Environmental Design Commons^™

Desert Dichotomies: Climatic Imaginaries Of The Arid+[Ant]Arctic, Amanda Aman

Mavs Open Press Open Educational Resources

Desert Dichotomies is a research-based architecture design studio that examines the impacts of climate change across arid and polar desert environments, revealing unexpected parallels between landscapes often understood as environmental opposites. Focusing on Antarctica, Arctic Alaska and the Sonoran Desert, the project investigates how climate change, resource extraction and human systems of control are transforming ecological processes, water systems and cultural landscapes. While arid deserts face increasing drought and water scarcity, polar deserts are experiencing accelerated warming, ice loss, permafrost thaw and flooding. Despite these contrasting conditions, both regions exhibit similar consequences, including declining water quality, biodiversity loss, infrastructural vulnerability …

Data-Driven Methodologies For Mapping Cultural Heritage: The Case Of The National Coal Heritage Area, West Virginia, Usa, Hossain Mohammad Nahyan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The objective of this dissertation was to develop a comprehensive, data-driven spatial framework for characterizing the complex cultural landscape of the National Coal Heritage Area (NCHA) in West Virginia. By transitioning away from traditional, heuristic spatial mapping, this research integrates advanced spatial statistics, machine learning, and GIS-based methodologies to objectively quantify the physical, visual, and cultural dimensions of the post-mining environment. The research is structured around three interconnected empirical studies, each addressing a specific scale of the Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) framework to support heritage conservation and sustainable spatial planning. The first paper focused on landform classification, developing an automated …

The Role Of Greenways In Achieving Urban Sustainability For Cities Accordance With The Sustainable Development Goals 2030, Walaa Ahmed Nour Prof, Aya Abdelazim Abdeen, Lobna Agha Prof

Journal of Engineering Research

The concept of "greenways" emerged to achieve sustainable development in urban areas and to address natural disasters resulting from climate change. This research paper aims to study the role of greenways in achieving urban sustainability and their facilitation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. The paper expounds on the idea and origin of greenways, their benefits, and analyzes some global examples. Furthermore, it categorizes the indicators of greenway design into two types: those with a positive impact and those without an impact on sustainable development goals. Using standardized tools, the relationship between each indicator and sustainable development goals …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Assessing Environmental Impact Of The Built Environment By Adopting Life Cycle Design: Using Swanton Pacific Ranch As A Case Study, Hope E. Springer

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

To combat the carbon emissions contributed to the atmosphere by the built environment, it is imperative that low-embodied-carbon materials choices be prioritized throughout the building design process. To achieve this, this professional project creates an Excel-based, open source, and user-friendly tool for the construction sector to make design decisions that prioritize the sustainability of structures, as one such tool does not currently exist. The use of OpenLCA software and the EcoInvent34 database are utilized to calculate the environmental impact of 25 different building materials, as well as energy and electricity consumption. Swanton Pacific Ranch (SPR) in Santa Cruz County is …

Planting Seeds, Cynthia Smith

Goal 4: Intrapersonal Intelligence Narrative

It is easy to become inundated with school, work, and daily life that we forget to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness “is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us” (Mindful Staff, 2020). The goal of this activity is to demonstrate mindfulness through planting a seed and practicing daily mindfulness as we take care of the seed while it grows. The act of planting a seed requires one to be mindful because this is a delicate process. Cal State Assistant Professor …

Wastewater-Informed Public Health Intervention Playbook

Sustain Magazine

As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic quickly spread from country to country and continent to continent in 2020, governments and scientists needed a way to track COVID-19 through populations in order to position public health interventions in the most impactful locations. Having a decision-based risk framework may help to guide policy creation that could minimize or prevent possible outbreaks and surges of infection within communities. The University of Louisville in partnership with Louisville’s Department of Public Health and Wellness tested this strategy in 2021 and 2022. This Wastewater-Informed Public Health Intervention Playbook describes the decisions and actions of that academic and public …

Cladding By Another Name: A Comparative Analysis Of The Environmental And Economic Costs Of Traditional Wood Clapboards, Composite Fiber-Cement Siding, And Vinyl Siding, Nicole Larochelle

All Theses

Using the tools provides by the scientific community, namely the products of lifecycle cost assessments (LCA) – which are synthesized in environmental product declarations (EPD) – and life cycle cost assessments (LCCA), the overall environmental and economic impacts of historic, traditional, and simulated materials are established and compared. This informs the historic preservation community of the quantifiable sustainability of historic materials in relation to alternatives. Through these two different methods of environmental and economic life cycle costing, this research demonstrates that retaining in-situ siding incurs the least impact on the environment and is the second most economic option. While the …

Electrochromic Windows: Return On Investment Analysis, Thomas Michael Caprio

Construction Management

In recent years, sustainability in construction has become a topic of undeniable interest. With sustainability certifications becoming more prominent and desirable, members of the construction industry have begun to seek alternatives for standard systems to keep up with market trends. One of the main issues that the construction industry faces is accessibility of technology. While there are new products and technologies being released frequently, members of the construction industry lack knowledge on the specific details and implications of working with newer systems. One piece of technology that was recently introduced is electrochromic glass, or smart glass. Electrochromic windows analyze sunlight …

Biking In Indianapolis: An Ethnographic Analysis Of Obstacles And Solutions, Emory Lietz

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Indiana is known as the ""Crossroads of America"" for its historic investment in vehicle infrastructure. This focus on automobiles has shaped Indianapolis's urban landscape, to the dismay of many cyclists. Based on semi-structured interviews with a range of stakeholders in the Indianapolis cycling community, including urban planners, bike commuters, IndyGo employees, city government officials, and bike advocates, this project identifies and evaluates the current barriers that prevent Indianapolis residents from riding their bikes. These obstacles, which include infrastructural, safety, and social factors, make it more difficult than it ought to be to bike in Indy.

For my thesis project, I …

Generation Of 3d Model Of Downtown Sullivan, Jim Speer

2020 Fall Reports (Sullivan)

The City of Sullivan identified the downtown area as an area for improvement and needed a way to depict areas. In ENVI 610, one graduate student was able to address the agreed upon goals of developing a 3D model of the downtown square. Some recommendations for future use of the 3D model were made for land-use planning, drainage systems, elevation, and more.

Sustainable Solutions, Fall/Winter 2020, Issue 41

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Towards Implementing Integrated Coastal Zone Management In The Gambia : Coastal Adaptation To Climate Change And Human Impacts In The High Risk Zone (Cell 6), Lamin Komma

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Environmentally Responsible Land Use, Spring/Summer 2010, Issue 22

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Communities, Fall/Winter 2010, Issue 21

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Building, Spring/Summer 2009, Issue 20

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Environmental History, Fall/Winter 2009, Issue 19

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Student Research, Spring/Summer 2008, Issue 18

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Evolving Pollution Prevention, Fall/Winter 2008, Issue 17

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Climate Change, Spring/Summer 2007, Issue 16

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Our Energy Future, Fall/Winter 2007, Issue 15

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Land Conservation, Spring/Summer 2006, Issue 14

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Pollution And Heart Disease, Fall/Winter 2006, Issue 13

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Green Cities, Spring/Summer 2005, Issue 12

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Global Sustainability, Fall/Winter 2005, Issue 11

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice, Spring/Summer 2004, Issue 10

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Kentucky's Environmental Future, Fall/Winter 2004, Issue 9

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Urban Ecology, Spring/Summer 2003, Issue 8

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Urban Regeneration, Fall/Winter 2003, Issue 7

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Urban Air Quality, Spring/Summer 2002, Issue 6

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.