Landscape Architecture Commons^™

Between The Posts: Research On The Cap And Top Rail To Guardrail Post Connection, Blake Buckner

Landscape Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Between 2003 and 2007, an estimated 11,120 Americans went to the emergency room as a direct result of a structural failure or collapse of wood deck railings. This is an average of 2,224 people each year. Furthermore, estimates show there are over 40 million decks in the United States and about half of these are more than fifteen years old, which is past their expected lifespan (Legacy Services, 2012). Decks are exterior structures susceptible to the elements that degrade over time, making the need for proper, safe construction techniques even more important. The safety of unsuspecting people who use decks …

Professor John Ellsworth Interview Transcription, John C. Ellsworth

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning 75th Anniversary

No abstract provided.

Professor Vern Budge Interview Transcription, Vern Budge

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning 75th Anniversary

No abstract provided.

The Cost Of Green Infrastructure: Worth The Investment?, Martha Sheils

Green Infrastructure

Is GI worth the investment?

• LID techniques often lead to cost savings when we look at WHOLE PROJECT COSTS

• Natural Infrastructure investments for flood control, drinking water protection and wildlife habitat can yield SIGNIFICANT AVOIDED COSTS and additional co-benefits to communitites

Rethinking Extensive Green Roofs To Lessen Emphasis On Above-Ground Biomass, Richard K. Sutton

Landscape Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

In the future, most green roof applications will not be highly visible, yet these roofs will still provide the benefits of heat island reduction, stormwater control and biodiversity for hard-surfaced cities. However, human bias in wanting more biomass and visible blooms leads green roof horticulturalists and their approach of maximizing those aspects down a slippery slope that, in turn, leads to increased hours of labor, over-watering and fertilizing and specifying too many cultivars

Seeding Green Roofs With Native Grasses, Richard K. Sutton

Landscape Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

During six years of native grass establishment and growth on four green roofs, we sought to understand appropriate seeding seasons and spacing, the amount of time to reach the industry 80% coverage threshold (FLL 2008), the seed yield projections for volunteer plant infill. We also produced and tested methods for successfully and inexpensively seeding and determined “as needed” irrigation protocols. The suite of techniques examined improves and enhances the use, establishment, and management of native grasses on green roofs and reduces green roof costs.

Capital Cost Comparisons Between Low Impact Development (Lid) And Conventional Stormwater Management Systems In Florida, Daniel C. Penniman, Mark Hostetler, Tatiana Borisova, Glenn Acomb

Suburban Sustainability

Low impact development (LID), an ecologically sensitive development strategy and stormwater management (SWM) method, is beginning to be implemented in more suburban and metropolitan projects. However, construction firms that work in Florida have been relatively slow to adopt LID. One significant reason being that many professionals in the development community believe LID practices raise the cost of construction compared to conventional, “pipe and pond” methods. Our objective for this study was to determine how specific capital costs differed between LID and conventional SWM methods. We surveyed a group of LID-experienced design professionals to collect cost data from projects that were …

The Utilization Of Social Spaces Near Soccer Fields By Attendees Of Hispanic Soccer League Matches In Dallas, Texas, Blake Samper

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

The purpose of this research is to observe and identify the social interactions in pedestrian spaces immediately surrounding soccer fields during Hispanic soccer league matches in Dallas, Texas. The research uses passive observation of spectators at Hispanic soccer league matches in the Dallas area to determine which activities are prevalent and which types of spaces are most commonly used and for what purpose. Recent immigration has greatly boosted the numbers of Hispanics living in North Central Texas (Price & Whitworth, 2004). This population increase is leading to wide demographic changes where immigrants settle. One of these shifts is occurring in …

Professor Craig Johnson Interview Transcription, Craig Johnson

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning 75th Anniversary

No abstract provided.

Professor Richard E. Toth Interview Transcription, Richard E. Toth

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning 75th Anniversary

No abstract provided.

Cascade Garden Residence Landscape Performance Benefits Assessment, Bo Yang, Pamela Blackmore, Chris Binder

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

Cascade Garden is a tranquil, high-altitude residential property, designed to preserve the area's natural setting and ecosystem while meeting the property owner's requests for outdoor amenities. The project involved dismantling an existing house and siting a new home integrated into the landscape with minimal site disturbance. The site features an existing pond, which was planted with riparian vegetation and modified to support trout habitat and supply water for landscape irrigation. Because of the harsh, high-altitude climate and presence of wildlife, plant species were carefully selected to ensure high growth levels and low maintenance. Most of the traditional lawn was replaced …

Capitol Valley Ranch Landscape Performance Benefits Assessment, Bo Yang, Pamela Blackmore, Chris Binder

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

Capitol Valley Ranch, a one-acre home site situated on a larger working cattle ranch, is nestled into a rural high-altitude Colorado landscape. The design for the property required an integration of functions. A working ranch with horses, stables, and a barn coexists with a residence, thereby retaining traditional practices that preserve regional culture and open space values. The intimate and social spaces conducive to outdoor living and entertaining assimilate with the architecture and echo the site's naturalistic setting at 8,000 ft above sea level. In order to preserve the agricultural heritage of the valley, the design limited site disturbance, adhered …

Ua3/9/2 2010-2022 Master Plan, Wku Planning, Design & Construction

WKU Administration Documents

WKU master plan map showing buildings needing renovation, proposed buildings, affiliated buildings and WKU property in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Ecology Of Scale In Visual Landscape Assessments, Richard K. Sutton

Landscape Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

Background readings on scale plus twenty-three visual landscape assessment studies from 1968 to 2006 were examined to understand the nature and use of scale and its relationship to the visual environment. The objectives of this study were to: 1) describe the concept of scale as applied to visual assessments, 2) review scale use in selected visual assessments, and 3) identify issues that need further research to better integrate scale into visual landscape assessments and landscape ecological theory.

Basic concepts and features relating observers with landscape and scale required defining scale, bounding visibility, perceiving scale, seeing hierarchically, and visualizing grain and …

The History Of Trial Gardens, Hallie Schmidt

Horticulture and Crop Science

Essay explores the history of home gardening and seed industry in America and the conditions that led to the development of the All-America Selections.

Issue Brief: Auditing Your Town's Development Code For Barriers To Sustainable Water Management, New England Environmental Finance Center

Sustainable Communities Capacity Building

This issue brief is intended for town officials who want to understand how development regulations in their community affect local water resources. Municipal development codes – the set of regulations that control the built environment – can have a great influence on the availability of clean and healthy water for drinking, recreation, and commercial uses. This in turn affects the community’s social, environmental, and economic vitality.

Comprehensive plans, zoning codes, and building standards are just a few examples of regulations that intentionally or unintentionally regulate the way water is transported, collected and absorbed. Regulations that produce dispersed development or large …

Professor Gerald L. Smith Interview Transcription, Gerald L. Smith

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning 75th Anniversary

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Satellite Products For Precipitation Estimation In Mountain Regions: A Case Study For Nepal, Nir Y. Krakauer, Soni M. Pradhanang, Tarendra Lakhankar, Ajay K. Jha

Publications and Research

Precipitation in mountain regions is often highly variable and poorly observed, limiting abilities to manage water resource challenges. Here, we evaluate remote sensing and ground station-based gridded precipitation products over Nepal against weather station precipitation observations on a monthly timescale. We find that the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) 3B-43 precipitation product exhibits little mean bias and reasonable skill in giving precipitation over Nepal. Compared to station observations, the TRMM precipitation product showed an overall Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.49, which is similar to the skill of the gridded station-based product Asian Precipitation-Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of Water …

Professor Michael Timmons Interview Transcription, Michael Timmons

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning 75th Anniversary

No abstract provided.

Study Of Cultural Landscapes In Texas: An Inquiry For Policy Recommendations, Dorothy Joelle Wright

Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses - Archive

The object of this thesis is to understand the status of preservation of Texas cultural landscapes and encourage policy recommendations. To do this, the thesis examines the procedure for nominating cultural landscapes in Texas for the National Register of Historic Places (NR), a program administered by the National Park Service (NPS) through state-level agencies. In Texas, the Texas Historical Society (THC) administers NR programs under supervision of the State Historic Preservation Officer. In the 1950s, the term cultural landscape rarely appeared in print. However, beginning with the work of J.B. Jackson, an independent writer and landscape scholar, cultural landscape studies …