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.

Albert Einstein believed “we can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” This quote, in my opinion, is particularly relevant for the academic literature that examines individual energy use. I believe that we have historically taken a categorized approach towards looking at individual energy use. Instead of thinking about multiple behaviours widely, we tend to look at individual behaviours deeply - focusing on electricity use, gas use, or travel behaviour in isolation instead of examining them simultaneously. For this reason, this thesis explores if and how an intervention aimed at one energy behaviour may influence or have untargeted effects on other energy behaviours across household energy use and personal travel behaviour from an interdisciplinary research perspective. The relevant literature is reviewed and an innovative methodology is devised to answer the research questions. By examining quantitative and qualitative data, the thesis evaluates the targeted and untargeted effects of an electricity display study across household energy and travel behaviours, assesses the influence that social and technical experiences with the display may have on behaviour, and explores how individuals conceptualize their energy usage to better understand untargeted effects. The findings indicate that 1) in a sample of 19 participants, 15 had untargeted effects in gas and 4 had untargeted effects in gas and travel, 2) the combined effect of social and technical experiences with the display can explain why an untargeted effect did or did not take place, and 3) participants perceived household energy as a resource but perceived travel as a means to move from one place to another. These findings lead to the development of a novel contribution of this research, known as the tangential effect. Contributions to theory and policy, an assessment of the methodological approach, and future research areas are given.

Incidence of endocrine disruption in wild fish species has been documented globally and is well characterised in the UK, where the occurrence of intersex in roach (Rutilus rutilus) is widespread. Although this has been associated with concentrations of steroid oestrogens, research indicates that anti-androgenic chemicals may also play a role in inducing these effects. Anti-androgenic activity is commonly detected in wastewater treatment works effluents and some receiving waters, but the chemicals responsible remain largely uncharacterised. This thesis aimed to identify environmental anti-androgens in UK and South Australian catchments and to produce environmentally relevant exposures to assess their potential impacts on sexual disruption in fish, alone and in combination with steroid oestrogens. By using hydrological modelling techniques, pharmaceuticals with an anti-androgenic mode of action were predicted to occur in the ng/L concentration range in UK and South Australian wastewater treatment works effluents and river catchments. This work included analysis of future trends in environmental concentrations of the pharmaceuticals and the steroid oestrogens in these catchments. Modest increases in concentrations by 2050 were predicted in the absence of mitigation, which could increase in the risk posed to fish health by the steroid oestrogens in the future. The effects of the predicted concentrations of two pharmaceuticals, bicalutamide and cyproterone acetate, were then assessed in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) and Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) based on the UK modelling for the present day. These concentrations did not contribute to endpoints characteristic of sexual disruption, alone or in combination with steroid oestrogens. However, the results did support an environmental role for the steroid oestrogens in intersex induction. Concurrently, effect directed analysis identified some highly potent anti-androgens, such as triclosan and pyrene, in wastewater treatment works effluents from the UK. However, they are likely to make a minor contribution to overall anti-androgenic activity due to their low concentrations. Consequently, more work is required to identify the causes of this activity in the environment and its implications for wild fish health.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Melody L. A. LeHew / Fashion is the second most polluting industry and accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions. Consuming fossil fuel based electricity, the primary source of energy in the apparel production process, causes a great deal of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Due to ever-increasing apparel demand and population growth, this industry’s carbon footprint will only grow bigger. As attention on sustainability issues in our world intensifies, research on environmental sustainability in the apparel manufacturing industry is needed. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate energy consumption (EC) of the apparel sewing process. The objectives are to (a) identify the most influential EC factors and develop a model to capture EC levels, (b) determine factor interrelationships, (c) identify steps to reduce EC, and (d) explore experts' level of concern regarding EC of the apparel manufacturing and its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. A mixed method research study was employed in this study: a qualitative method was utilized to assess expert perceptions and a quantitative method was used to measure EC and build a regression model. This study determined dominant EC and GHG emissions factors from sewing process so that apparel manufacturers can understand which factors need to be controlled to reduce environmental damage. Findings from the study indicated sewing machine motor capacity, sewing speed, and standard allocated minute (SAM) were the most influential EC factors, and shortening the sewing time was found as the best solution to reduce energy consumption in the apparel sewing process. The energy consumption model was found as: Log (EC) = 9.283 + 0.771* log (SAM) + 0.386*knit fabric type + 0.260*sportswear fabric type + 0.080*SPI - 0.008*capacity + 0.004*seam length - 0.001* speed + 0.495 The EC model along with GHG calculator (a tool to convert GHG from EC) will help the industry to determine their EC and GHG emissions level to boost their awareness and to encourage greater impetus for environmental actions. Finally, this study will help designers, retailers, and consumers to pursue environmentally friendly actions in terms of decisions regarding apparel design, sourcing, and purchasing.

In the mid seventeenth century, Thomas Traherne claimed human beings must retire into creation in order to fully know the virtues, including goodness, peaceableness and care. In this thesis I review Traherne's moral theory in light of recently discovered manuscripts of his work. For Traherne, because God's Divine goodness is the efficient cause of creation, creatures are naturally good. He uses Paracelsian optic and atomic theories to indicate how creatures communicate their goodness to one another. By retiring among creatures in their natural place, he argues that persons create a relational theatre in which they develop their capacity to sense creaturely communication. In this 'communion' persons perceive their mutual 'interest' with creatures in the relational nexus of creation. This knowledge provides motivation for 'blessed operations' of care for persons and creation. Because the human relationship to other creatures is morally significant, retiring among creation is a critical part of Christian moral formation. For Traherne this sensual engagement with a relational creation is necessary in the moral formation of children, who apprehend nature with their senses. Their innate wonder equips them to form their moral identity in relationship to a peaceable, caring creation. Traherne's account of the role of nature in moral development raises significant pedagogical questions in an age when scientific knowledge and the senses were increasingly disassociated from moral reasoning. For Traherne an education that denies the role of the senses in moral formation 'murders' the child by distracting her attention from the virtues of peace and mutuality that are present in creation. In conversation with phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty, child psychologists Colwyn Trevarthen and Darcia Narvaez, and educational philosophers David Carr and Carol Gilligan, this thesis demonstrates the contemporary significance of Traherne's claims. Through the wonder of play, contact with the natural environment helps children develop an 'ecological' identity based on their relationship to other creatures. The perception of care in these early relationships is the basis for forming an inter-subjective moral identity and the virtues of care. Many 'care' ethicists and psychologists emphasize the early experiences of care taking. Environmental educators emphasize the caring relationship to creation. Hence they give substance to Traherne's claim that play, wonder and a sensory relationship with other creatures at an early age contribute to the formation of moral identity. Traherne's ideas also have pedagogical implications for theories of Christian moral formation. Theologians and ethicists, such as Rowan Williams, Michael Northcott and John Inge, have suggested place-based programmes of moral formation are needed in the parish context. This thesis demonstrates that Traherne's moral theory provides a rationale for understanding the theological significance of a child's natural wonder and the need for its cultivation in programmes of Christian education. A relationship to the local ecology of the parish can help a child perceive the care of creation, and play a proformative role in developing a moral identity in relationship to a caring Creator.

How do people listen to soundscapes in the built environment? Current soundscape research within urban planning disciplines tends to focus on measuring outdoor spaces in the built environment by interviewing the people within. This thesis, by contrast, followed individual listeners, using a qualitative, Grounded Theory methodology, examining listening preferences and habits across multiple environments. This approach gave a broad range of reactions to different soundscapes, from homes to workplaces to bars, clubs, and places of worship. This thesis reviews various soundscape epistemologies, methodologies, and methods, and argues that we need a stronger theoretical understanding of all these elements. It questions what is being measured, and how people are measuring it. The thesis suggests some ways qualitative and quantitative research can work together more effectively, and move soundscapes from the current multidiciplinary research landscape to a truly interdiciplinary one. In defining the soundscape as ‘the listener's perception of their auditory surroundings’, I shift the focus from measuring people's evaluation of spaces, to evaluating people themselves. This leads to a radically new empirical approach and theoretical description of the soundscape, using social science methods to build thick description of listening habits. Twenty people were given audio recorders and log books, and asked to record their day-to-day lives for two weeks. They were then interviewed about their experiences. The main finding was that soundscapes are not noticed most of the time, with participants seeming to have a ‘noticing threshold’: affected by factors such as control, expectation, and activity. Soundscapes which were noticed fell into one of four categories: positive--loud, positive--quiet, negative--loud or negative--quiet, with different judgement criteria for each. Participants were also highly adept at using coping mechanisms, such as recorded music and TV, to counteract undesirable sound environments.

There is an investment of hand-pump technology to improve provision of safe drinking-water for the stakeholder end-users in rural sub-Saharan regions of Africa, yet there are challenges to maintain the assets. In rural drinking-water projects, end-users also assume the responsibility of hand-pump maintenance after projects are handed over to them by project sponsors. This study uses a realist philosophy to analyse the issues that hinder or facilitate effective end-user participation in a successful maintenance of drinking-water projects in Nkhoma and Bvumbwe, Lilongwe and Thyolo Districts of Malawi respectively. Data collection was done by employing secondary data (literature review) and primary data collection using documents, observation, and interviews to establish factors facilitating or inhibiting hand-pump maintenance. Interviews which were the main data collection instrument, recruited 12 Convergence Interviews (CI), followed by 39 Individual Case Interviews (ICIs) and two sets of Focus Groups (FGs) in operational and non-functional hand-pumps. CI processes developed categories related to hand-pump maintenance factors and associated challenges. The CI developed maintenance categories were further cross checked in ICIs that used semi-structured interviews and finally confirmed in FGs, documentary and observational analysis. Convergence Interviews data was analysed using a matrix while ICIs were analysed using likert-type ranking scales to identify the most occurring hand-pump maintenance factors. Focus Groups, observations and documents used content analysis to analyse the hand-pump maintenance factors. Results show that end-users maintain small- medium hand-pumps faults effectively if they pay a contribution towards maintenance costs and if local political structures are trained to repair the hand-pumps. Moreover, the study identifies lack of sponsor supports as the main factor leading to failure in the management of major faults and hand-pump rehabilitation, as this is beyond local capacity technically as well as economically. Hence, the study introduces a business approach to improving hand-pump maintenance by recommending some minimum standards on the demand-side (end-user level) as well as the supply-side (project sponsor and policy levels).

The growing recognition amongst local authorities of the potential of asset management to improve property management practice has led to its increased adoption. The growing trend has been supported by the development of asset management frameworks. However, evidence indicates that local authorities are failing to achieve the full benefits from their asset management implementation. The factors contributing to some of the property management problems such as reactive management, lack of leadership support, ineffective corporate landlord approach, remain. The available frameworks are incapable of mitigating the identified problems by failing to provide understanding of local authority differences. Therefore, this research aimed to develop an adaptable and flexible operational property asset management framework for local authorities in England and Scotland. The strategic management theory, review of existing literature findings and evaluation of available asset management frameworks especially the Total Asset Management Process model helped to identify, define and establish the causal logic of the asset management concepts underpinning the developed conceptual framework. Face to face semi-structured interviews followed by large scale questionnaire surveys were used to gather primary data. The key research findings are that the following are the key factors limiting asset management practice improvements in local authorities: ineffective leadership support, asset management capabilities and corporate landlord approach; inadequate asset management information systems and performance management arrangements. Principal components factor analysis was utilised to help establish underlying factors that account for flexible and adaptable asset management framework. The findings suggest that asset management processes associated with an adaptable and flexible asset management framework include a board level cross functional asset management structure; strong leadership support for both direct and indirect property; an enabling environment; an effective corporate landlord approach; an effective performance management arrangement; and availability of an appropriate management information system. The framework has been validated to be robust and can be utilised and flexibly adapted by different local authorities and provides the basis for improving the process and outcome of asset management practice.

A functionally connected urban tree infrastructure (UTI) contributes to ecosystem function, resilience, and the provision of Ecosystem Services (ES). Variation in tree height is an important attribute influencing movement of passerines, habitat quality and landscape patterns. UTI provided ES are particularly beneficial in the most deprived areas of a city. Presented in this thesis is an exploration into the social-ecological shape of a UTI using a holistic, multi-scale and dimensional, landscape approach. The potential landscape connectivity of a UTI in the City of Salford, UK was quantified and compared using the integral index of connectivity (IIC) across vertically stratified canopies existing in 2005, 2009, and 2013. System resilience was assessed through landscape graph network analysis and by the identification of canopies critical in maintaining connectivity (dIIC). The index of multiple deprivation (IMD) was related to UTI landscape composition and configuration through a series of statistical tests. The connectivity of Salford’s vertically stratified UTI was low (IIC = <0.000001 – 0.0045), besides this the temporal change in connectivity was complex with no discernible overall pattern. The rate of connectivity increase decreased after a 90-120m gap-crossing threshold. The resilience of Salford’s UTI relies on the connectivity of canopies within 4 to 5 sub-connected regions, depending on passerine perception, increasing to 10 -16 smaller regions for canopies above 17.1m. The resilience and stability of these sub-connected regions were often reliant on a central canopy patch. UTI composition is related negatively with deprivation, UTI configuration is related positively, while structural diversity of canopy heights revealed no correlation with deprivation. The research in this thesis contributes to the debates on how to best manage the UTI for both people and nature. The findings of this thesis have a number of important implications for future urban landscape management, especially as previously unknown landscape patterns have been identified.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Melody L. A. LeHew / Fashion is the second most polluting industry and accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions. Consuming fossil fuel based electricity, the primary source of energy in the apparel production process, causes a great deal of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Due to ever-increasing apparel demand and population growth, this industry’s carbon footprint will only grow bigger. As attention on sustainability issues in our world intensifies, research on environmental sustainability in the apparel manufacturing industry is needed. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate energy consumption (EC) of the apparel sewing process. The objectives are to (a) identify the most influential EC factors and develop a model to capture EC levels, (b) determine factor interrelationships, (c) identify steps to reduce EC, and (d) explore experts' level of concern regarding EC of the apparel manufacturing and its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. A mixed method research study was employed in this study: a qualitative method was utilized to assess expert perceptions and a quantitative method was used to measure EC and build a regression model. This study determined dominant EC and GHG emissions factors from sewing process so that apparel manufacturers can understand which factors need to be controlled to reduce environmental damage. Findings from the study indicated sewing machine motor capacity, sewing speed, and standard allocated minute (SAM) were the most influential EC factors, and shortening the sewing time was found as the best solution to reduce energy consumption in the apparel sewing process. The energy consumption model was found as: Log (EC) = 9.283 + 0.771* log (SAM) + 0.386*knit fabric type + 0.260*sportswear fabric type + 0.080*SPI - 0.008*capacity + 0.004*seam length - 0.001* speed + 0.495. The EC model along with GHG calculator (a tool to convert GHG from EC) will help the industry to determine their EC and GHG emissions level to boost their awareness and to encourage greater impetus for environmental actions. Finally, this study will help designers, retailers, and consumers to pursue environmentally friendly actions in terms of decisions regarding apparel design, sourcing, and purchasing.