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After more than a century, there are very few examples of excellent interdisciplinary work in landscape architecture, like the "Emerald Necklace" designed by Frederick Law Olmsted or Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord by Peter Latz. Most of the projects still have only one purpose: they are either reserved for conservation as are the great national parks, or are planned for recreation or development that ignores natural systems. "Most...landscape designers are still inspired by and primarily focused on aesthetics; society's other major objectives are secondary for them" (Richard Forman 2002, p: 85). In 1993, American Society of Landscape Architects defined sustainable development as, "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the future." Thus designers need to understand how natural and human systems work and design for the protection of our environmental as an integral part of any development. Landscape architects can achieve this by borrowing principles of legendary works like the "Emerald Necklace" and combining those with new technology to meet changing cultural and ecological needs. This thesis asserts that sustainable development should be achieved by reconciling human systems and its effects on the surrounding environment by using and revealing natural systems to spread consciousness and earn attention and care for our environment. Suitability analysis by Ian McHarg, Bioregionalism by Clair Reiniger, Regenerative design process by Lyle, and Framework for ecological design by Prof. Carl Steinitz are various design processes to create developments, which can respond to both natural and human needs. The thesis project, Riverside Park and Biomedical Complex in the South Jefferson Redevelopment Area in Roanoke, VA, explores how a design process, consisted of framework for ecological design and principals of eco-revelatory design, can help to plan a sustainable development, which uses and reveals natural systems to reconciling human systems and its effects on the surrounding environment. The project demonstrates how a multidisciplinary approach towards landscape design can help to create a multifunctional design that meets the, ecological and cultural, needs of the present without compromising the future. / Master of Landscape Architecture

This research explores the scope of waste as a material and methods for fashion design, drawing together an open mindset and sustainable actions for a menswear collection. Reflective Design Practice is the overlaying methodology used to incorporate a wide variety of textile manipulations and materials. The research approach is to source waste materials, with a focus on virgin yarns for knitwear, exploring and identifying the possibilities for individual elements and analyzing through a photographic lineup, repeating for further development. This emergency, as well as a focus on perfect solutions from the offset, can be a barrier for experimentation. Therefore a change in posture and mindset is necessary. For this thesis, posture, motive, and aesthetic design decisions are embodied in a persona - This persona, delicate, yet rough and in a hurry, as with sustainability, are combined into the Lazy Romantic. Speculatively this research has the potential to open up for landfills as material sourcing for fashion design or landfills being unnecessary as the word waste is no longer defining the material.

Sustainable materials are prevalent within design, but industrial design lacks mass-manufactured product examples. This research explores this gap in knowledge to understand the influences affecting the selection of sustainable materials and how UK industrial designers could be better supported. A comprehensive literature review explores the selection of sustainable materials within the context of industrial design. Existing tools and resources designed to support industrial designers are analysed to understand the support provision and requirements. The research approach explores individual attitudes, and the influences towards and against selecting sustainable materials. Four UK companies were studied to understand how sustainable materials are considered and utilised for mass-manufactured products. Two frameworks were designed to support and facilitate sustainable material selection. The first depicts the overarching support requirements whilst the second presents the considerations and strategies. Both frameworks were evaluated by experts and previous participants. A workshop with designers evaluated the efficacy of the second framework when used as a tool The majority of industrial designers were aware of general issues of sustainability but rarely considered selecting sustainable materials. All four companies had experienced significant changes recently, including increasing resources and internal initiatives towards the use of sustainable materials. The market for sustainable materials is improving, but risks exist, such as fluctuating availability and market instability. A lack of awareness and understanding has meant that, in order to succeed, some companies have designed methods to educate stakeholders whilst designers have requested support to educate clients. Personal interest of the individual is a key driver, creating champions who raise awareness and boost confidence amongst colleagues. There is a need, not only for greater education and support, but also to improve engagement with sustainable material selection amongst industrial designers and others involved in the process.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Timothy D. Keane / The growth of Central Florida led to the planning of a Central Florida commuter rail and a larger interest in designing communities with the environment as a priority. A site suitable for sustainable development is located in DeBary, Florida, in the northern Orlando metropolitan area. The nine hundred acre site includes a commuter rail station and is located along the St. Johns River, a major river in Florida. The intent of this study was to understand and apply principles of sustainable development to the unique landscape of the site and propose a master plan for a community, creating a sense of place. A major goal of the project was to compliment the commuter rail station and its contribution to the community. The project encompassed research of sustainable development and design, an analysis of the site, as well as an understanding of transportation’s specific role in sustainable development. The result of the study is a master plan of the community which utilizes principles of sustainable development, protects and highlights the ecological features of the site and creates a place unique to Central Florida as a healthy, sustainable community.

In this thesis the opportunities for designing products that are less resource intensive during use, in different cultural contexts is investigated. The research was divided into four phases: an extensive literature review, an online scoping study, an intensive qualitative study on laundry behaviours, and an international design competition. The research drew on the background of design for sustainable behaviour, a relatively new field of enquiry concerned with reducing the social and environmental impacts of products during their use. Despite the increasing development of theories to change user behaviour through design, there is a lack of understanding of how different cultural contexts affect behaviour. An extensive literature review established the current thinking on culture, development, and behaviour. The diverse nature of everyday household behaviour from different cultures and the effect it has on household resource consumption was uncovered and was investigated further in an online scoping study. In the study, participants from the UK, Brazil and India answered questions related to the themes of food, water, energy, materials and government schemes. The findings helped to highlight the differences in household behaviours and led to more detailed investigation of laundry behaviours in three sites in the UK, Brazil and India using in-context interviews, observations and household tours. From these findings a series of culturally significant and culturally independent factors were established that can aid designers in understanding behaviours in a given context. A set of design guidelines were also created to facilitate the design of less resource intensive products during use. These were then tested with designers in an international design competition answering a brief to design a less resource intensive laundry process. The research suggested a range of benefits for designers studying other cultures. The guidelines and cultural factors created can help designers to build empathy with users in a given context and boost creative thinking for more sustainable solutions. The research also offered insights into the possibility of, and application for, transferring behaviours between contexts as well as a new understanding of the aspirations of consumers in emerging markets, which could support other theories of sustainable development, such as leapfrogging.

A novel and original category of low-cost static solar-daylighting-collectors named Keywo solar energy, solar collectors, daylighting systems, nonimaging optics, Refractive Integrated Nonimaging Solar Collectors (RINSC) has been designed and thoroughly tested. The RINSC category is based on nonimaging optics and integrates several optical elements, such as prismatic arrays and light guides, into a single-structured embodiment made of solid-dielectric material. The RINSC category is sub-divided in this thesis into four distinctive and original sub-categories/systems: Prismatic Solar Collectors (PSC), Multi-Prismatic Solar Collectors (MPSC), Integrated Multi-Prismatic Solar Collectors (IMPSC) and Vertically Integrated Nonimaging Solar Collectors (VINSC). The optical configuration and compact embodiment of these systems allows them to be integrated into a building façade without creating any protrusion, indicating that they can lead to solar collector systems with high building integration potential. Laboratory and outdoor experimental tests conducted with a series of demonstration prototypes made of clear polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) and manufactured by laser ablation process, yield peak transmission efficiencies TE varying from 2% to 8%. Computer simulations indicated that transmission efficiencies TE > 30% are possible. The design and development of the innovative optical systems introduced in this thesis were backed-up with extensive computer ray-tracing analysis, rapid-prototyping, laboratory and outdoor experimental tests. Injection moulding computer simulations and surface analysis concerning the development of the RINSC systems were also conducted. Basic theory and comprehensive literature review are presented. This research has also resulted in the design and prototyping of a novel optical instrumentation named Angular Distribution Imaging Device (ADID), specially developed to analyse the spatial distribution of light emerging from the exit aperture of solar collectors/concentrators. The systems and knowledge described in this thesis may find application in areas such as solar collector systems to harvest sunlight for natural illumination in buildings, solar-photovoltaic and solar-thermal.

Metalworking fluids (MWFs) are coolants and lubricants, which are widely employed in metal cutting works. They are designed to be a long lasting product. Manufacturers have designed MWFs with lack of awareness of end-of-life disposal by including biocides, which make biological treatment challenging. Here, Syntilo 9913 was used as a case study to develop a cradle-to-grave product that was biologically stable in use but amenable to sustainable hybrid biological treatment at end-of-life. The product was reverse engineered employing factorial design approach based on a priori knowledge of the product components. From the combinatorial work, it was observed that chemical interactions can results in synergistic and antagonistic effects in terms of the toxicity and biodegradability. One of the major components of most MWFs are amines such as Triethanolamine (TEA). TEA does not biodeteriorate in single compound screening, but in combination with many other components TEA was found to cause "softening" of MWF formulations. Octylamine was found to be best for "bio-hardening" but it was not economically sustainable. Hence, the modified biocide-free synthetic MWF, Syntilo 1601, was reformulated with TEA, isononanoic acid, neodecnoic acid, Cobratec TT50S, and pluronic 17R40, which were resistant to biological treatment. Although, no change in the overall oxidation state of the MWF, metabolic activity did occur as breakdown products were observed. This suggested that both raw materials and metabolic breakdown products were recalcitrant. Thus, immobilisation agents were applied to aid further biodegradation by removing toxic bottleneck compounds. It was found that hybrid nano-iron and kaffir lime leaf performed similarly in removing chemical oxygen demand and ammonium from the system. Work in this Thesis demonstrated that the combined use of biological treatment and immobilisation agents effectively overcome the limitations of biological treatment alone by removing bottleneck compounds, which allowed greater COD reduction. This laboratory scale is a proof of principle, which needs to be tested at full scale.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional and Community Planning / Jessica Canfield / As urban populations continue to grow, parks will become a critical component to creating and sustaining healthy cities. A review of literature related to landscape performance and 21st century parks reveals a paradigm shift in the ways we engage our built landscapes. No longer is it environmentally or fiscally responsible to implement and maintain resource consumptive city parks that are exclusively concerned with fulfilling social needs. To create environmentally, socially, and economically beneficial spaces, 21st century parks must include design elements and best management practices that ensure long-term sustainability. In Manhattan, Kansas, most of the city’s parks are recreation centric and primarily focused on fulfilling social needs. However, Fairmont Park has yet to be fully realized, and therefore presents the city an opportunity to implement its first sustainable park. Using the Sustainable Sites Initiative’s 2009 Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks as a guide, a series of sustainability evaluations were conducted on Fairmont Park’s existing conditions in order to reveal its current level of sustainability. To understand how the park was originally envisioned to perform, the same analysis was conducted on Fairmont Park’s 1998 Master Plan. Findings from this process revealed an opportunity to update the park’s current master plan, in order to achieve enhanced environmental, social, and economic benefits. Guided by 21st century park design, implementation, and management strategies, the redesign of Fairmont Park will not only help Riley County fulfill its goal of becoming a State leader in sustainable design, but it will provide the Manhattan community with a state-of-the-art productive park, which promotes environmental education and stewardship, physical activity, local food production and composting, and stormwater management practices.

A causa primeira de nossa crise ambiental resulta de uma desconexão histórica entre natureza e civilização. O estado de nossas cidades tem raízes profundas nesta desconexão e a solução dos problemas urbanos requer uma ecologia das cidades, por onde a integração deve ocorrer de forma harmoniosa. Os mais recentes avanços em ecologia urbana introduzem os conceitos de resiliência, por onde o comando e controle são substituídos por uma gestão flexível, mais sensível à lógica inerente ao funcionamento de ecossistemas. As mais recentes tendências na busca por um urbanismo sustentável abrangem aspectos distintos que, pela perspectiva da resiliência, devem ser integrados. Por um lado, temos a necessidade de humanizar a cidade, por outro, a necessidade de integra-las aos ecossistemas naturais. A integração se realiza quando o desenvolvimento de uma comunidade sustentável se insere num contexto urbano onde natureza é infraestrutura, isto é, prestadora de serviços ecossistêmicos. Na geografia de São Paulo a hidrografia é a base física a partir da qual o sistema de infraestrutura verde deve se constituir. Adotamos a bacia hidrográfica do Córrego Água Preta, no bairro da Pompéia, como estudo de caso. A recuperação e naturalização do córrego implica na implementação de seu parque fluvial. Um urbanismo ecologicamente orientado, nas bordas deste parque, deve diluir a rigidez da fronteira entre parque e tecido urbano, de modo a possibilitar uma maior fluência dos processos naturais e humanos na totalidade do sistema. Neste processo, arquitetura e paisagem se fundem. / The first cause of our environmental crisis results from a historical disconnect between nature and civilization. The state of our cities has deep roots in this disconnect and the solution of urban problems requires a city ecology, where integration must occur in a harmonious way. The latest advances in urban ecology introduce the concepts of resilience, where command and control are replaced by flexible management, more sensitive to the logic inherent in the functioning of ecosystems. The latest trends in the quest for sustainable urbanism cover distinct aspects that, from the perspective of resilience, must be integrated. On the one hand, we need to humanize the city, on the other hand, the need to integrate them into natural ecosystems. The integration takes place when the development of a sustainable community is inserted in an urban context where nature is infrastructure, that is, provider of ecosystem services. In the geography of São Paulo hydrography is the physical base from which the green infrastructure system must be constituted. We adopted the water basin of Água Preta Stream, in the district of Pompéia, as a case study. The recovery and naturalization of the stream implies in the implementation of its river park. An ecologically oriented urbanism, on the edges of this park, should dilute the rigidity of the border between park and urban fabric, in order to allow a greater flow of natural and human processes throughout the system. In this process, architecture and landscape merge.