of safety and the probable slip surface. Finite Element Method (FEM) is well suited for numerical study of advanced geotechnical problems. However, mesh requirements of FEM creates some difficulties for solution processing in certain problems. Recently, motivated by these limitations, several new Meshfree methods such as Natural Element Method (NEM) have been used to analyze engineering problems. This paper presents advantages of using NEM in 2D slope stability analysis and Genetic Algorithm (GA) optimization to determine the probable slip surface and …

The Influence Of National Culture On Effectiveness Of Safety Trainings During Postdisaster Reconstruction, Behzad Esmaeili, Kevin Grosskopf, Amy Javernick-Will

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Non-English speaking workers constitute a disproportionately high number of workers involved in postdisaster reconstruction. Additionally, the rate of fatality among these workers is higher than the industry average. Research shows this population is more prone to unsafe behaviors in the working environment, conceivably because many of these workers are sent into the field prior to any formalized training. Recent studies show that the native culture of construction workers can impact risk-taking behavior. While numerous researchers have attempted to develop training materials for Hispanic workers, the number of studies that consider the impact of native culture on safety behavior is minimal. …

Shallow Flat Soffit Precast Concrete Floor System, George Morcous, Maher Tadros

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

A precast concrete floor system that eliminates the need for column corbels and beam ledges while being very shallow. The main advantages of the present system include a span to-depth ratio of 30, a flat soffit, economy, consistency with prevailing erection techniques, and fire and corrosion protection. The present system consists of continuous precast columns, prestressed rectangular beams, hollow-core planks, and cast-in-place composite topping. Testing results have indicated that a 12 inch deep flat soffit precast floor system has adequate capacity to carry gravity loads (including 100 psf live load) in a 30 ft x 30 ft bay size. Testing …

Evaluating The Benefits Of And Barriers To Building With Structural Insulated Panels, Alison E. Moynihan

Student Showcase

Changing climate and increasing costs of energy are putting pressure on the building industry to adapt to higher performance building systems. One technology that can improve building performance is structural insulated panel (SIP) construction. The purpose of my practicum is to evaluate the possible benefits of SIPs and to identify obstacles to SIPs gaining a larger portion of the building industry. Using the information from practicum I intend to evaluate current design tools and suggest my own tools. The benefits of SIPs are lower thermal bridging and air infiltration leading to lower operating costs and minimal material usage. Findings include …