Environmental Design Commons^™

Breaking The Mould 4 : Condensation Risk Analysis – The Standards And The Issues, Joseph Little

Articles

The ‘Breaking the Mould’ series of articles was written to explore the range of issues associated with upgrading single leaf walls with a focus on occupant and building health as much as energy, just as the Home Energy Saving Scheme was launched. A year on from the first article the need for greater understanding and clear guidance for the Industry is greater than ever. This is because the Government’s ‘Energy Demand Reduction Target’ (EDRT), under the 2006 EU ‘Energy Services Directive’, is bringing energy utilities (e.g. ESB, Bord Gáis) into the refurbishment market.

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 …

Laurel Community Farmstand, Terje Johansen

Horticulture and Crop Science

The project was for us to come up with a temporary farmstand that would be set up to sell fruits and vegetables but mainly to draw people to the area to bring awareness that there were plans to build a development at that location. Our group, Dana Curtice, Robert Vasilieff and Terje Johansen met with the developers three times. New ideas and information were presented in the first two meetings. The third meeting was to present our final design.

Design And Technology Workshops 2006|2010, Mark D. Linder

School of Architecture - All Scholarship

Design and technology workshops are a key feature to the Syracuse Architecture M.Arch 1 program. All first and second year students and their faculty participate in these two-day events that reinforce the need to integrate all aspects of the core curriculum.

Ralph Bunche Agape Neighborhood Vision Plan, Community Design Center

Community Design Center Project Reports

The Ralphe Bunche Neighborhood Vision Plan provides a general design framework to spur reinvestment in this 100-year old historic African-American neighborhood in Benton, AR. The plan aggregates attainable housing (under $100,000/unit) around two neighborhood parks―one existing, and one proposed. Since the city cannot afford comprehensive street and drainage improvements to accommodate redevelopment, the proposal retrofits streets and open space with Low Impact Development (LID) landscapes to remediate urban stormwater runoff. Housing unit types between 1,000 and 1,750 square feet are amassed around these LID landscapes and amenitized with screened rooms, balconies, terraces, and multiple-height living spaces.

Sustainability Initiatives In East Bayside Neighborhood Portland, Maine, Garvan Donegan, Henry Heyburn, Caitlyn Horose, Matt Klebes, Jennifer Riley, Damon Yakovleff, New England Environmental Finance Center

Planning

This is a bundle containing research on sustainability initiatives that could be implemented in the East Bayside neighborhood of Portland, ME. These six essays were prepared by the Spring, 2010 Sustainable Communities Class known as CPD 602 at the University of Southern Maine. The class is part of the core curriculum of the Community Planning and Development program of the Muskie School of Public Service at the university. The instructor for the class was Samuel Merrill, Ph. D. who is also director of the New England Environmental Finance Center at the University. These papers were prepared in conjunction with Alan …

Habitat For Humanity - Interlocking Bricks, Lien Centre For Social Innovation

Social Space

Conscientious housing projects have to perpetually choose between expensive eco-friendly building materials and existing low-cost options that dominate the market. Habitat For Humanity Singapore’s team hopes to set up a research centre to contribute to low-cost, eco-friendly construction and to implement a financially self-sustaining model that provides employment to the local population.

Greenery In Urban Environments: A Study Of Mysore City In India, Krishne Gowda, M. V. Sridhara, B. Mahendra

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

Preservation of nature is an integral part of urban planning. Well maintained greenery contributes immensely to social, economic, educational and ecological value, provides space for recreationand personal revitalization, attracts and retains investment for development, reduces noise and sultriness in summer, and enhances property value. Mysore is popularly known as a 'city of palaces and gardens'. The buildings in the city are architecturally beautiful and are endowed with well-maintained parks, open spaces, boulevards, and fountains. However, urban expansion is expected to continue unabated. One of the adverse effects of rapid and relative unplanned growth is heavy encroachment leading to the problem …

Rotterdam: Dynamic Polder City = Land + Water + Culture, F. L. Hooimeijer

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

The planning culture in the Netherlands is based on the experience of building cities on very wet and soft soils. The design of Dutch polder cities was from early on a balance between land and water forbuilding site preparation. The relation between technological development and urban development can be ordered in six phases: natural (-1000), defensive (1000-1500), offensive (1500-1800), early manipulative (1800-1890), manipulative (1890-1990) and adaptive manipulative water management (1990-). Rotterdam is chosen to represent the heritage of Dutch talent with regard to the design and construction of water and land into dynamic cities. This is important because awareness and …

Agats:The Waterfront City Of The Asmat, Basauli Umar Lubis

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

The development along and within the Asewets River presents the most characteristic and memorable city form of the city of Agats, Papua, Indonesia. The river and the city's raised roads form anintegrated circulation pattern and together played an important part in the development of the city. The city of Agats is unique in that all structures are built above wood or concrete pilings. The unique presence of the elevated bazaar street connects buildings likewise raised on piles. The structural elevation of the city above the ground keeps the settlement dry even during rainy season, when there is a 4 kilometer …

Jakarta Waterscape:From Structuring Water To 21st Century Hybrid Nature?, Prathiwi W. Putri, Aryani Sari Rahmanti

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

This paper explores how changing conceptions of human-environment relationships have been materialized within Jakarta, Indonesia's planning and development practices and how these practices havecontributed to shaping today's problematic waterscape. By refusing the modern binary opposition of nature-culture and arguing that our city is a hybrid human-nonhuman nature, this paper shows that there have to be socio-technological solutions for the water sector's current problems. We center our chain of explanations on flooding without neglecting the fact that flooding is related to other water issues and broader issues of uneven spatial development. Hence, tackling the calamities of flooding has to be situated …

Urban Dynamism, A Contrasting Experience:Street Life In Unplanned Bangkok And Planned Melbourne, Sidh Sintusingha, Kasama Polakit, Richard Bruch

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

This paper investigates the notion of 'urban dynamism' through the conceived and lived street life of Bangkok, Thailand and Melbourne, Australia. Each city provides a contrasting experience, namelyBangkok's organic dynamism and the city's administrators varied attempts to control and organize it, and Melbourne's conscious planning and design to rejuvenate urban spaces, through the formal strategies of the Victorian State Government and the City of Melbourne.

The Ex-Coal Mining City Of Sawahlunto Revisited:Notions On Revitalization, Conservation And Urban Development, Widjaja Martokusumo

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

The structural change of Sawahlunto, Indonesia from a mining-based to a tourism-based economy has triggered environmental problems and challenges. Revitalization combined with conservation efforts became a priority in order to maintain the cultural dynamics of the ex-coal mining city. Cultural heritage conservation utilizing the urban fabric and mining-related installations has been criticized due to its emphasis on beautification. This paper argues that historic urban fabric contributes significantly to place making but these endeavors need strong political leadership. The case of Sawahlunto reveals the important nexus between physical intervention, rehabilitation of socio-economic activities and the problem of institutional development, which is …

Urban Regeneration: Significance Of The Land - Water Interface And Its Manifestation In The Historic And Cultural Quarter Along Lake Pichola In Udaipur, S. Samant

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

The success of a waterfront city depends largely on the quality and balance of the land-water interface, so instrumental in the growth and development of a place and its identity. The aim of thisstudy is to critically examine the historic cultural quarter of Udaipur on the eastern edge of Lake Pichola, understand the forces that underpin current development and highlight key concerns by examining the existing state of the urban waterside. The main issues observed include economic growth through tourism, enhanced by the conservation of historic structures and the preservation of heritage. The past plays a fundamental role in urban …

Active Noise Barrier Minimizing Pressure Gradient, Carl Hart, Siu-Kit Lau

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Minimization of the sound pressure field within the shadow zone of a noise barrier is achieved by reducing the pressure gradient along a line, at the top of a barrier, via active noise control. The noise control effectiveness of a barrier is increased by this strategy, especially for specific system configurations. The proposed method was evaluated by numerical simulation. Results indicate that system orientation has little effect on minimizing the pressure gradient at the top of the barrier when the error sensors are invisible to the primary noise disturbance. Highly effective control within the shadow zone and close to the …

Multi-Productive Landscapes Of The Sustainable City: Opportunities For Managing Resource Needsthrough Urban Landscapes, N. Claire Napawan

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

This paper aims to link concerns for providing resource needs to city dwellers by considering urban open spaces as a means for creating infrastructural landscapes which limit ecological footprints ofcities and provide relief from density. How cities and their inhabitants manage their urban infrastructure is a critical component towards the design of efficient and sustainable use of natural capital, as many infrastructural systems reach the end of their usefulness in an era where population growth demands surpass carrying capacity. This paper will trace historical progressions of western cities' resource management systems, theorize opportunities for alternative and sustainable strategies of landscape …

A Water Field Civilization: The Shifting Rural Territories Of Taiwan, Pei-Chun Wen

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

The Taiwanese countryside is representative of Asia's 'hydraulic civilization' and has a society based upon a water-orientated productive landscape. Its irrigation system of paddy fields and fish pondsis strongly interrelated to society's collective units, such as families or unions, which, in turn, structure social morals and behaviors. In a comparison of three different agriculture plains in Taiwan, interpretative maps reveal differences in the settlement patterns related to topography and water resource management. The critical reading of historical documentation and creation of interpretative maps reveals how early settlers solved water threats and managed to stabilize water sources. The study proposes a …

Art On Water: Art That Revitalizes Insular Communities Facing Depopulation And Economic Decline, Kentaro Yagi

NAKHARA (Journal of Environmental Design and Planning)

The Inland Sea of Japan, once a flourishing cultural and economic artery, is now struggling with depopulation and economic decline. Traditionally, this area has been popular for public and privateart projects. Recent large-scale art projects and exhibitions on Naoshima Island and Inujima Island explored the possibilities of art in a public context. Site-specific artworks in collaboration with the local community have attracted visitors and brought about a favorable impact. Along with the rich historic and natural resources of the Inland Sea area, emerging art projects in various islands have started to revitalize the insular communities within.

Building America Research Benchmark Definition: Updated December 2009, R. Hendron, C. Engebrecht

Publications (SD)

To track progress toward aggressive multi-year, whole-house energy savings goals of 40%–70% and on-site power production of up to 30%, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Residential Buildings Program and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed the Building America (BA) Research Benchmark in consultation with the Building America industry teams. The Benchmark is generally consistent with mid-1990s standard practice, as reflected in the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Technical Guidelines (RESNET 2002), with additional definitions that allow the analyst to evaluate all residential end uses, an extension of the traditional HERS rating approach that focuses on space conditioning and …

Edra 41: Bibliography Of Books On Display, Kathleen Demsky

Bibliographies

edra 41 | Policy & The Environment | Washington, DC

Re-Designing The 'Great Australian Dream': Creating A More Sustainable Housing Future, Eko Pam

Theses : Honours

Sustainable design is a buzzword in the field of architecture, yet very few houses built in Western Australia last year had an environmentally friendly focus. Through much debate and research, designers now have a thorough understanding of the environmental impact ofhousing (Kibert, 2005; Roaf, 2001; Yeang, 1995). The result is that architects worldwide are now offering a more sustainable housing model. These houses are expensive and look very different to the popular project homes. Despite this environmental awareness, the homes Western Australians build appear to be growing larger, with little regard for their future sustainability. There is reluctance among Australians …

Noise Propagation Through Open Windows Of Finite Depth Into An Enclosure, Caleb Sieck, Siu-Kit Lau

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Predicting the insertion loss of an opening backed with an enclosed space is important for building noise control. Recent research in sound transmission through apertures of finite depth in infinite rigid baffles has included the effects of propagating and evanescent modes within the aperture in order to extend models to higher frequencies. The present study extends the model to the case of the aperture backed by a cavity as opposed to sound radiating into half-space. The role of coupling between the aperture modes, radiation modes, and cavity modes in the transmission was investigated. The results were compared to those of …

Forsyth's Hampton Park Library To Open Early In 2010

Georgia Library Quarterly

The article features the opening of the Forsyth County Public Library branch in Hampton Park, southern Forsyth County, Georgia in February 2010. The 23,500 square-foot building will reportedly house a collection of 60,000 items including books, children's and adult educational digital video discs (DVDs), music compact discs (CDs) and multimedia programs. It is stated that the facility is environment friendly and has programmable thermostats for heating and cooling control.

Tifton Library Comes Home After Three-Year Renovation

Georgia Library Quarterly

The article features the rededication of the Tifton-Tift County Public Library in Georgia on November 1, 2009 after three years of renovation. A new building was reportedly built up and 1,830 square feet of space was added. It is stated that the old circular desk was divided for children's use and for reference and that the library features a new radio frequency identification system (RFID) system for circulation functions and a board room with Internet, kitchenette and restrooms.

Leadership, Libraries, Leed For The Future, Kathryn S. Ames, Greg Heid

Georgia Library Quarterly

The article discusses the use of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) principles in the design of the modern public library. It is stated that an LEED-certified library will have lower costs in energy, systems replacement and maintenance through the use of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting and efficient heating and air conditioning, but that due to special materials, the up-front expense is higher. The inspection of the facility throughout its construction is also noted.