Insulated concrete forms (ICFs) are green building components that are primarily used for residential wall construction. Unlike most polystyrene based ICF variants, the Faswall ICFs used in these experiments were significantly denser because they were made from recycled wood particles and cement. The current design approach for structures constructed with this type of wall form only allows the designer to consider the contribution of the reinforced concrete cores. Previous research has shown that this approach may be conservative. This project experimentally evaluated the lateral structural response of these types of grid ICF walls under increasing amplitude of in-plane cyclic loading. Two different height-to-length (aspect) ratios (approximately 2:1 and 1:1) were investigated, as was the effect of simultaneous gravity load. Furthermore, the reinforced concrete grid was exposed for each aspect ratio in order to examine the contribution of the ICF blocks to the lateral response. Analyses of hysteretic behaviors and failure modes indicated conservatism in the current design approach for estimating lateral strength and ignoring the beneficial contribution of the ICF blocks to overall performance. The presence of the wall forms increased the lateral shear capacity of the walls by an average of 42% (compared to the walls with forms removed), while also increasing the deformation capacity by an average of 102%. Furthermore, by considering an additional gravity load of 10 kips-per-lineal-foot (klf), the shear resistance of the walls increased by 32% (versus walls only subjected to self-weight), on average, and the deformation capacity of the walls increased by an average of 19%. Comparisons of the experimental results to several design equations led to the recommendation of a design equation that was previously accepted for another type of ICF system.

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

The Second-Hand Society tells the stories of people in Portland, Oregon who redefine waste by making use of objects others discard. The author spends time in repair shops watching craftsmen hammer and polish broken typewriters, vacuum cleaners and shoes back to life. She follows book scouts, clothes pickers and liquidators as they gather merchandise to resell and spends hours at nonprofits that collect and redistribute unwanted electronics and building supplies. She watches junk artists and fashion designers assemble found objects into display pieces, accompanies Dumpster divers and "freegans" along their regular collection routes and visits the homeless encampment by the airport to see how an entire community of people survives on nothing but reclaimed materials. The members of the second-hand society challenge the traditional conception of things as "broken" or "unwanted" and assert that forward movement and new-new-new is not always optimal. By examining the motivations and practices of the people who make use of our discards and looking at the contradictions they run up against, this thesis develops a more complete understanding of the reality that's possible if we think differently about our waste.

A practicum report for the degree of Master of Environmental Science, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Miami University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-73).

The result of this project is a sustainability assessment questionnaire for the high school setting. The questionnaire fills a gap in the literature pertaining to assessing direct and indirect environmental impacts on high schools.