Environmental Design Commons^™

Speed And Resolution In The Age Of Technological Reproducibility, Shawn Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

The rate of acceleration of the biologic and synthetic world has for a while now, been in the process of exponentially speeding up, maxing out servers and landfills, merging with each other, destroying each other. The last prehistoric relics on Earth are absorbing the same oxygen, carbon dioxide and electronic waves in our biosphere as us. A degraded .jpeg enlarged to full screen on a Samsung 4K UHD HU8550 Series Smart TV - 85” Class (84.5” diag.). Within this composite ecology, the ancient limestone of the grand canyon competes with the iMax movie of itself, the production of Mac pros, …

City Of Los Angeles Arts District Form-Based Code, Ryan Jupiter Banuelos

Master's Theses

Los Angeles is experiencing a loss of inventory with Industrial land due to adaptive reuse and property conversion. The primary factors behind the conversions are

inconsistent land use regulations and a strong market

demand for residential property. In an effort to streamline land use regulation,

the city will create a new zoning code. In conjunction with the zoning update,

the purpose of this project will be to develop a form-based code for the Los

Angeles Arts District. The new land use regulation will explore methods to

preserve job producing industrial space and accommodate the growing

residential market in the area. …

The Steel Yard, Architecture Department, Sculpture Department, Bruner Foundation

Rudy Bruner Award | 30 Years of Urban Excellence

The Steel Yard redeveloped a historic steel fabrication facility into a campus for arts education, job training, and small-scale manufacturing in Providence, Rhode Island. The 3.5-acre property in the city’s Industrial Valley required extensive environmental remediation to meet regulatory requirements while retaining the industrial urban character of the site. The Steel Yard offers classes, workforce training, and fabrication space for local artists, creating an industrial arts incubator where they can share ideas, materials, and space. It has become a center for creative activity, bridging the gap between the traditional arts community on the affluent east side of Providence with manufacturing …

Factors Related To Women's Undergraduate Success, Tanya Michelle Baker

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Play In Place: The Role Of Site-Specific Playgrounds In Community Space, Allison Nkwocha

Scripps Senior Theses

Playgrounds do not have to be static sites, but safety standards should not be the only force that guides their evolution over time. Just as the ongoing transformation of any city is a product of many interwoven factors, the collection of smaller sites that delineates one city from another should reflect the same holistic influences. This is not an argument for the abandonment of the safety standards that influence playground design. Instead, it is an argument for the adoption of and stronger adherence to community standards that influence city design. This paper argues that a park area (and more generally, …

Wasteland To Wonderland:Sustainable Brownfield Redevelopment Projects In Low-Income Areas Of Los Angeles, Rachel L. Warburton

Pitzer Senior Theses

The conversion of industrial waste sites, also known as brownfields, into sustainable green space can impact the surrounding community in a number of ways. This thesis is a compilation of three case studies in low-income areas of Los Angeles which have all experienced a brownfield to green space conversion. All three projects are dictated by various stakeholders and are located at the intersection of economic and environmental issues. I examine how the stakeholders of these projects affect the process and design and in turn how the process and design affects the community surrounding the site. Additionally this thesis sheds light …

3d Digital Modeling For Urban Design + Planning, Emmanuel Velazco

City and Regional Planning

Cities throughout the country face a number of challenges in dealing with the changing development needs of the 21st century. In urban planning, the fusion of social, environmental, political, economic, and functional considerations are required. Today, local, state, and federal governments are experiencing an economic downturn, making resources scarce to plan for smarter development, attain greater public interest, and economic revival.

The primary objective of this project is to provide innovative solutions in city and regional planning using software applications, such as Google SketchUp, that enable assessment of various urban design projects. A second objective was to create a 3D …

Walking Box Ranch Planning And Design Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending October 10, 2011, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• UNLV participated in two meetings with BLM regarding updating the current Task Order, obtaining a two-year no-cost extension for the two Assistance Agreements, and to develop the future WBR operating agreement between BLM and UNLV.
• Weather station progress included: 1) A study to review the recent developments in various building envelope components and their effects on the energy sustainability of a building has been completed and published, 2) Ground-source heat pump (GSHP) Vs Photovoltaic (PV) technology: A detailed comparison of ground source heat pumps and photo voltaics has been initiated, 3) A study to identify the most suitable and economically …

Walking Box Ranch Planning And Design Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending July 10, 2010, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• UNLV participated in several meetings with BLM regarding updating the current Task Order, obtaining a two-year no-cost extension for the two Assistance Agreements, and to develop the future WBR operating agreement between BLM and UNLV
• UNLV met with Sara Moffatt, one of Senator Reid’s staff, to provide an update on project progress. UNLV also requested the Senator’s support in obtaining additional funding for the project for construction, and also for UNLV to bridge the transition from construction through the first two years of operation.
• UNLV held several internal meetings to advance planning for a July VA meeting with BLM to …

Crossings, Noel Brady

Books/Book Chapters

Chapter concentrates on the bridges of Dublin’s river Liffey; their importance to the vitality of the city, its commerce and people. It also highlights the importance of crossings in the city linking and opening up new paths to growth and development.

Construction Cost Models, Barry Dikeman

Economics and Finance

The following are a series of cost estimate models similar in format to a typical engineer’s estimate that were developed in support of our financial impact assessment report for LD 1725. The models us current material costs, labor costs, and equipment costs for the region to provide a comparative cost analysis of seven culvert replacement scenarios. The models provide information about what the cost impact of LD 1725 would be for typical culvert replacements in Maine. However, due to the inherent restrictions of the cost modeling framework we were not able to include the abundance of variables that would be …

Walking Box Ranch Planning And Design Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending June 10, 2010, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• UNLV has purchased weather equipment, established a weather station at the ranch, and has begun collecting weather data and conducting preliminary research. The station collects hourly data on temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, and insolation that is transmitted wirelessly to UNLV and captured and projected on the PLI WBR website. A database of weather information will be maintained for further analysis. Research quantifying solar insolation at the ranch will be conducted.
• UNLV has begun preparing informational brochures that will be available to the public at the ranch in the future and will provide information on biology, geology, anthropology, and …

Walking Box Ranch Planning And Design Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending April 10, 2010, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• UNLV and Dornbusch and Associates have signed a contract for Dornbusch to conduct a “Visitor Services Feasibility, Compatibility, Market Study, and Business Plan” at the ranch, including all future museum and research center activities. This effort is kicking off in April 2010.
• UNLV is in the process of purchasing and installing a weather station at the ranch, and will conduct preliminary research using this equipment. Funding for a dual axis solar tracker was obtained from the UNLV sustainability initiative.
• Bill Wood, UNLV Real Estate Management, is continuing to work with Rex Bell to create an inventory of items that Rex …

Sustainable Portland: Implementation Series 3, New England Environmental Finance Center

Climate Change

This report is the third in a series of efforts by students at the Muskie School of Public Service, Community Planning and Development Master’s program, in a core class called “Sustainable Communities.” In this course students seek to understand principles of sustainability and how efforts to implement Sustainability programs can become more successful. The report assembles term papers students completed on particular efforts by municipalities, universities, and other groups to achieve sustainability goals. Students worked on each project in a service learning format with real world clients. They were asked to fashion their papers around lessons learned by other organizations …

Old To Green: A Green Renovation To A Historic Home And Its Important Role In The Current Green Building Era, Stacey Ann Hefley

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to identify the basic components of a green renovation project in accordance with sustainable design principles and to exemplify the applicability of each component of a historic home. The focus on historic homes in particular is to explore the important role they can play in the sustainable home building industry. With so much attention focusing on new home construction nowadays, there is concern that the critical contribution historic homes can make to the environment is being overlooked. Their role in the building design and construction industry is not only beneficial to sustain our environment, …

Walking Box Ranch Planning And Design Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending January 10, 2010, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• To advance educational and research goals at the ranch UNLV will fund the purchase and installation of a weather station at the ranch, and preliminary research using this equipment. PI Dr. Suresh Sardineni, Mechanical Engineering, will assess the renewable energy resources at the ranch and find methods to integrate them into existing and proposed new buildings at the site. The planned facilities will monitor beam and global solar radiation, wind speed and direction, temperature, and realative humidity. UNLV will provide funding to support two graduate students and partial salary for Dr. Sardineni.
• Bill Wood, UNLV Real Estate Management, is working …

Walking Box Ranch Planning And Design Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending October 10, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• UNLV has finalized a scope of work with Dornbusch and Associates to conduct a “Visitor Services Feasibility, Compatibility, Market Study, and Business Plan” and is now working with purchasing to sole source this contract.
• UNLV is continuing to work with BLM and Viceroy Mining to obtain rhyolite from the Viceroy Castle Mountain deposit to use for building stone in the new construction.
• UNLV submitted an EPSCoR proposal requesting ~$2.67M over three years to conduct sustainable energy research at WBR, which would include design and installation of green energy technologies.
• UNLV is working with Condit to finalize the WBR brand.
• UNLV …

Loosening The Ties That Bind: Grangegorman Masterplan, Noel Brady

Articles

Interview with James Mary O'Connor, Architect and Masterplanner with Moore Rubel Yudell designers of the Masterplan for DIT at Grangegroman, Dublin

Walking Box Ranch Planning And Design Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending July 10, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• UNLV participated in the 100% Design Concept Plan meeting, June 10-12, 2009 at the BLM Las Vegas Field Office and Walking Box Ranch (WBR), and provided comments toward proposed concepts for the museum and field, research, and training center at Walking Box Ranch.
• A request for funding for road construction and repair at WBR was submitted to NDOT (6/24/09).
• UNLV participated in the following meetings related to the search for renewable energy funding for the ranch: ARRA Implementation Workshop sponsored by Senator Reid (4/16); UNLV Stimulus Funding Workshop (4/17), Renewable energy meeting with UNLV engineering faculty (4/21), Harry Reid Center …

Land Conservation And Land Use In New England: Trends, Challenges & Opportunities, Amanda Loomis, Tom Devine, Andrea Small, Brittany Howard, Brett Richardson, Stephanie Dulac

Land Conservation

Sprawling development patterns accelerated across the New England landscape in the last three decades and consumed the region‘s forests, farms, and open spaces at an unprecedented rate. New England‘ers in all six states formed land trusts, supported statewide conservation organizations, and collaborated with state and federal partners to protect some of their most-prized recreation lands, wildlife habitats, and working lands. The current economic recession has slowed development pressures across the region and offers an opportunity to build on recent successes. The time is right to plan a coordinated New England conservation strategy that protects and links the region‘s natural assets. …

South Burlington Vt: New Urbanist South Village, Jack Kartez, Richard Barringer

Planning

The 220 acre master plan for South Village, the largest project in the City of South Burlington’s history, encompasses multiple housing types and innovative provisions for affordable housing. It integrates housing with open space and natural resource conservation, including a major Community Supported Agriculture project developed by a nonprofit partner, the Intervale Foundation. While not a mixed-use project (that is, commercial as well as residential development), South Village nonetheless represents a qualitative change in approach for South Burlington by incorporating large-scale open space preservation as part of development and multiple housing-types in one project. The case study recounts events leading …

Sustainable Portland: Implementation Series 2, New England Environmental Finance Center

Climate Change

The Portland Municipal Climate Change Working Group prepared a report in March 2008 that outlined several recommendations as a commitment by the City to address greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) produced during daily municipal operations. The Municipal Climate Action Plan was written in partnership with Clean Air – Cool Planet and Portland officials, and acknowledges under Recommendation #2 that an employee energy efficiency program would provide significant positive impact on the City’s reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Best practices from three cities show that focus on the greening of City Hall is critical in developing a program that promotes partnerships, community …

Walking Box Ranch Planning And Design Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending April 10, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• UNLV faculty and PLI scientists and interpreters participated in the 50% Design Concept Plan meeting, March 25-27 at UNLV-PLI and Walking Box Ranch (WBR), and provided comments toward proposed concepts for the museum and field, research, and training center at Walking Box Ranch.
• UNLV is continuing to work with the Architectural Resources Group (ARG) under our SAT grant, to complete Master and Preservation Plans that will guide the SNPLMA-funded museum and field station projects now underway.
• The National Historic Register nomination process, initiated under the SAT grant, was approved and WBR was placed on the NPS National Register of Historic …

Walking Box Ranch Planning And Design Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending January 10, 2009, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• Eight UNLV faculty and PLI interpreters participated in various components of the December 1- 4, 2008 kickoff Meeting that initiated UNLV’s involvement in the SNPLMA funded project to construct a museum and a field, research, and training center at Walking Box Ranch.
• UNLV is continuing to work with the Architectural Resources Group (ARG) under our SAT grant, to complete Master and Preservation Plans that will guide the SNPLMA-funded project that has just begun. The National Historic Register Nomination process is continuing under the SAT.
• Jean Cline met with members of UNLV’s upper administration to apprise them of the project and …

Portland Me: Affordable Housing V. Open Space, Patrick Wright, Brett Richardson, Richard Barringer

Planning

Amid an acknowledged “affordable housing crisis”, a first-time developer approaches the City to release part of a tax-acquired property, promising a smart-growth development that would provide sorely needed starter homes for working families. The case highlights the complications of balancing competing interests in Portland ME. It shows where rational planning fails in the presence of strong neighborhood opposition, a disjointed city staff structure, and the absence of political will among City Councilors. It highlights the need for champions within local government when a project evokes competing interests. It demonstrates the extent to which “words matter” to policy outcomes, and who …

Brunswick Me: De-Militarizing The Bnas, Anne Holland, Brett Richardson, Richard Barringer

Planning

Closure of the Brunswick Naval Air Station in 2011 will have profound economic impacts on the entire mid-coast Maine region of Maine, with an estimated loss of 6,500 jobs and $330 million annual income. Throughout the Base Realignment and Closure process, Brunswick, the region, and the State of Maine followed federal rules and developed the federally-funded Brunswick Local Redevelopment Authority (BLRA) to plan for reuse of the 3300 acre base. In its planning process, the BLRA adhered to a number of well thought-out Guiding Principles, including the use of extensive public participation and the consideration of “smart growth” principles and …

Sustainable Portland: Implementation Series 1, New England Environmental Finance Center

Climate Change

When the Sustainable Portland Task Force Report was released in November 2007, under the leadership of Mayor Jim Cohen, Portland Councilor Kevin Donoghue had the idea that students at the Muskie School of Public Service might be able to help implement recommendations from the report. It may have helped that Kevin was himself a graduate of the Community Planning and Development Master’s program at the Muskie School, but it was a good idea nevertheless. He approached Professor Sam Merrill in the CPD program, who spoke with the new Mayor Ed Suslovic about a possible partnership between the City and the …

From Period Rooms To Period Environments: A Look At How Museums Are Redefining The Scope Of The Period Room, Danielle Labbate

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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South Kingstown Ri: New Zoning For An Historic Mill, Maggie Jones, Richard Barringer

Planning

The village of Peace Dale in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, developed around several mills that commenced operations in the 1800s. One mill, known as the Palisades, is still partially active and in excellent condition, but much of its square footage is unutilized. A citizens’ group of artists and business people joined with the mill owners and the town of South Kingstown to develop new zoning regulations to make more flexible the permitted uses for the mill site. The proposed zoning will allow the mill complex to feature a mix of retail, residential, and manufacturing uses, while preserving …

A Conceptual Plan For The Detroit Book And Tower Building: Exploration Of The Conjunction Of Historic Preservation And Sustainable Design Concepts, Chi-Ying Luo

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This conceptual project generated an adaptive reuse proposal for the Book and Tower Building in a registered historic district. Louis Kamper designed the thirteen-story Book Building in 1917, in the Beaux Arts style, to create elite shops and offices. In 1926 the thirty-six-story Tower Building extended the leaseable space. This proposal preserved and rehabilitated the historic features in the lobby area and renovated the retail spaces. An Asian Café was designed to contrast, but blend with, the Beaux Arts style. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation were followed in the lobby area so as to make the renovation …