Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (or LEED) is the most commonly used green building rating system in the United States, bestowing upon LEED certified buildings the prestige of being considered more sustainable than their non-certified neighbors. The public often assumes that LEED certified buildings are completely sustainable or even net-zero with regards to greenhouse gas emissions, but in actuality buildings certified under the most popular version of LEED are only required to be 15% more energy efficient than required by most state building codes – a far cry from the energy usage cuts needed to stave off global warming. By examining the history of LEED and its parent organization (the United States Green Building Council), contemporary criticisms of the certification system and its widespread adoption, and real-world performance of existing LEED buildings, this thesis seeks to uncover whether the LEED system is an effective tool in the fight against climate change and why it has yet to live up to its name.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for New Construction (or LEED-NC) has become one of the most commonly used green building standards during the turn of the 21st century. While many champion LEED-NC, certain architects and academics believe that its low-environmental impact design approach toward green building isolates people from nature and thus cannot achieve sustainable development over the long-term. Pomona College’s green buildings, including its newest LEED Platinum certified Sontag and Pomona Residence Halls, exemplify this fact, as their designs fail to communicate their sustainable goals or inspire sustainable behavior. By examining the LEED-NC standards, the history of environmental conservation, Modern architecture, biophilia, and the Living Building Challenge, this thesis seeks to provide recommendations for how Pomona College can alter its existing green buildings as well as improve its green building policies for future projects so that its built environment better fosters positive human-nature interactions.

Dans une société où il est plutôt normal de passer beaucoup de temps assis, nous étudions, à partir de l’aménagement, l’intégration de l’activité physique de loisirs et de transport dans les activités et les lieux du quotidien. Cette intégration est relativement peu étudiée dans sa globalité car elle nécessite de prendre en considération les facteurs de l’environnement physique et social, les deux types d’activité physique, les différents lieux fréquentés quotidiennement et elle pose en ce sens de nombreux défis d’ordre méthodologique. Cette vue globale du phénomène s’impose car de plus en plus de recherches font état d’associations entre des dimensions spécifiques de l’aménagement et des comportements précis; occasionnellement, ces résultats se contredisent. Pour comprendre le phénomène, nous sommes partis du modèle écoenvironnemental et l’avons adapté pour mieux représenter la mobilité de la population. Nous avons conséquemment choisi une unité d’analyse comprenant le territoire résidentiel, le territoire du milieu de travail et le trajet entre les deux. Ainsi, en utilisant plusieurs sources de données, nous avons caractérisé des milieux comme étant contraignants ou facilitants pour l’activité physique et les personnes y résidant comme étant suffisamment actives ou pas. Nous avons ensuite fait ressortir les éléments importants des entrevues en fonction de cet appariement. Parmi les thèmes explorés en entrevue, nommons les caractéristiques de l’environnement physique qui ont de l’importance, l’impact de l’environnement social au travail et au domicile, la logique sous-jacente aux courses, etc. Les principaux résultats de cette recherche démontrent que les usagers du train de banlieue font suffisamment d’activité physique en dépit qu’ils résident en banlieue. En ce sens, notre échantillon est plus actif que la moyenne québécoise. Nous remarquons que l’influence de l’environnement est manifeste mais sous le principe des vases communicants, c'est-à-dire que le pôle résidentiel et le pôle des emplois ont tous deux des contributions qui s’avèrent très souvent complémentaires. L’influence de l’environnement social passe par le rôle signifiant des proches plutôt que par leur proximité géographique tandis que l’aménagement a une énorme contribution à rendre les parcours agréables et, de ce fait, donner une plus-value au temps requis pour les emprunter. La vocation des milieux, le type de marche et le sens qu’y voient les usagers doivent guider le design; il n’y a donc pas qu’une formule ou une seule prescription pour augmenter le potentiel piétonnier et/ou cyclable des milieux. Cela dit, les outils de caractérisation doivent être revus. En conclusion des pistes de développements futurs à cette recherche sont proposées. / In a society where it is quite normal to spend much time sitting, we study from an environmental design standpoint, the integration of physical activity for recreation and transportation activities and everyday places. This integration is relatively little studied in its entirety because it requires taking into consideration the factors of physical and social environment, both types of physical activity, the various places visited daily and it puts in that many challenges of methodology. This overview of the phenomenon is needed because more and more researches have reported associations between specific dimensions of the built environment and specific behaviours, and these results are occasionally contradictory. To understand the phenomenon, we set the eco environmental model and have adapted to better represent the population mobility. We have therefore chosen a unit of analysis including the residential area, the area of workplace and travel between the two. Thus, using multiple data sources, we characterized the community as restricting or facilitating physical activity and people living there as being sufficiently active or not. We then highlighted the important elements of interviews based on this pairing. Among the themes explored in the interview, characteristics of the physical environment that are important, the impact of the social environment at work and at home, the logic underlying the errands, etc. Key findings of this research show that users of the commuter trains are sufficiently active although they live in the suburbs. In this sense, our sample is more active than the provincial average. We note that the influence of the environment is obvious but under the principle of communicating vessels, that is to say that the residential pole and employment center has both a contribution that is often complementary. The influence of the social environment is through the significant role of relatives rather than by their geographical proximity while environmental design has a huge contribution to make the journey enjoyable and thereby give an added value to the time required to use them. The purpose of environments, the type of walking and the expectations of the users must guide the design. Consequently, there is not one formula or one single prescription to increase the walkability of the community; that being said, the characterization tools must be tailored. In conclusion, ideas for future developments following this research are proposed.

This thesis explores the nexus between landscape design processes and the conservation of wildlife diversity. Extinction of earth’s unique and diverse animal species is progressing at unprecedented rates, due to humanity’s profound alteration of the natural landscape. Scientific literature increasingly points towards opportunities in the urban and landscape design fields to this issue. Unfortunately, the science and needs of wildlife are rarely integrated in rigorous ways in the planning and design of human landscapes. This gap in professional practice protocols and regulatory frameworks in much of the western world is explored and raises questions about how design can successfully protect, restore, and even re-create viable habitat and linkages for wildlife that is integrated with human landscape. Australia has modeled new integrated wildlife-centric design approaches and projects there demonstrate accumulated expertise in the specific area of wildlife habitat design. Through a case study of Australia’s Alice Springs Desert Park, I argue that balancing human and wildlife needs at every step of the design and building process is necessary for successful wildlife habitat design. This integrated approach does not view wildlife and humans as independent, but rather as two interdependent habitat participants that must coexist to ensure the future of both.

Objective: The primary objective of the thesis is to advance proactive thinking in designing healthcare facilities for safety by constructing theory to bridge gaps between evidence-based design (EBD) and human factors/ergonomics (HF/E). Background: Adverse events are a pervasive issue in healthcare, with causes and prevention measures under increased scrutiny for the past 15 years. The physical environment can be an underlying condition of safety and healthcare (HC) facility design can be seen as a layer of defense in accident causation theory. However, HC facility design is complicated and complex, and the implications of decisions can be felt for decades. While architects excel at problem solving, they are not fully versed in healthcare work tasks, flow, and function, resulting in complex system interactions. Evidence-based design (EBD) is a process that uses research as a foundation for decision-making in HC facility design. While the EBD process acknowledges the importance of system factors, its focus is on understanding specific facility design interventions on outcomes such as safety, efficiency, quality of care, and satisfaction. HF/E focuses on humans interacting with a system with a goal of optimizing human well-being and overall system performance. Although HF/E recognizes the physical environment as a system component, the ergonomic definition of the environment lacks clarity and influences are frequently considered at a microergonomic level. In summary, EBD supports desired outcomes of a system through building design, while HF/E more often supports desired outcomes of the system through work design. Methods: The thesis leverages a grant to create a Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) toolkit for HC facility design using: (1) consensus-based methods to develop built-environment considerations for falls in HC facility design, (2) a mixed methods approach to test the SRA in hypothetical scenarios, (3) a mixed methods approach to test the SRA in real-world scenarios, (4) quantitative and qualitative analysis using an inductive and abductive approach to construct grounded theory to develop a core theme and a theoretical framework for proactively considering safety in HC facility design, (5) an extended systematic literature review to identify additional system considerations of the organization and people, and (6) established thinking to advance new theoretical frameworks to achieve the thesis objectives. Results: Two theoretical frameworks are proposed. The first framework, Safety as Complexity of the Organization, People and Environment (SCOPE) is based on the Dial-F systems model (Hignett 2013). The evolution includes: the definition of the ergonomic environment using building design as the most stable element of the system, identifying built environment interventions to mitigate the risk of falls (SCOPE 1.0); the addition of non-building design interventions of the system such as organizational and people-based conditions (SCOPE 2.0); and the integration of HF/E design principles to reframe thinking about hospital falls (DEEP SCOPE). The second framework evolves from grounded theory constructed through data from SRA testing proposing safe design as a participatory process to anticipate, participate, and integrate solutions. A participatory ergonomics framework (Haines and Wilson 1998) is integrated with a mesoergonomic framework of inquiry (Karsh, Waterson, and Holden 2014, Karsh 2006) to advance a theoretical framework of participatory mesoergonomics using the SRA and SCOPE content as inputs over the course of a HC facility design project to achieve safety. Conclusion: The gap between EBD and HF/E can be bridged using safety (falls) as a proactive consideration during HC facility design using theoretical frameworks. These frameworks address (1) the definition of building design and design considerations in the HF/E context and (2) integration of the EBD process with HF/E methods to understand interactions of the system.

In a world that is quickly urbanizing with a climate that is rapidly changing, the International Living Future Institute’s (ILFI) Living Community Challenge (LCC) offers a whimsical yet highly relevant model for sustainable development—creating cities that are as connected and beautiful as forests. As no certified Living Community exists yet, this thesis serves as an “uncase study” of North Rainier, a neighborhood in Seattle that has registered for the Challenge. In an effort to assess the LCC’s perceived effectiveness as a model for sustainable development, this thesis first summarizes nearly 400 centuries of U.S. developmental history to give greater context to the current moment and how we can quickly, effectively, and fundamentally transform the built environment to support a more sustainable future. A comparative analysis with EcoDistricts and LEED for Neighborhood Development revealed strengths (i.e., advocacy and capacity building) and weaknesses (i.e., equity and stasis) of predominant urban assessment tools in the U.S. The case study then uses a combination of GIS analysis, community surveys, and semi-structured interviews with members of the neighborhood association overseeing the pursuit of the LCC in North Rainier as well as with staff members at ILFI to assess the LCC’s effectiveness. Environmental health disparities in North Rainier found within the GIS analysis were echoed in the surveys and interviews, which indicated feelings of neglect from the city of Seattle who is occupied with record-setting growth, demonstrates how the LCC can be considered as an “act of optimism” and as a rejection of historically imposed top-down planning. Overall, in theory, several of the LCC’s Petals address many of the systemic issues facing the built environment (i.e., sprawl and dependence on automobiles and fossil fuels). However, despite its vision for a socially just and culturally rich future, the LCC—specifically the Equity Petal—does not offer a guarantee that displacement of low-income and communities of color and/or environmental injustices will not be perpetuated.

This thesis will study how scientific research environments should be designed, specifically addressing the issues beyond mere needs of research scientists. Assuming that the purpose of research is to create new knowledge and foster discoveries, as well as positively influence the community in its processes and results, this thesis will explore the potential of the influence of this building typology that has not been previously considered enough. The objectives of the thesis are on one hand, the changes in science disciplines and their reflections in the evolution among this building type, on the other hand, the impacts of research environment on scientific evolution. The question is, beyond support, can architecture promote and nurture science and enlighten scientists toward a new understanding of scientific activities? Based on this research, it is assumed that good science happens in spaces that are transparent and dynamically communicative. The methodologies, which will be used to address these objectives, include literature review, exploration of case studies, surveys and interviews with scientists about their use of the laboratory buildings, and the design of a prototype building for scientific research.

Our current system of research and production is no longer suitable for solving the problems we face today. As climate change threatens our cities and livelihoods, the global economic system preys on the weak. A more responsive, equitable, and resilient system needs to be implemented. Our post industrial cities are both products and victims of the boom-bust economies employed for the last few centuries. While some communities have survived by converting to retail and services based economies, others have not been so fortunate and have become run-down husks of their former bustling selves. The key to revitalizing these cities is to create new industries that empower people, unlike the service economies that deride and devalue them. Peer to Peer (P2P) development models like open source software communities create platforms for people to collaborate on projects and share resources. On the scale of cities, the goal is to stimulate the growth of closed loop, local, micro-economies that are inherently more stable than traditional, centralized economic models.Commons Based Peer Production (CBPP) is a term coined by Professor Yochai Benkler at Harvard Law School. It describes a new model of socio-economic production in which the labor of large numbers of people is coordinated (usually with the aid of the Internet) mostly without traditional hierarchical organization. It is based on low thresholds for participation, freely available modular tasks, and community verification of quality (peer governance). CBPP usually only applies to intellectual output, from software to libraries of quantitative data to human-readable documents (manuals, books, encyclopedias, reviews, blogs, periodicals, and more); however, this system can be adapted for physical manufacturing. A P2P system of development for material goods must be explored through the production of a common resource. Mycelium is the “roots” of fungi. It can be grown anywhere with agricultural refuse as a substrate. It has properties that make it ideal for building insulation and it is environmentally innocuous. It is Cradle to Cradle certified, and it requires little specialized equipment to produce. As a consumer product, it has had trouble gaining traction in a notoriously stubborn market dominated by hydrocarbon based market leaders like extruded polystyrene (XPS). Mycelium products are ripe for development as a regenerative building material. The goal is to increase the R-value of the material, decrease the cost of manufacturing, and carve out a market for this extraordinary product. The purpose of applying a CBPP approach is to increase the speed of development and aid in market penetration. The strategy is to decentralize manufacturing of and experimentation with the product. This requires a robust network of production nodes. Essentially, this involves setting up franchises in select markets (like the Pioneer Valley), where there is a strong interest in local, sustainable products. The nodes would be small cooperative businesses that are licensed to produce the material as well as collect data on the manufacturing and performance of mycelium insulation. The data will then be used to improve the production process. The bulk of the thesis is in designing one such node in Greenfield, MA, located adjacent to the new John W. Olver Transit Center on Bank Row St.

Disasters happen all the time, attention should be paid to refugees and help them build new homelands. Japan is an earthquake-prone area, every year there is at least 1 earthquake above 6 magnitude happens there. In 2011, Japan suffered from the 9.0 magnitude earthquake, tsunami and meltdown, the triple disasters. About 100 people died in the earthquake itself, and 20,000 people lost their lives in the tsunami, 465,000 people were evacuated after the disaster. Two years later after the triple disaster, more than half refugees still lived in temporary shelters. Efforts should be concentrated on the development of long living communities. Relying on existing shelters data and the specific Japanese living styles, the research examines a model of continuous living styles. Develop from a basic rapid shelter unit with low cost and limited functional space to a long-term living place. Japan has a long architecture history, its buildings have strong characteristics which shouldn’t be abandoned in the modern society. My research here is to develop a series of living types immediately following disasters until 2 years later. Typical and traditional Japanese features will be kept, at the same time combine with new aesthetics and technologies.

Agrihoods are a recent trend in real estate development that integrate agricultural amenities - such as working farms, orchards, or community gardens - into residential or mixed-use communities. As an emergent trend, agrihoods have the potential to enhance farmland preservation and local and regional food systems, making them a ripe area for research. However, very little scholarly research has been carried out to characterize, contextualize or evaluate agrihood developments. Thus far, the development model has primarily been detailed in popular media sources. This thesis serves as a baseline study that seeks to understand how neighborhood food systems operate within agrihood developments and how residents engage with their agricultural amenities. A mixed-methods approach utilized an online survey for agrihood residents and interviews with developers and farm managers to describe a subset of agrihoods as case studies. Seventy-eight agrihoods were identified; six were selected for case study analysis, three of which provided results for the resident survey (n=388). Survey results indicate that the character of the community was a more important motivator for agrihood residents to move to their community compared to the agricultural amenities. While all vi case study agrihoods sell produce directly to consumers through a CSA, farm store, or both, few survey respondents indicated they were CSA members or regularly shopped at the neighborhood farm store, with cost and convenience identified as the biggest barriers. While resident engagement with the neighborhood farm may be limited, charging an annual resident fee to support the farm – an approach taken by four out six case study communities – may provide a guaranteed revenue source to the farm amidst low levels of resident engagement with the agrihoods’ sales outlets. Interviewees provided insight into the nuances of operating agrihood farms, enhancing resident engagement, and the spatial design of communities. The results of this thesis can help agrihood developers and managers, and land-use regulators to further understand this new development model. Furthermore, the findings in this thesis provide avenues for future research on how agrihoods contribute to farmland preservation and local and regional food systems.