Environmental Design Commons^™

Model For Analyzing Floorplate Morphology That Optimizes Daylighting And Cost, Andrew Welch, Ermal Shpuza Phd

Symposium of Student Scholars

One of the key ways of improving the energy efficiency of a building is to enhance the daylight levels and reduce the need for artificial lighting. Good daylight levels are also associated with increased productivity and well-being of buildings occupants. Daylight levels are directly linked to the building floorplate depth, whereas shallow floorplate and elongated buildings are usually related to higher daylight levels. However, creating buildings that have more natural light comes with a greater construction cost due to larger envelope areas as well as greater operating costs due to the energy loss through the envelope. This research addresses the …

Energy Efficient Dorms, Antonio Soares, Zachary Nassar, Aidan O'Neill

Earth Day Symposium on Climate and Sustainablity

No abstract provided.

Dry Paths, Safe Steps, Andrew Gamper

Earth Day Symposium on Climate and Sustainablity

No abstract provided.

3d Procedural Maze & Cave Generation, Jacob Sharp

Student Scholar Showcase

The goal of this project is to generate a maze or cave procedurally so that a player may be able to explore infinitely without a reoccurring pattern. The project also utilizes Virtual Reality (VR); the user will be able to put on a VR Headset and become more immersed in a procedural environment. One of the challenges that needed to be overcome was simple random number generators did not generate natural looking worlds. Introducing VR to the project created the additional challenge of preventing the user from becoming motion sick. These challenges were both addressed through many hours of research …

Solar & Rain Catching Canopy "Urban Oasis 2", Afolabi Ibitoye, Cheriyah Wilmot, Alexander Aptekar, Grzegorz Kosieradzki, Kaiyrgul Sultanova, Jude Vallon

Publications and Research

The accumulation of water runoff during rain storms is a major problem in New York City’s combination water systems, forcing water treatment plants to release untreated excess water. To avoid overfilling of the sewer system by this grey water, pocket parks and gardens will be used to absorb the excess rainfall. We will be harnessing nature’s resources with current technologies such as: solar panels combined with rain catching canopies, to beautify the environment, educate the public about sustainability, stimulate growth to local businesses through increased foot traffic and bringing social awareness on environmental issues.

The canopies are designed to collect …

Solar & Rain Catching Canopy "Urban Oasis" 1.1, Afolabi Ibitoye, Alexander Aptekar

Publications and Research

Accumulation of water runoff during rain storms affects New York City’s combination water system, forcing water treatment plants to release untreated excess water. Rather than allow this grey water to overfill the sewer system, pocket parks and gardens can be used to absorb rainfall. By harnessing nature’s resources through today’s technology we can also create solar and rain catching canopies to beautify, educate, and bring growth and social awareness to local businesses.

In order to design the canopies to collect the maximum amount of rainwater and maximize solar collection, we analyzed expected rainfall and optimal solar angles. The canopies will …

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 …

Future Oriented Sustainable Design. Design Purpose: What Is Design And Who Is It For? [Please Note: This Is A Large File And May Be Slow To Download.], Barry Sheehan

Academic Articles

In November 2016 I was asked to make a presentation at the Future Oriented Sustainable Design International Conference in Wuhan in the People's Republic of China. My topic was Design Purpose: What is Design? And who is it for?

The presentation examines the wider aspects of design and its categories and asks who were are actually designing for.

I made a powerpoint presentation that I narrated in English whilst it was simultaneously translated into Chinese for the attendees at the conference. On my return to Ireland I created a soundtrack to accompany the presentation slides for people to watch the …

Wku-Habitat For Humanity Green Community: A Model For Engagement And Partnerships, Nancy Givens, Rodney Goodman

Education for Sustainability Summer Institute

No abstract provided.