Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / Green infrastructure is defined as a planned and managed natural system which can provide several categories of benefits. Man-made, gray solutions are no longer considered to be a viable solution when designing with resiliency in cities. Gray solutions have replaced naturally occurring vegetation with impervious surfaces. During severe rainfall events, these impervious surfaces have led cities to become more susceptible to flooding as infiltration and retention capacities have been significantly reduced. This study will analyze an area located within a highly urbanized city center and will begin to interpret the performance and impacts that may come after implementing green infrastructure practices. Based on the simulated outcome provided by the National Storm water Calculator, the results will determine if added green infrastructure features can reduce urban flooding.

Poster exhibited at GPSC Student Showcase, November 7th, 2014, University of Arizona. Winner of the Arid Land Resource Science Award.

BACKGROUND:Humans can spend the majority of their time indoors, but little is known about the interactions between the human and built-environment microbiomes or the forces that drive microbial community assembly in the built environment. We sampled 16S rRNA genes from four different surface types throughout a university classroom to determine whether bacterial assemblages on each surface were best predicted by routine human interactions or by proximity to other surfaces within the classroom. We then analyzed our data with publicly-available datasets representing potential source environments.RESULTS:Bacterial assemblages from the four surface types, as well as individual taxa, were indicative of different source pools related to the type of human contact each surface routinely encounters. Spatial proximity to other surfaces in the classroom did not predict community composition.CONCLUSIONS:Our results indicate that human-associated microbial communities can be transferred to indoor surfaces following contact, and that such transmission is possible even when contact is indirect, but that proximity to other surfaces in the classroom does not influence community composition.

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / The context of this topic covers the implementation of sensory and intelligible elements into the design process. These elements mainly pertain towards the human experience, and how design professionals can interpret these elements into functional concepts. The idea of incorporating sensory and intelligible principles is a relatively new premise in the realm of design, and as such there are many opportunities for the field to expand. Due to uncertainties pertaining to this field, such as the cost of production as well the subjective nature of the information, there are not many examples of design professionals utilizing these concepts to their full potential. The research methodology is primarily a qualitative analysis, examining precedents and examples of sensory elements as well as their functional applications in the professional world. Significant findings of this research combat the perceived subjectivity of this field, as there are proven benefits to incorporating these elements in the design process. These include creating more memorable spaces, improving mood of participants, and the ability to create safer spaces. Keywords: Intelligible, Kevin Lynch, sensory, Christopher Alexander, human experience, design process

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / The idea of using nature, as a design model in building construction is not a new one; this innovative technique is known as biomimicry in architecture. This study focuses on biomimicry and its application in three buildings; The University of Arizona’s new Environmental and Natural Resource Phase 2 (ENR2) building; Architect Mick Pearce’s Eastgate Centre in Harare Zimbabwe; and Council House 2 (CH2) in Melbourne Australia. The research in this paper is centered around the ENR2 building, it examines the extent to which biomimcry is applied in terms of aesthetics and performance, by comparing it to the Eastgate Centre and CH2 buildings.

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / In a society growing towards alternative modes of transportation, this study explores the phase 2 streetcar expansion for the Tucson area. Using case studies and research articles, a criteria of factors were created to best judge three predetermined expansion routes. A case study was then done on these routes to determine which route would be best for the area. In this study, the factors that were looked at and used to rank the three routes included; population density and average annual income of the surrounding area of the route (400 meter buffer), accessibility and connectivity, which includes; bus stops, bike lanes, walkability, traffic counts and possible park & ride development. The last factor used in the case study was proximity to destination, specifically how many ‘big destinations’ (destinations that experience high volumes of people) each route had. The proximity to destination factor also determined how good of a balance each route had with housing, work and amenities/leisure destinations.

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / Abstract Suburbs have long been a place near and dear to the hearts of many, they provide private property, large homes and a sense of security. They have traditionally been located far from city centers and also far from jobs. The following paper researchers whether or not suburban homes can be updated to compensate for the extra distance their inhabitants have to commute to work. The study looks at three case houses in the focus area of Continental Ranch, a Pulte suburb. The follow research was performed using a cost benefit analysis on three case homes and four case vehicles. The results were calculated using available data, estimates and website based calculators. The five upgrades calculated were CFL/LED light bulb replacement, water fixture upgrades, fridge replacement, rainwater harvesting and installation of solar panels. The case homes varied in size from 1,369 to 3,609 square feet and were built between 1989 and 2001. The homes have between two to five bedrooms and two to three bathrooms. The cars chosen as vehicle options for comparison were the Toyota Prius, the Honda Civic, the Honda Odyssey and the Chevrolet Tahoe, all 2016 models. The results found that all three homes could be upgraded to compensate for the annual cost of gas consumption of all four car options. It should be noted that these calculations did not take into account the cost of the upgrades, but rather the savings it would procure.

<p>Though mandatory to be pursued, improved energy efficiency is not the only target to reach. The quality of energy has to be assessed as well. Most of the overall energy use in residential building is for low temperature heat, i.e. temperatures relatively close to the outdoor conditions. From a thermodynamic point of view, this is a degraded form of energy with low potential to be converted into work. On the other hand energy demand is mostly met with high quality energy, such as electricity and natural gas. There is a mismatch between supply and demand, which is not clearly shown by the sole energy analysis. Target of this thesis is to analyze the energy use in buildings from the point of view of its quality, to provide effective theoretical and calculation tools to investigate this mismatch, to assess its magnitudo and to propose improvements aiming at a more rational use of the energy. The idea behind the quality is clarified with the concept of exergy.</p><p>The potential for improvement in space heating is shown. In no heating system the overall exergy efficiency is above 20%, with fossil fuels. Using direct electricity heating results in exergy efficiency below 7%. Most of the household appliances processes have low-exergy factors but still are supplied with electricity. This results in poor exergy efficiencies and large exergy losses.</p><p>Systems are poorly performing because little consideration is explicitly given to energy quality. Policies to lower the energy demand, though vital as first step towards an improved use of energy, should not neglect the exergy content.</p><p>The problem is then shifted to find suitable supplies. Electricity can be exploited with low exergy losses with high-COP heat pumps. Use of fossil fuels for heating purposes should be avoided. District heating from cogeneration and geothermal proves to be a suitable solution at the building level. The issues connected to its exploitation forces to shift the boundary layers of the analysis from the building level to the community level. A rational use of energy should address the community level. The system boundaries have to be enlarged to a dimension where both the energy conversion and use take place with reduced energy transportation losses. This is a cost-effective way to avoid the waste of the exergy potential of the sources with exergy cascade and to make it possible the integration of with renewable sources. Exergy efficiency of the buildings is a prerequisite for a better of energy in this field.</p> / IEA ECBCS Annex 49: Low Exergy Systems for High Performance Buildings and Communities / ESF Cost C24: Analysis and Design of Innovative Systems for Low-EXergy in the Built Environment: COSTeXergy

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This thesis examines the mechanisms of site-specific installation in photography, drawing on contemporary architectural debates around relationships between image and space, as well as debates in fine art around participatory practices involving installation. The project has involved a synthesis of practical research, through the production of artwork, throughout the research period. I consider the outcomes of writing, photographing and photographic installation to be at parity with one another, in the spirit of what Jane Rendell calls 'critical spatial practice'. The focus and physical context for this inquiry is the former Lilian Baylis School, built in 1964 by the Architects' Co-Partnership (ACP) for the London County Council in the Borough of Lambeth. It served its function as a school up until 2005 after which it was used for community programmes. In 2011 the site, by then Grade II listed, was restored and converted into new flats. The concept of visual memory serves as a theoretical basis of my project. I take up architect Aldo Rossi's idea of acting as a way of tracing a process of transformation, and also using these traces as a form of site-specific intervention, as an action in relation to this transformation. These aspects of transformation inform the work of making visible the memory of a place through photography and its spatial installation, engaging viewers in this process.