Environmental Design Commons^™

Developing And Piloting A Design Guide For Outdoor Classrooms In Utah, Derek Jenson, Jake Powell, David T. Anderson, Rose Judd-Murray

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

The outdoor classroom design guide can help applicants successfully apply for the Utah Outdoor Classroom Grant introduced by the Office of Outdoor Recreation (OOR) in 2021. The design guide includes case studies, design resources, and critical information for community involvement from statewide locations and will serve as a free public resource.

Creating A Development Framework: A Generic Lens For Public Markets’ Analysis And Development In Integration With Their Zone Of Influence Revitalization, Nourhan Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses how the development of public markets through a structured framework can be a catalyst for revitalizing its zone of influence. Public markets have always been marked by their rich experience, and their central role in towns, cities, and villages, as they have been vital engines for urban growth and cities formation since their prevalence. Needless to mention their role in entrepreneurship and their significance for the social development of neighborhoods. Nowadays, local governments are rediscovering the central role of public markets and are putting them under focus to catalyze the urban growth and neighborhoods revitalization by their …

An Empirical Investigation Into Current And Future Overheating Frequency In Nzeb And Passivhaus Dwellings In Ireland, Evan Finegan

Theses

The European Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) 2011, ensures that all new Irish dwellings designed after 01st November 2019 are nearly zero energy (nZEB) dwellings. The Passive House (PH) standard has been the most commonly applied energy standard across the globe in recent decades, while overheating is identified as a growing issue in nZEB and PH dwellings. The EPBD requires all dwellings to be designed to reduce energy consumption, while considering general indoor climate conditions to avoid the negative effects of overheating. Overheating frequency simulations are not mandatory for dwellings under Irish legislation. Anticipated climate change trends will result in …

Feasibility Report On Water Recycling And The Housing Crisis, Tally A. Perry

City and Regional Planning

The western United States is experiencing increasing population, a housing shortage, and a drought. These challenges demand creative and unprecedented changes to development. Water recycling is slowly emerging as a viable solution for developers, home owners, and cities as a way to continue much-needed housing development while mitigating unnecessary water depletion. With all change, policy, feasibility, and awareness can be the largest influencers. Drought-ridden western-American states require additional and revised regulatory requirements to promote recycled water in new development. Currently, water reuse is largely used for agricultural and industrial purposes. To motivate and encourage housing development, water recycling needs to …

Center For Centering: Analysis Of A Modular Timber Dome, Lucas J. Brown

Architectural Engineering

Analysis of a modular timber dome with focus on inductive, sensory, social, and environmental aspects.

Cityengine As A Tool For Visualizing Neighborhood Change: An Initial Study, Zach Noyes

City and Regional Planning

Urban planning is reliant upon genuine public engagement to ensure that planning and policy decisions reflect the ideas shared by the public. Because planning is a profession largely focused on the physical and built implications of more abstract planning concepts, effective graphic communication is critical to securing public support and understanding of policy decisions. ESRI's CityEngine uses procedural modeling technology to render personally-tailored scenes to non-planner members of the public, and shows potential to positively change the way that planners generate graphic representations of physical impacts of policy changes. This initial study establishes a methodology for determining the efficacy of …

An Analysis And Application Of Pedestrian Streets, Ellie Krantz, Austin Lucero

City and Regional Planning

The goal of this project is to closely examine the conversion of traditional roads into pedestrian streets. By studying two examples, we will create an understanding of why cities do this, how they implement pedestrian streets, what results pedestrian streets bring, and what makes a successful conversion project.

The second part of this project is to implement the key takeaways of the research phase into a conceptual design of a similar project for San Luis Obispo. This design based phase will consider the entire scope of the project, detailing project location selection, implementation, and recommendations.

How Can Biomimicry Inform A Sustainable, Ethical Future In Architecture And Design?, Chloe Hanf

University Honors Theses

This publication traces effects of systems theory and assemblage thinking on American architecture and design since the 1960's in relation to contemporary ecological thought and biological discoveries. Building upon these observations, the author concludes that biomimicry belongs at the forefront of contemporary theory and praxis in architecture and design.

From Waste To Energy:   Reuse Of Landfills To Create Eco-Friendly Spaces, Maya Maasarani, Ayman Afify, Hiba Mohsen, Maged Youssef

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

Waste to Energy (W to E) minimize the amount of waste sent to landfill, which also reduces negative impacts on the environment. This problem has been a common occurrence since the beginning of time. Waste to Energy will assist in the creation of a low-carbon society. Currently, the challenge behind reaching Eco-friendly space is a result of the continuity of incineration and landfill uncontrolled Municipal Solid waste on slopes and seashore. This environmental disaster as worldwide landfill is oversaturated and can collapse at any moment and cause dangerous damage to the environment. The average trash production increased phenomenally worldwide, resulting …

Extending The Role Of Architecture Intervention Across The Disaster Life Cycle, Khaled Zahra, Ayman Afify, Hiba Mohsen, Maged Youssef

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

Disasters have been a common occurrence since the beginning of time, yet they are increasing phenomenally worldwide and especially in developing countries. Factors that led to the cause of destructive disasters are often complex and interrelated; researchers detect human influence and rapid development is intensifying the damage and scale of disaster-prone areas through urban sprawl and human interference. Observing the disaster life cycle, it is made up of four stages: preparedness stage, resilience and mitigation stage, response and relief stage, and finally reconstruction and recovery stage. The main focus usually lies in the response and relief stage which comes immediately …

House As Ritual: Stories Of Gender, Space, And Caste In Colonial Kerala, Devi Nayar

Masters of Environmental Design Theses

Kerala, the southwestern state of Independent India, had gained its distinct architectural heritage by the time the British East India Company began colonizing India in the 17th century. Upper caste Nambuthiris and Nayars organized their agrarian homesteads — four-winged courtyard houses with gender as their axis of internal regulation. Although the house layout remained the same, the gendered inhabitation varied based on caste. On their arrival, British colonists began reordering and reshaping this native cosmos into a perceived anglicized 'normative'[1]. The existing political and social terrains were fractured, revised, and reworked to create an anglicized model of society. …

Beside Yingzao: An Index Of Chinese Building Traditions, Tianyi Hang

Masters of Environmental Design Theses

Yingzao referred to the Chinese architectural practice prior to the nineteenth-century introduction of the term jianzhu, the translation of “architecture.” The earliest preserved illustrated government-issued building standard was titled Yingzao fashi. Published by the Southern Song government in 1103, Yingzao fashi defined and regulated technical terms used to describe imperial construction as well as specified the labor costs of certain building techniques. These terms inform our understanding of the traditional Chinese way of categorization and knowledge system of architecture and architectural elements.

Titled “Beside Yingzao,” this study takes the technical terms from Yingzao fashi to guide the reader in investigating …

Maximum Governance: Managerial Populism And Violent Infrastructures In The New India, Mila T. Samdub

Masters of Environmental Design Theses

No abstract provided.

A Circular Economy Approach To Improve E-Waste Recycling In California: Economic Potential And Policy Options, Kripa Shah

Master's Projects and Capstones

The higher consumption rates of electronic devices along with their short life cycles and few repair options poses a huge challenge for E-waste industries to manage them effectively. E-waste comprises of hazardous materials and toxic constituents that can affect the environment and public health through improper disposal. However, they also contain few valuable materials that, if recovered, can reduce the dependence on virgin raw materials. Circular economy has the potential to utilize these valuable materials and gain environment and socio-economic benefits. The research explains how the adoption of a circular economy approach can help improve the E-waste recycling in California …

Mycological Renovations: How Saprophytic Fungi-Composite Materials Can Remodle Ff&E, Dillon Denig

Hospitality Design Graduate Student Capstones

The hospitality sector in Las Vegas particularly could do a better job at leading by example through more sustainable renovations and experiences. Today's travelers, restaurant patrons, hotel bookers and shoppers care about sustainability and sustainable practices make hospitality organizations stand out. In the ongoing climate crisis, research is being conducted assessing the viability of biomimetric materials which are responsibly sources, do not release harmful man-made toxins, and decompose through natural means. One of these organic materials further being researched as a likely future replacement of plastics is mycelium. The design method will follow growing various mycelium fixtures and furnishings following …

Sustainable Urban Planning: Turning The Concrete Jungle Into Green Buildings, Danielle Richardson

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper addresses the issue of greenhouse gas emissions – particularly those from buildings – within New York City and discusses ways to construct new sustainable buildings and retrofit existing buildings to both minimize greenhouse gas emissions as well as act as carbon sinks to absorb some of the emissions. Reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions is critical to NYC meeting its climate target goals, as detailed in the mayoral administrations’ PlaNYC and OneNYCenvironmental plans. This paper analyzes sustainable architecture and construction and presents various options and policies as to how to turn the city into a green city through …

Chattahoochee River Front: Creating A Public Space For The City Of Atlanta, Samantha Manders

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The city of Atlanta lacks public spaces. Atlanta is characterized by many high-rise buildings, and a bare urban fabric that is accessed by automobile-oriented roads rather than pedestrian streets. Dense city centers such as Buckhead, Midtown, and Downtown, lacks proper public places that support social cohesion. While the city is renowned for its green spaces and the tree canopy, much of the public space is dedicated as green parks rather than plazas as extension of the street network. When the development of Atlanta began, it was designed as a railroad city. This took the focus off its natural course of …

Aquatic Architecture, Jonathan Bonaparte

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

For centuries, mankind has been building their architectural cities near or around water. It has its advantages such as transportation, convenience for the trade routes and water survival. As the earth gets hotter every year and the ice glaciers continues to melts, the ocean sea levels will continue to rise.

Assuming that the projected sea water levels for 2050 are correct, 95% of coastal cities around the world are at risk from rising sea levels and unpredictable storm surges. The coastal cities are going to have to adapt and change its way of thinking with the encroachment of the sea. …

A “Third Place” For The Little Rock Air Force Base, Community Design Center

Community Design Center Project Reports

The third place is a widely understood concept coined by urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg to denote those life-affirming civic places that are neither work nor home. In an effort lead by Clemson University, the UACDC partnered with the Little Rock Air Force Base to develop a Social Center – or a Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR)/Outdoor Recreation (ODR) Center per official military nomenclature – using mass timber technology. Two schemes reflecting mat building typology, a deep-plan, large, horizontal building developed from repeatable modules, were prepared by the UACDC studio at the level of Schematic Design. The first scheme, The Shed …

Plastic Bottles In Architecture: A How To Guide On Life-Cycle Through Reuse, Crystallyne Landram

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This booklet is a collection of 6 case studies that utilize reused plastic bottles significantly within their design. Prior to working with the case studies, much time was dedicated to research that justified the need for such a project. In-depth research on the environmental crisis, waste management trends, stewardship, sustainability, and ethics was conducted and recorded in the introduction to contextualize the need for an accessible how-to guide such as this one. Time was also given to establishing background information on bottles, reprocessing, and architecture to elaborate further on each piece of the content matter. It is curated as a …