Architecture Commons^™

A Life Cycle Cost Analysis Of An Irish Dwelling Retrofitted To Passive House Standard: Can Passive House Become A Cost-Optimal Low-Energy Retrofit Standard?, Daniel Coyle

Masters

The Passive House standard represents perhaps the current 'state-of-the-art' in low-energy building design, often hailed by its advocates as a cost-optimal standard to be applied to both new and existing dwellings in order to achieve Ireland’s energy and CO₂ reduction targets. However, meeting the rigorous standards of Passive House in existing buildings is demanding and generally requires significantly higher initial capital investments. This research conducted an investment appraisal of the Passive House retrofit standard in order to determine if it could become a cost-optimal model for the deep-retrofit of Irish dwellings. The problem was investigated using energy analysis (DEAP …

Weitz Cec Art Viewbook, Weitz Cec

Programs and Brochures

This brochure lists art purchased through the building fund or donated to the Weitz CEC. The core collection was acquired through a competitive process open to UNO faculty, staff, students, and local area artists. A committee comprised of art and design professionals and university volunteers selected works that represent both the individual artist’s interpretation of the Weitz CEC vision and the collective talent of Omaha’s vibrant visual arts community.

Moving Towards A Greener Future: An Investigation Of How Transit-Oriented Development Has The Potential To Redefine Cities Around Sustainability, Margaret E. Smith

Scripps Senior Theses

How does transportation shape the cities we live in? This paper takes a close look at the practice of transit-oriented development to assess its implications for the future of urban areas. Through the design of a hypothetical light rail station in the suburb of Redmond, WA, this paper demonstrates how targeting sustainable development around transit has the potential to influence entire towns to “go green,” and proposes that, moving forward, cities be designed to maximize mobility, livability, and sustainability.

More Is The Same, Tyler Reeves Nansen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Nansen, Tyler, M.F.A. Spring 2015

More Is The Same

Chairperson: Associate Professor Trey Hill

More is the Same is the result of my examination of the perception of space in relation to architecture and landscape. By embracing modern concepts of the grid, formalism and design, this compilation of personal experiences and memories, manifests as post-minimal sculptures. However, when considering the hierarchy of importance in my work this involves pure visual perception over any specific narrative. The final product is an exhibition which elicits a perceptual experience for its viewer.

My work is about space and the creation of visual interactions, …

Spatial Composition Andconfiguration Changes In The Bangkok Metropolitan Regionlandscape, Komgrij Thanapet, Shiann-Far Kung

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

Bangkok and five provinces in the vicinity, called Bangkok Metropolitan Region, BMR, occupies 7,650 Square Kilometers of the most significant delta area and productive agricultural lands of Thailand. According to 2012 database of the Land Development Bureau, Thailand, the BMR has more than 140 types of land-use classifications related to various agricultural usage; paddy fields, crop fields, orchards, perennial plots, horticulture, farming facilities and aquaculture lands. It could be said that BMR's surrounding landscapes, the richness of patches and the diversity of ecology are defined by complex patterns of mixed land-uses. The goal of this study is to understand the …

Aquatic Cities In The Central Plain Of Thailand:Study Of Urban Form And Maps Of 1960, Prin Jhearmaneechotechai

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

This paper presents a study of cities located on floodable topography in the Central Plain of Thailand. These cities were once called aquatic cities, Bangkok was also known as the "Venice of the East" due to its extraordinary relationship with water. The study will analyses the transitional period of change from water-based to land-based cities using the surveyed and published maps in city's scale that were generated for the first time in Thailand in 1960. The paper will therefore explain the particular identity and characters of these water-based cities through urban form, size and articulation between water and land.

Smart Light Pipe Strategies In Deep Plan Office Building In Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sabrina Afroz Mostofa

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

Asian cities, especially tropical cities of South and Southeast Asia, are in need of smart technology. One smart technology, the light pipe strategy, would alleviate the dependence on artificial lights duringdaylight hours. Light pipe provides possible solution by means of piping daylight into the depths of buildings. This research focuses on the potential of light pipes in Dhaka city. For the solution, horizontal light pipes have been retrofitted to the selected buildings and assessed by testing a computer model using 'Ecotect and Radiance'software. Comparative analysis was c onducted between the existing and the retrofitted conditions to show the feasibility of …

A Review Of Approaches For Sensing, Understanding, And Improving Occupancy-Related Energy-Use Behaviors In Commercial Buildings, Hamed Nabizadeh Rafsanjani, Changbum R. Ahn, Mahmoud Alahmad

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Buildings currently account for 30–40 percent of total global energy consumption. In particular, commercial buildings are responsible for about 12 percent of global energy use and 21 percent of the United States’ energy use, and the energy demand of this sector continues to grow faster than other sectors. This increasing rate therefore raises a critical concern about improving the energy performance of commercial buildings. Recently, researchers have investigated ways in which understanding and improving occupants’ energy-consuming behaviors could function as a cost-effective approach to decreasing commercial buildings’ energy demands. The objective of this paper is to present a detailed, up-to-date …

China Gothic: Indigenous' Church Design In Late-Imperial Beijing, Anthony E. Clark

History Faculty Scholarship

In 1887 the French ecclesiastic-cum-architect, Bishop Alphonse Favier, negotiated the construction of Beijing’s most extravagant church, the North Church cathedral, located near the Forbidden City. China was then under a semi-colonial occupation of missionaries and diplomats, and Favier was an icon of France’s mission civilisatrice. For missionaries such as Favier, Gothic church design represented the inherent caractère Français expected to “civilize” the Chinese empire. Having secured funds from the imperial court to build his ambitious Gothic cathedral, the French bishop enlisted local builders to realize his architectural vision, which consisted of Gothic arches, exaggerated finials, and a rose widow with …

Building A History: Evaluation Of Central Washington University Campus Buildings To Determine Eligibility For Listing On The National Register Of Historic Places, Lauren M. Walton

All Master's Theses

Using U.S. Department of the Interior standards, I completed an intensive inventory of 184 buildings on the Central Washington University (CWU) campus, from which I evaluated buildings to determine their eligibility for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Historical research allowed me to identify the age of each building, as well as stylistic trends and historic events between the late nineteenth and early twenty-first centuries that influenced CWU architecture. Through archival research, I determined whether each historic building represented the work of a master architect, a distinct type, period, or method of construction/architecture, or was associated with …

New Songdo City: A Case Study In Complexity Thinking And Ubiquitous Urban Design, Glen Kuecker

History Faculty publications

A new urban form has emerged amid the perfect storm of global crises: climate change, energy transition, demographic shifts (growth, aging, and urbanization), food and water insecurity, pandemics, economic stress, and ecological degradation. Known as “smart cities” or “ubiquitous cities,” this urban form is characterized by deployments of computer technologies and analytics that promise enhanced efficiencies within the urban metabolism. This paper presents South Korea’s New Songdo City as a case study in ubiquitous urban design by asking if it constitutes an opportunity within the perfect storm for an emergent, resilient urbanism. A key player in building New Songdo City …

Edra 46: Bibliography Of Books On Display, Kathleen Demsky

Bibliographies

edra 46 | brainSTORM | Los Angeles, CA

Renewing Spokane: A Study Of Motivating Forces Behind Downtown Revitalization Projects, Kara K. Mowery

All Master's Theses

This study examines the motivating forces behind downtown urban renewal projects through qualitative interview research. Using Spokane, Washington, as a case study, interviews were conducted with key players in downtown revitalization, including public administrators, private developers, and non-profit representatives. While neoliberal theory indicates that economic return serves as the primary motivation for investment, interview questions were designed to uncover whether additional motivating factors stimulate renewal work. Results indicate that those conducting renewal projects are primarily motivated by economics, but additionally cite heritage preservation values and community development as significant factors. Moreover, contemporary renewal projects are found to be small-scale endeavors, …

On A New Method For Interior Lighting Design, James Duff

Doctoral

In 2009, Christopher Cuttle began to challenge the suitability of the metrics contained within current lighting design standards and guidance. In short, Cuttle proposed a move away from providing an amount of light that relates to the difficulty of a visual task and instead, providing an amount of light that relates to the brightness of a space. This sense of brightness would be estimated by a new lighting metric, Mean Room Surface Exitance. The research presented in this thesis strove to examine, critically evaluate, analyse and investigate the merit of changing indoor lighting standards to include Mean Room Surface Exitance. …

Distribution And Setting Of Farmers' Markets In The United States, Kirsten Shea Harrison

City and Regional Planning

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Land Cover And Riparian Zones For The Ford Research Forest - Hickey Creek/Sturgeon River And Falls River Subwatersheds, Fay Dearing

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

For landowners, knowing the contents of their land is always a primary concern. Traditional field based assessments can be challenging and expensive for large landholdings as well. However, by utilizing remote sensing and GIS models the land cover/land use and riparian areas can be more easily identified on a larger landscape level. To this end two remote sensing techniques were explored to create a land cover/land use map for the study area. The first, utilizing object-oriented techniques and high spatial resolution generated an overall accuracy of 71.97% which indicated a moderate agreement with the classified image and the field truthed …

Acoustics Of The Louis Armstrong Theatre, Bailey Groendyke

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

Like many multipurpose auditoriums, the Louis Armstrong Theatre (LAT) at Grand Valley State University has been reported by a considerable number of students and faculty to have unsatisfactory acoustics for music performance. This study focused on physical measurements and simulated changes to LAT. Reverberation time (RT) was measured by filling LAT with sound and measuring the decay for select frequencies as per ASTM E2235 protocol, and the initial time delay gap (ITDG) was determined using slapsticks as an impulsive sound source. A model of LAT was also constructed from blueprints and physical measurements; simulations using this model were conducted using …

Higher Hourly Cost Compensation For Heavy Equipment Used In Demolition Activity, Mark Shaurette

Bowen School of Construction Faculty Publications

Demolition activity is increasingly dependent on heavy equipment as the primary means of dismantlement. This mechanized wrecking process qualifies as a severe working condition for the heavy equipment employed. Demolition practitioners note that the severe conditions encountered increase the operating cost of the equipment employed. There are occasions when unexpected project conditions or disaster response necessitate negotiated compensation for demolition services. In these negotiations, hourly cost references are utilized by contracting agencies to benchmark hourly billings. Supervising engineers recommend using the hourly values quoted in national cost references for standard construction services because no specific guidance for cost adjustment is …

Looking Twice: Identifying And Understanding The Character Defining Features Of Historic Fire Stations, Kathleen M. Wilson

Historic Preservation Theses

The purpose of this study is to identify the character defining features of storefront and red brick fire stations and the necessity of understanding the history of firefighting in order to identify the character defining features. This study also examines the effectiveness of National Park Service Preservation Brief 17 Architectural Character – Identifying the Visual Aspects of Historic Buildings as an Aid to Preserving their Character in regards to identifying the character defining.

Electronic Records Archives, Brian Knowles

Historic Preservation Theses

What are the best practices of electronic records archives the archival field, how can problems be resolved or how to avoid them; and where do we go from here with electronic records archives? First I review practices, policies, and management of electronic records developments. Next I discuss problematic issues archives and research facilities face relating to electronic records. I then discuss and analyze survey results. To conclude, I discuss ideas, and challenges, and offer suggestions for electronic records archives.