This thesis on Low Impact Development (LID) Practices provides design guidelines and principles for three important LID practices: green roofs, rainwater harvesting and bioswales. The most important component of the thesis is the qualitative analysis of various case studies based on the LID objectives drawn from the literature review for each LID practice. Through the course of my research, I found that there was no one single source which provided information on the design guidelines accompanied by case examples which could help the designer with built examples where the LID practices have been executed. Therefore, developing this thesis document which provided all this information started as my masters thesis project. The document is designed to be used by people with a variety of expertise like landscape architects, landscape contractors, engineers and clients. The manual is organized into five chapters. The manual details the process of stormwater management and then gradually leads to the evolution of Low Impact Development Practices and detailing out three important LID practices: green roofs, rainwater harvesting, vegetated swales and briefly about infiltration systems. The LID principles outlined in this manual were developed over the last few years to address runoff issues associated with the new residential, commercial and industrial suburban developments. Information to develop this manual has been drawn from numerous sources like the Low Impact Design Strategies developed by the Prince George's County, Maryland, US EPA, Low Impact Development urban design tools and numerous other research papers. It is my hope that the manual will provide adequate information to its users by not only providing design guidelines but also provide built examples through the case studies. / Master of Landscape Architecture

This thesis reports on the research undertaken to reduce the water usage within manufacturing through modelling and improving the water efficiencies at both process and production system levels. The primary objectives of this research are: to develop a framework which classifies the various water usages within a manufacturing facility, to define a number of efficiency ratios to highlight the water inefficient activities, and to develop a decision support tool to aid with the selection of the most effective solutions for reduction of water usage within manufacturing applications. The research undertaken in the past three years is divided into four main parts. The first part reviews the relevant literature on water availability and distribution, the role of water in manufacturing, and relevant legislations and policies governing the water usage in manufacturing industries. The review also includes assessment of current water flow modelling and wastewater management tools and technologies. The second part introduces a Manufacturing Water Usage framework which classifies the water usage within a manufacturing facility as production-related and non-production-related water. The Production Water, which is the main focus of this research, is further classified as Process and System Water required to produce a product. Process Water is defined as the water used directly by the production processes, whereas System Water is defined as the water used to support the operation of a process and/or to maintain the production equipment. The framework also incorporates the definition of a number of Water Efficiency Ratios to determine the water critical processes. The third part of the thesis describes the implementation of this framework within a water simulation model as the main engine for a water reduction decision support tool. The final part of the thesis demonstrates the utilisation of this tool to support the decisions aimed at reducing water within a real food production line. In summary, the research has concluded that the consideration of water reduction scenarios within the manufacturing industry requires a detailed understanding of where and how water is used at production process level, and utilisation of this knowledge to develop a series of proactive approaches based on product/process redesign and radical operational planning improvements.

abstract: As a result of growing populations and uncertain resource availability, urban areas are facing pressure from federal and state agencies, as well as residents, to promote conservation programs that provide services for people and mitigate environmental harm. Current strategies in US cities aim to reduce the impact of municipal and household resource use, including programs to promote water conservation. One common conservation program incentivizes the replacement of water-intensive turfgrass lawns with landscapes that use less water consisting of interspersed drought-tolerant shrubs and trees with rock or mulch groundcover (e.g. xeriscapes, rain gardens, water-wise landscapes). A handful of previous studies in experimental landscapes have shown that converting a turfgrass yard to a shrub-dominated landscape has the potential to increase rates of nitrate (NO3-) leaching. However, no studies have examined the drivers or patterns across diverse management practices. In this research, I compared soil nutrient retention and cycling in turfgrass and lawn-alternative xeriscaped yards along a chronosequence of time since land cover change in Tempe, Arizona, in the semi-arid US Southwest. Soil inorganic extractable nitrogen (N) pools were greater in xeriscapes compared to turfgrass lawns. On average xeriscapes contained 2.5±0.4 g NO3--N/m2 in the first 45 cm of soil, compared to 0.6±0.7 g NO3--N/m2 in lawns. Soil NO3--N pools in xeriscaped yards also varied significantly with time: pools were largest 9-13 years after cover change and declined to levels comparable to turfgrass at 18-21 years. Variation in soil extractable NO3--N with landscape age was strongly influenced by management practices that control soil water availability, including shrub cover, the presence of sub-surface plastic sheeting, and the frequency of irrigation. This research is the first to explore the ecological outcomes and temporal dynamics of an increasingly common, ‘sustainable’ land use practice that is universally promoted in US cities. Our findings show that transitioning from turfgrass to water-efficient residential landscaping can lead to an accumulation of NO3--N that may be lost from the soil rooting zone over time, through leaching following irrigation or rainfall. These results have implications for best management practices to optimize the benefits of water-conserving residential yards. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Biology 2015