Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

This paper combines two research publications working toward the development of an integrated framework for commercial sustainable building design. Current methodologies utilize a traditional architectural top-down approach to sustainable building design practices that consumes financial and temporal resources early in the design process. By identifying the array mechanical subsystems required to meet modern building standards such as net-zero energy and water, and recognizing the importance of these interactions, designers can mitigate this resource consumption. The first paper presents an anthropological case study of the schematic design process of the Oregon Sustainability Center, a net-zero building slated for construction in Portland, Oregon. This research outlines the complexity of mechanical subsystems required to achieve net-zero standards and how project stakeholders affect the design process. The second paper further explores this concept by analyzing building subsystems in the context of a traditional complex system (airplane, automobile, etc.), and uses optimization techniques to understand significant system interactions. A computer model is created that optimizes lighting availability for a commercial workspace incorporating cost, building standards, and user environment. By considering post construction building usage, each subsystem can be designed for maximum user productivity, reducing costs associated with sustainable design practices. / Graduation date: 2012

The purpose of this study was to: (a) determine the design features of the physical learning environment that support and enhance collaborative, project-based learning at the community college level; and (b) to gain an understanding of the rationale for the selection of the features. The characteristics of the physical environment investigated in the study were scale, location, functionality, relationships, and patterns. Aspects of the rationale or purpose for the selected features included: (a) important factors for consideration, (b) sequence of consideration among the factors, (c) relationship among the factors, (d) derivation of the factors, (e) design process considerations, and (f) theories used to make the recommendation. The literature review indicated a need for changing learning expectations to prepare learners for rapidly changing roles and responsibilities in work, family, and community for the 21st century. Collaborative, project-based learning was identified as a pedagogy that prepares learners for these new learning expectations by conceiving, developing, and implementing projects relevant to the learners' and the communities' needs. This active learning process teaches critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, negotiation skills, reaching consensus, using technology, and taking responsibility for one's own learning. Data were collected in three phases using a phenomenological approach to gain an understanding of the two foci areas of the study. Methods for collecting data included site visits, observations, text, interviews, and designs. Participants included architects, educators, and learners. The findings from the study included the initial identification of 44 design features of the physical learning environment that support and enhance collaborative, project-based learning at the community college level and the determination of the rationale for the selection of the features. Analysis and synthesis of the features resulted in 32 design features that were placed in the following six categories: (a) learning group size, (b) functional spaces for learning activities, (c) adjacencies, (d) furnishings, (e) psychological and physiological support of the learners, and (f) structural aspects. The essence of designing physical environments that support and encourage collaborative, project-based learning is the interrelationship among the categories and features within the categories. / Graduation date: 2002

According to a recent study, about 30 percent of U.S. real estate projects are canceled midstream, while more than half run up to 190 percent over budget and 220 percent over the initial time estimate. The reasons for this are manifold but poor decisions during the initiation and early planning of the project can be pointed to as main causes. Most poor decisions stem from lack of information, bad judgment, and lack of communication and transparency between what the client expects and what the project team can deliver. Proper project planning procedures and methods will lead to proper contingency planning, management of partner relationships and contracts, management of dynamic change and associated risks that can, and most probably will, occur in the course of the project. The role of the owner cannot be overstated in all of these targets. Historically, the owners of healthcare facilities have a once in a lifetime involvement in the planning, design and construction (or major renovation) of their facility. The interaction with planners, public bodies, architects, engineers, and other entities is a daunting prospect for which an owner will seek help from specialized firms that represent the owner. This guide may serve as a healthcare project planning guide for owners, and in particular CEOs, to navigate the process. It will prepare the owner to recognize the major tasks and decision steps throughout project planning, while keeping the focus on the desired outcome. Any owner should recognize that the slogan: if you dont know what you want, you will not get what you need is as true today as it ever was. This guide will include research, best practices from industry experts, and a case study on the New Orleans public healthcare planning process post-Hurricane Katrina.

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This creative project examines trends in school planning and design at both the community and site levels. At the community level, two trends have shaped many of the decisions made in school planning: consolidating schools into mega-sized schools and placing schools on the periphery of development. These practices contribute to sprawl, urban disinvestment, racial and social segregation, environmental degradation and educational inequality. Alternatives in school planning such as school renovation and schools as community centers, are examined through case studies.At the site level, schools are typically built on acres of land covered by lawn, sports fields and asphalt parking. Research shows that school grounds can serve as valuable educational resources when designed as learning landscapes. A conceptual master plan for Storer Elementary School in Muncie, Indiana illustrates how a bland school landscape can be transformed into an educational resource to improve learning, environmental quality, safety and health. / Department of Landscape Architecture

This thesis defines the discipline of Interior Architecture from an academic perspective, from a professional perspective, and through a series of case studies on various building types. The primary building type, which is studied in this thesis, is the university setting, with specific emphasis placed on the "social spaces" within the university, where people interact and collaboratively engage one another and the environment around them. Interior architecture is explored through a study of numerous design elements and psychological phenomena, including proxemics, control of one's environment, response to technology, location of social spaces, permanence versus flexibility, provision of spatial variety, public versus private realms, and multisensory perceptions of three-dimensional space. / Department of Architecture

Currently there is a growing pressure on energy efficiency for new buildings in the UK and worldwide. This has arisen partly due to the increasing awareness of the public for sustainable building construction. In addition, there is pressure on building materials manufacturers, due to new government regulations and legislations that are targeting energy usage and carbon dioxide emissions in new buildings. This research work reports on unfired clay building materials (unfired clay bricks) technology for sustainable building construction. The technology aims at the reduction of the high energy input, especially that arising from firing clay bricks in kilns. The research has investigated the use of lime or Portland cement as an activator to an industrial by-product (Ground Granulated Blastfurnace Slag-GGBS) to stabilise Lower Oxford Clay (LOC). Portland cement was used in the formulation of the unfired clay brick tests specimens predominantly as a control. The development of an unfired clay brick in this current work is considered by the researcher as a significant scientific breakthrough for the building industry. Another breakthrough is the fact that only about 1.5% lime was used for GGBS activation. This is a very low level of usage of lime that is not comparable to, or sufficient for, most road construction applications, where far less strength values are needed and where 3-8% lime is required for effective soil stabilisation. Hence, the final pricing of the unfired clay brick is expected to be relatively low. Industrial scale brick specimens were produced during two separate industrial trials. The first trial was at Hanson Brick Company Ltd, Bedfordshire, UK, while the second was carried out at PD Edenhall Ltd, Bridgend, South Wales, UK. The results clearly demonstrate that all key parameters such as compressive strength, thermal properties and durability were within the acceptable engineering standards for clay masonry units. From the environmental and sustainability analysis results, the unfired clay material has shown energy-efficiency and suggests a formidable economical alternative to the firing of clay building components. This study is one of the earliest attempts to compare fired and unfired clay technology, and also to combine energy use and CO2 emission for unfired clay bricks relative to those bricks used in mainstream construction. This is an attempt to come up with one parameter rating. The overall results suggest that the spinoff from this technology is an invaluable resource for civil engineers and other built environment professionals who need quick access to up-to-date and accurate information about the qualities of various building and construction materials.

Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Science (Building) to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Construction Economics and Management at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016 / This study set out to establish the extent to which South African contractors are seen as capable of engaging and contributing towards the designs of green buildings. The study further examines how the traditional procurement path, which is dominant in delivery of construction projects, affects a contractor’s contribution towards green buildings. The problem that exists is the exclusion of contractors at the design stage of a project through the use of the traditional procurement path. This exclusion potentially leads to clients not getting the full benefits of green practices in the delivery of their projects. The research adopted a positivist methodology collecting quantitative data using a questionnaire surveying construction professionals that are registered with the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA).The construction professionals that were surveyed include construction managers, project managers, architects, quantity surveyors and engineers who have direct experience and knowledge of green buildings Findings from the research reveals that there is a perception that the lack of awareness of green buildings in South Africa leads to certain clients, most notably government and parastatals, to invest less in green buildings. The use of the traditional procurement path is perceived to be inappropriate in the delivery of green buildings. This is due to the fact that the traditional procurement path excludes involvement by contractors at the early stages of the project therefore they do not contribute to the design of green buildings. The clients are therefore advised to plan and strategise procurement plans so that contractors can be involved early during the design stages, so that they can provide input so as to improve the buildability of projects and prepare proper health and safety plans. / MT2017

The purpose of the study was to analyze the materials used in industry and school plant building in order to determine the types and designs of buildings which will best meet the needs of our schools both today and in the future.