The purpose of this paper is the prep1ration of environmental criteria to be used to aid future developers, county planning board, and county commissioners in the evaluation of sites for proposed small scale residential developments, and whether that development will have an irreparable environmental impact. The criteria are intended to fill the gap between standards for housing developments and finished design and that of environmental impact of small scale housing developments in Cache County, Utah.

Abstract Throughout history, land has been treated as man's platform for development and expansion into new territories and the basis for our current infrastructure. Understanding existing properties and characteristics of the land has become imperative to successful development and strong networks that connect human beings to one another. As we discover ever changing natural tendencies, we are prone to rethinking the way in which the land is engaged from a developmental and conservational standpoint. Coexisting with natural processes of the earth and the land is of utmost importance to the success of human systems using it as a base for growth. Land is becoming very scarce as the human race expands its network, which makes the term "Conservation Development" an integral part of the future of infrastructure. Conservation Development is defined as the process of planning, designing, building, and managing communities that preserves landscapes or other community resources that are considered valuable for their aesthetic, environmental, cultural, agricultural, and/or historic values (McMahon, 2010). Critically analyzing potential sites prior to any ground work is vital to successful conservation development. Specifically, Bristol West is a challenging site and as with every site it has specific constraints and opportunities for development. If developed using traditional methods, it has the potential of being built upon without responding to the existing features and natural resources, which could potentially lead to economic and environmental problems. Some problems include wildlife corridor interruptions, flooding problems within the site and contextually, destruction of the character and "sense of place" of Bristol, unsuccessful business applications, and strip development. The appropriateness of conservation development to a site in Bristol will be examined through analyzing existing topography, natural drainage patterns, wildlife corridors, and relationships to surrounding context. Strip development of the site could hinder the economic and environmental integrity of Bristol, TN if certain issues are not addressed throughout its planning process. Therefore, more responsible development strategies are explored as well as how economically efficient the site can be for its surrounding context and the City of Bristol, Tennessee.

Cigarette butts are rapidly accumulating on our planet; trillions of them are discarded every year. In this paper, I examine why cigarette litter is a problem. I first discuss the biodegradability of filters and its scientific basis, including ways to enhance degradation rates by chemically manipulating filters. I also talk about the persistence of cigarette chemicals and their potential toxic effects on children and animals. I consider other social, economic, and environmental consequences of cigarette filters and chemicals. Furthermore, I discuss various solutions smokers and non-smokers alike have created to address the problem of cigarette litter; these methods come from a wide range of artistic, science-based, and policy-based perspectives. Finally, my thesis examines this issue in the context of a college campus – Pomona College in Claremont, CA. I discuss a map showing the number of cigarette litter around buildings and sidewalks on campus and consider factors that influence the location and high counts of litter. Finally, I make recommendations for the college based on my findings.

La conscientisation quant aux enjeux environnementaux n'a cessé de croître au cours des vingt dernières années. Dans le milieu de la construction, comme dans bien d'autres secteurs de nos sociétés, cette conscientisation a donné naissance depuis une dizaine d'années à un foisonnement de programmes volontaires pour les bâtiments. Ainsi, on assiste à l'édification d'un nombre croissant de bâtiments appelés « verts » ou encore « durables ». L'utilisation de ces qualificatifs semble faire l'objet d'une certaine confusion, plusieurs y ayant recours comme s'il s'agissait de synonymes. Le système d'évaluation LEED®, actuellement le programme volontaire en construction le plus influent dans le monde, ajoute à cette confusion conceptuelle dans sa version canadienne. Cette recherche examine le fonctionnement du système d'évaluation LEED Canada NC 1.0 en tant qu'outil de développement durable pour le secteur de la construction. Puisque ce mémoire se penche sur un phénomène relativement récent, nous avons privilégié l'étude de cas pour notre stratégie de recherche en ayant recours à l'observation participante et à l'analyse documentaire pour effectuer la cueillette de données. Comme cadre d'analyse, ce travail se structure autour des principes de construction durable de la norme ISO 15392. Si la littérature semble considérer le système LEED d'abord comme un programme de performance environnementale, notre recherche démontre que ce programme réussit à intégrer en partie les principes du développement durable pour le secteur de la construction. Aussi, les lacunes principales du programme dans le projet étudié se situent dans la faible prise en compte des acteurs touchés par un projet LEED, la transparence déficiente et une évaluation manquante quant aux phases d'utilisation et de fin de vie utile du bâtiment. Toutefois, nous sommes d'avis que le système LEED-NC constitue un outil en constante évolution. En ce sens, il nous apparaît un outil de développement durable en devenir. Il est en effet possible qu'une version du programme puisse, dans un futur proche, intégrer les aspects actuellement négligés du développement durable. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : développement durable, construction, éco-construction, bâtiments verts, bâtiments durables, LEED®.

Regular walking has several physical and psychological benefits for frail older people. However, many residents in long-term care facilities are too sedentary to achieve these benefits. Indoor walking appears to be a feasible way to promote active living among these residents and yet, there is little research that has been done in this regard. The researcher conducted two studies in Central Texas to explore how corridor design features influenced indoor walking behaviors among assisted living residents. In the first study, the researcher carried out six focus groups with 50 assisted living residents, discussing how they perceived the indoor corridor as "walkable." Residents reported that a walkable corridor should be safe, comfortable, and having beautiful/interesting things to see. In the second study, the researcher further examined the relationship between the built environment and walking behaviors among 326 residents from 18 facilities in a major city of Texas. The results indicated that 'perceived looped corridor' and 'number of stories' were significantly associated with residents' frequencies of indoor recreational walking. In addition, the availability and quality of sitting space around mailbox areas influenced the number of "walking to mailbox" trips. This research provides empirical evidence to develop activity-friendly facility design guidelines, and to create environmental interventions to facilitate active lifestyles among long-term care residents.

Green buildings are increasingly in demand yet current green building practices often do not consider hazard mitigation. High-performance buildings that can withstand hazards, protect residents, and do not need to be rebuilt following a disaster are truly sustainable buildings. This report focuses on current hazard mitigation and disaster resilience standards for wildfires and earthquakes through an in-depth analysis of case studies and best practices for these hazards. The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) framework is the ideal vehicle to incorporate hazard mitigation methods into official green building certification. Language for a new LEED Hazard Mitigation and Resilience credit area is established using guidelines for hazard mitigation for wildfires and earthquakes. / text

The purpose with this thesis is to explore the urban landscape in post-apartheid Johannesburg, investigate the concept of the growing numbers of various types of urban villages and moreover look into the open urban village of Parkhurst. The main questions that are addressed in the thesis are: How would the urban landscape in post-apartheid Johannesburg be described and which types of urban villages can be identified? What would the residents in Parkhurst explain to be the reasons for living in an open urban village and what are their opinions on safety, public space and closed urban villages? Qualitative methods were used as in observation studies and inductive in-depth interviews during the field study in Parkhurst, Johannesburg. The study shows that the concept of urban villages can create both a negative spatial situation and a positive spatial situation – depending on the type of urban village. The thesis also shows that it is possible to feel safe living in a open urban village in a city with high crime and that thoughtful design and effective management of spaces in the city are essential factors that can prevent places from becoming ‘hot spots’ for crime.

Post-disaster displacement, with the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, is quickly arising to become one of the most serious humanitarian challenges in the 21st century. As post-disaster housing spans several phases, the transitional housing phase is equally crucial as emergency sheltering and permanent housing: as dwellers remain in transitional housing projects up to years, their physical and emotional wellbeing is directly influenced by their surrounding built environment. Existing literature and practice have not paid enough attention to the built structures of post-disaster transitional housing. This thesis revisits past practices world-wide and architectural theory in the 20th century. Arguing that current transitional-housing design methodology is still deeply rooted in early 20th century Modernist ideologies, this thesis ties the missing link between architectural theory and humanitarian built environment design. Through examining theories and case studies, this thesis stresses the importance of approaching post-disaster transitional housing through the lens of architectural design, and makes suggestions for future improvements.

An argument is developed for a new framework for design, to assist in overcoming barriers to the implementation of environmentally responsible solutions for building design. Though there exist the technical solutions to move towards more environmentally benign building practices, the vast majority of building designers do not employ these solutions in their designs. The research first identifies some problems to be overcome in order to improve the implementation of environmentally responsible design solutions. These problems are: the complexity and value conflict presented by environmental issues; the inability of designers to effectively pre-structure design problems in terms of environmental issues; the difficulty designers face in making design decisions regarding environmental issues; the ineffectiveness of existing tools at providing assistance with these problems, and the lack of ecological grounding of existing tools and of design thinking in general. The search for solutions to these problems guides the direction of the research. Three streams of investigation are conducted, making up the first three parts of the thesis. The first stream is an investigation of design methods which results in recommendations for ways of providing assistance to the designer. A range of existing environmental assessment tools are reviewed in the light of these recommendations and their suitability, as providers of design assistance, is evaluated. The second stream is an investigation of the potential for ecological theory to inform design thinking and then, hence, to inform the development of building environmental assessment tools. Seven principles for ecological design are developed and these shape further recommendations for means of providing assistance to designers. The third stream documents the testing of some of the recommendations, from theory, in practice. A series of case studies have been conducted in which two interventions have been made into the design process. The first intervention is the front-loading of the design process with environmental considerations by implementing an Environmental Brief. The second intervention is the introduction of life cycle thinking into the design process. The results from these three streams of investigation inform the development of a new model for building environmental assessment that provides assistance during the design process. The new model is a framework for the design process within which various components fulfil a series of interrelated tasks aimed at solving the problems that currently lead to poor implementation of environmental design strategies. The implementation of recommendations based on the seven principles for ecological design produce a new paradigm for environmental assessment of buildings. In particular the application of the building life cycle, in the form of an organisational structure for the framework, provides a means of visualising and mapping the relationships between the building and the environment. This helps the designer to better understand these relationships and therefore be able to better deal with their complexity and the conflicts arising between various competing environmental issues. The building life cycle, provides an overarching structure within which any environmental issues may be considered. This provides great flexibility, for consideration of unique project parameters, for the inclusion of different existing tools within the new framework and for the future evolution of the framework and the issues that it covers. The framework directs emphasis toward the early stages of the design process though the environmental briefing process. The briefing process assists with the setting of priorities for the client and design team, which in turn lead to the setting of design problems that are more likely to contain environmental criteria. The most beneficial aspect of this is found to be the improved pre-structuring of design problems over time as experience of previous projects is utilised when considering new ones. This highlights an important role for the framework as a record of the design process. This record can be used as a reference throughout the design of the building under consideration at the time, and for reference during the design of future projects.

Thesis (D.Eng.)--Cleveland State University, 2008. / Abstract. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on May 8, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 321-343). Available online via the OhioLINK ETD Center. Also available in in print.