Environmental Design Commons^™

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 …

The Influence Of Classroom Design On Problem Behaviors And Educational Growth Indicators For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd), Anthony D. Asher

All Theses

This qualitative comparative case study reports on findings from a pre-and post-occupancy evaluation using multiple data collection methods to explore how classroom design features contribute to behavioral outcomes for children with ASD. Ten children, ages three to five years older with ASD, were observed over four months as they transitioned from their current classrooms into their newly built classrooms based on evidence-based design for children with ASD. For a two-month period in each setting, environmental conditions were tracked continuously in both classrooms. In addition, interviews were conducted with the special education teachers in both settings to gain insight into the …

Sustainability In Industrial Architecture, Katerina Shuble

Honors Projects

The goal of this project is to complete an in-depth study and analysis of sustainable industrial architecture. Currently, sustainable industrial architecture is an emerging topic amongst architects and industry leaders. Topics involve battling with ideologies and company policies to better the sustainability of industrial architecture. This project will help fill the gap between industrial design and sustainability by creating research and project-based examples of how sustainable industrial design can be completed. The project will be a result of a thorough research study of current sustainable industrial design, and a proposal for new efforts that can be implemented. The goal of …

Architecture In Anime: Miyazaki's Motifs, Jack Collins

Honors Projects

Internationally known, celebrated, and respected, director Hayao Miyazaki has become a household name by transforming an industry through his films. This research focuses on Miyazaki’s process and the similarities he shares with architects, both in and out of his works. By initially examining his background, the three motifs of architecture, inspiration, and sustainability are explored through works like Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and more. The results of this research are to inform fans of both architecture and anime about the connection between someone who designs and builds the world, and one who designs and builds …

Green Building Rating System (Gbrs) As A Tool To Improve Sustainability Performance Of Buildings In The Built Environment Of Nigeria, Akeem Bolaji Wahab, Adefunke Taiwo Jegede

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

In the worldwide, the impacts associated with the use of technological innovations and developmental processes in the built environment through the construction of buildings are phenomenal. This is noticeable in the literature on the role of green building practices in building construction, building operation and optimization, and building management; respectively. This has led stakeholders and policy drivers to adopt principles of sustainability by producing green building rating systems to assess building stock at different stages of their life cycle. Dealing with the issue, this paper aimed to review various attempts made by selected nations and other stakeholders to produce green …

Take Heart School, Quentin John Porter

Architectural Engineering

Journeyman International, also known as JI, is a non-profit organization that groups together design and construction students with organizations looking to build humanitarian projects around the world. This pairing is beneficial for both the organization because they get free design and construction expertise, as well as for the students who get real-world experience. The Take Heart School is a planned school and grounds for the region of Migori Kenya. Take Heart Africa is a fair trade store with all profits going to help the impoverished communities of Kenya. The three-acre site will have a school with eight classrooms, offices, a …

Environmental Cues And The Sociospatial Imaginary: An Examination Of Spatial Perception And Meaning-Making In A Gentrifying Neighborhood, Todd Levon Brown

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What could be more ordinary or pedestrian than two people walking down an urban street and talking about what we see and what we make of it? Yet this simple, quotidian act of walking a street—seeing, perceiving and experiencing physical spaces, places and objects—and making meaning of what is encountered, is the basis of my dissertation. It is also my basis for claiming that I have learned a great deal—and much unexpectedly—about how differently different people see and interpret the urban streetscape. What are the various environmental cues that stand out to different individuals? What are the psychosocial imaginaries that …

Head Space: An Exploration Into Design Code, Gaylon Lerch

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

This thesis explores the field of medical research for data to support the assertion that today’s coding standards are not performing in a way that fully addresses the needs of occupants of the built environment. This thesis will pull from the fields of psychology, physical medicine, and architecture to establish what current codes are, how they are deficient, and how they can be rectified, improved upon, or added if not already existing. The method used to establish the criteria of basic needs for healthy human function is established through understanding of how light, sound, and overall spatial quality effects the …

Terra Dispositions: A Lithospheric Investigation Of Wet-Matter, Alec Rovensky

Architecture Senior Theses

Human intervention of the landscape by damming, filling wetlands and over-extracting is resulting in the rapid perversion of water bodies through the desertification or flooding of terrain and the ensuing contamination of reservoirs. In turn, these changes are disrupting ecosystems, reshaping geological borders, and causing irreversible damage that poses a threat to clean water supplies. As humans exert agency over local hydrology, there is scarce consideration of the ensuing ecological consequences. This thesis aims to expose the ecological transformations of territories laced with human agency by examining the residues left by water in order to deviate from the misplaced nostalgia …

Contaminated Mycoscapes: Designing With Living Organisms, Maria Gutierrez, Elise Zilius

Architecture Senior Theses

The Anthropocene has stripped the planet of its resources, leaving behind an abundance of contamination. The built environment no longer meets the standards set by our turbulent planet. Humankind has lost the privilege of agency in design and construction. Construction methods have failed to evolve concurrently to the intense accumulation of waste; remaining firmly rooted in the materiality of the past, they have upheld architectural notions of stagnancy, cleanliness, and hygiene and ignore the rapidly changing conditions of the environment. This investigation uses contamination to fuel mycelial growth and construct emergent forms whilst executing remediation strategies for polluted sites of …

Student-Centered Learning Spaces During A Pandemic, Rebeccah J. Maley

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the experience second year, live on students study habits in outside academic spaces during a pandemic from 2020-2021 academic year. Through gathered testimonies of residents it was found students value their communities, appreciate localized spaces for collaboration, and acknowledged various influences that can enhance or inhibit their ability to study. Additionally, they shared the impact COVID-19 had on their personal lives, academics, and how they interacted with others. It was found that holistic measures are needed for students to be successful in outside academic spaces. This study brought attention to these measures …

Covid-10, Healthcare Interior Design + Provider Experience - How Does Your Space Work For You?, Ruth E.P. Deibler

Graduate Research Posters

The lack of research on healthcare staff experience and interior design of the spaces they work in is evident. A focus on staff perspective is needed, particularly staff who navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. This research seeks to capture those stories to develop further research in order to improve staff experience. The initial phase of this mixed-methods approach is a survey. Hypothetically, by placing providers at the center of qualitative research related to healthcare interior design, we can better understand existing healthcare spaces. Ideally, we can develop additional evidence-based, human-centered solutions to transform interior environments in healthcare.

The 20-year Women’s Health …

Oceanside Transit Center Transit-Oriented Development (Otc Tod): Revisioning North San Diego's County Transit Hub, Chad Johnston

City and Regional Planning

Many California coastal communities lack a supply of housing, produce high levels of greenhouse gas emissions by daily auto commuters but have existing local and commuter rail stations with large fields of parking surrounding it. Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) integrates the building of housing, retail, office, and public space together focused around transit stations. This infill of development locates people within comfortable walking distance, usually within a quarter-mile, of a public trail transit station reducing automobile dependence for local trips or commuting for work.

The Oceanside Transit Center (OTC) is a major railway interchange, serving as a gateway to the San …

Tiny Homes: 3 Things You Need To Know, Eric J. Forbush

Marriott Student Review

Tiny Homes are a modern trend that many millennials are embracing. This article explores zoning laws, cost, and utilities to help you decide if the Tiny Home lifestyle is right for you.

Young Children's Play In High-Rise Housing: A Window Into The Changing Lives Of Urban Middle-Class Families In Pune Metropolitan Area, Sruthi Atmakur-Javdekar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation aims to identify the combinations of spatial arrangements and physical features that influence young children’s access to play and the quality of their play opportunities in a heterogeneous sample of high-rise housing in India. Using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model of Human Development as a framework, the study examines two large umbrellas that contribute to young children’s play opportunities in high-rise housing developments: (1) The play environment that is made available for children by developers and design professionals; and (2) Parents’ and caregivers’ ways of using the designated and undesignated spaces based on their own play values and beliefs. A …

Connecting The Built And External Environments Through Architectural Compositions, Jacob Ellerbrock

Honors Projects

A study regarding architectures' potential to address the separation of humanity and nature.

Walkability Of Suburban Retrofits Of The Washington Dc Area: Immersion Into Qualitative Constructs, David Sweere

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

The majority of the United States population is living in the suburbs, and yet the suburban built fabric has developed with spatial conditions that have failed to prove their efficacy on environmental, social or economic terms. Most contemporary architectural and urban theorists agree that the suburban condition is inherently problematic. In a 2010 Ted Talk, architect and urban designer Ellen Dunham-Jones discusses the problematic state of the suburban built condition, citing dependence on the vehicle, sparseness of built form, environmental costs, transportation costs, and even increased obesity rates (Dunham-Jones 2010). Because the suburbs comprise the majority of our “urbanized” areas …

The City Aetherus An Urban Design Methodology For Energy Use, Anthony Yan, Ermal Shpuza Phd

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

In the last few decades, there has been a growing awareness about the relationship between building design and energy use, environmental impact, and sustainability in general. Now, environmental design is a well-established field of architectural studies and practices. By contrast, it is only recently that the relationship between urban design and energy use has started to get due attention by the designer and planning communities. Due to our increasing energy needs and imminent global urbanization, humanity needs a solution to tackle the largest energy consumer: the city. This thesis is situated within the newly emerging discourse on the relationship between …

Enhancing Emergency Care Environments: Supporting Suicidal Distress And Self-Harm Presentations Through Environmental Safeguards And The Built Environment, Stephanie Liddicoat

Patient Experience Journal

Self-harming and suicidal distress are prevalent, worldwide healthcare issues. Existing literature explains that both self-harm and suicidal presentations at Emergency Departments are increasingly occurring, correlating to high costs in healthcare service delivery. This scoping review aimed to (1) identify the current body of literature which examined the relationship between design practice and service user experiences within Emergency Departments for self-harm and suicidal distress presentations, and (2) identify the ways in which the built environment could increase the efficacy of therapeutic efforts through improving service user outcomes and experiences. This scoping review established that there was a paucity of research at …

The Hospitality Design Laboratory: Testing A Growing Global Resource For Architectural Planning Research In The Tourism/Resort Industry, Glenn Nowak

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

The HD-Lab at UNLV is an experiment in merging academic research teams with industry leadership to address the ever-changing landscape of global tourism, gaming, and hospitality as it pertains to the built environment. This poster session seeks to share overviews of previous studies, lessons learned, and opportunities for future architectural research. Collaborations amongst diverse teams aim to foster interdisciplinary research and continued contributions to the intellectual capital of hospitality design in Las Vegas and around the world. The presentation is structured across six broad and intertwined areas of foci: 1. Integrated resorts’ future evolutions and innovations, 2. Tourism architecture’s advanced …

Solar Responsive Façade In An Urban Environment, Cheriyah Wilmot

Publications and Research

Due to the high energy consumption in cities like New York, I am designing a shading system to be retrofitted on an existing façade that responds to external thermal conditions. I’ve conceptualized the functions of the shading system to either block/allow sunlight and analyzed its effectiveness in terms of energy use and illuminance in comparison to the modeled office space. Materials will be explored as well as how it’ll function in the future.

The Wheel House - An Intergenerational Space Creating Bonds Between At-Risk Teens And Seniors, Jessica M. Keegan

Theses and Dissertations

MOTIVATION

Two main groups in American society today are floundering: adolescent children of low income families and the elderly.

Between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 p.m., one in five children are unsupervised. Left to their own devices, many become involved in negative behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, sexual activity or in the worse cases, delinquency (Afterschool Alliance, 2016). It is proven that when children are alone after school, they not only miss out on valuable learning opportunities, but also their parents are affected as well by having to lose as many as eight work days annually to …

Design Guidelines For Activating Outdoor Spaces Of University Campuses, Torina Wilson

City and Regional Planning

No abstract provided.

Caltrans District 5 Bicycle Facility Inventory On Sr 1, Robert Etter

City and Regional Planning

No abstract provided.

Bio-Architecture Feedback Loop, Nicole Samuelu

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Biomimicry is the imitation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. There is an incredible opportunity for architecture to use biomimicry as a model for design in which a resulting architecture can become an operating part of its environment. While this project will consider the efficiency and beauty of nature, those elements will not be the focus. This thesis will aim to create a more cohesive relationship between architecture and its environment by treating the human-made structures as if they were a participating member of its habitat and part of the …

Transfused Architecture: Ascent Of A Developing World, Sandy Ferrier

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Because there is a lack of adequate health care facilities in developing countries, there is a substantial amount of unrealized, optimal health gains and effective, architectural interventions which are not fully realized. With 80% of its population living below the world poverty line, Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere. The United Nations Development Program’s 2014 report shows the extents of poverty at 75% mainly in the rural areas of Haiti. Only 25% of households benefit from adequate sanitation, thus people become more susceptible to infections and diseases. Reoccurring natural catastrophes have also dented the country's …

Solar And Rain Catching Canopy. Urban Oasis, Afolabi Ibitoye, Langston Clark, Elena Zimareva, Evan Banks, Alexander Aptekar

Publications and Research

The Urban Oasis is designed to work within existing “pocket parks” in New York City as a combined rainwater collector, personal electronics charging station and resting designation for New Yorkers. Intended to not only lessen the demand on the city power grid by using renewable energy to charge devices, the urban oasis is also intended to mitigate grey water overfill in New York’s combined sewer system and, in general, serve as a model for responsible environmental stewardship in urban areas.

The important technical aspects of the canopy specifically analyzed were:

a) how much rainwater could the canopy be expected to …

The 21st Century Energy Hub, Farhaan B. Samnani

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Developing countries face problems like pollution, unsafe construction, poverty and lack of clean stable energy. These areas are the most in need of sustainable and net positive design since they lack the resources to design long-term solution. An architecture that can make energy affordable through onsite rapidly renewable resources, help reduce on site pollution and provide stable housing would be a welcome intervention. As we approach the new century, buildings will aim to become an energy hub. Cities do not look at a building as an energy source. Currently Energy production centers sit on the outskirts of the city. But …

Bicycle Planning In European Cities And Its Applicability To American Cities, Amy Gunn

City and Regional Planning

No abstract provided.

A Model For Sustainable Living In Guanajuato, Mexico, Melina Smith

City and Regional Planning

No abstract provided.