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Title: Architectural Considerations for Lunar Long Duration Habitat
Creator: Bahrami, Payam
Date: 2011-07, 2011-07
Description: The future of space exploration science and technology is expected to move toward long duration missions. During this long duration missions...
Show moreThe future of space exploration science and technology is expected to move toward long duration missions. During this long duration missions the most important factor to success will be the habitation system, the place that crew will live and work. The broad range of future space exploration, new advances in technology and increasing demand for space travel and space tourism will create great opportunities for architects to use their special abilities and skills in the realm of space. The lunar habitat is defined as a multidisciplinary task and cannot be considered an independent project from the main module. Therefore, habitability will become the most important aspect of future human exploration. A successful design strategy should integrate architecture, structure and other disciplines and should bring in elements such as psychological and physiological factors, human interfaces, and privacy. The current research provides “Habitat Architectural Design System (HADS)” in order to evaluate lunar habitat concepts based on habitability, functional optimization, and human factors. HADS helps to promote parametric studied and evaluation of habitat concepts. It will provide a guideline dependent upon mission objectives to standardize architectural needs within the engineering applications and scientific demands. The significance of this research is the process of developing lunar habitat concepts using an architectural system to evaluate the quality of each concept via habitability aspects. This process can be employed during the early stage of design development and is flexible enough to be adjusted by different parameters according to the objectives of lunar mission, limitations, and cost. It also emphasizes the importance of architecture involvement in space projects, especially habitats.
Ph.D. in Architecture, July 2011
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Title: HOUSING 2.0: A COLLABORATIVE PLATFORM FOR THE DESIGN OF MASS HOUSING THROUGH DIGITAL ENVIRONMENTS, NEW MEDIA, AND DESIGN FRAMEWORKS
Creator: Pollard, David P.
Date: 2011-07-18, 2011-07
Description: The role of the architect as master-builder has been severely eroded, especially in the single-family housing industry. Although other...
Show moreThe role of the architect as master-builder has been severely eroded, especially in the single-family housing industry. Although other professions have embraced the tremendous advances in technology, the architectural profession has regressed. Historically the architect has been an innovation pioneer. Early in the twentieth century architects had a broad, innovative role. Architects rethought the design process, construction methods, fabrication processes, structural, and engineering systems. Now in the twenty-first century, however, the majority of architects have little to no influence on the latter four; and the design process, the one aspect the architect still controls, has remained stagnant. This thesis examines the available technologies being championed by parallel industries, compares the advantages and disadvantages of innovation implementation in the design field, and proposes a solution for the architect to regain control as master-builder of single-family homes through new media concepts. With an architectural implementation of a web-based, collaborative design and construction alliance, consumers have access to choice, quality, and information when purchasing a new home. It is proposed that affordable architect-designed housing choices be delivered through architectural design systems. These systems allow controlled customization of architectural designs, all while delivering real time cost data and building simulation. The result of this study is an open design system led by the architect that allows homebuyers access to affordable quality design, transparency in costs, and an alternative choice in purchasing a new home.
M.S. in Architecture, July 2011
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Title: THE CITY AS A DIGITAL PUBLIC SPACE: DATA-DRIVEN DESIGN AS A SOCIAL LINK
Creator: Shabehpour Setork, Pegah
Date: 2016, 2016-12
Description: We live in an age of instant communication, rapid transportation, and smartphones; an age where the answer to a question can be prompted...
Show moreWe live in an age of instant communication, rapid transportation, and smartphones; an age where the answer to a question can be prompted through voice command. With today’s unparalleled increase in digital information, big data is continuously adapting and developing our society with the support of emerging technologies. This has led to the rise and growth of our virtual communities as communication is primarily done through social media networks. The demise of our physical communities has reduced social interaction within the built environment. Despite this forward thinking and the ability to translate big data into architectural solutions, our urban environments have yet to reflect this. Patterns of human interaction within our cities can be transformed by incorporating and visualizing big data within public infrastructure. As a result, the architectural design process is due for an update. This research project explores the use of a high-speed rail station as a hybrid space for virtual and physical communities by providing an interface for users to interact with data streamed in real-time. With the use of data-driven design, new social links are formed and powered by technology as the city becomes a digital public space.
M.S. in Architecture, December 2016
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Title: OPTIMIZING THE PERFORMANCE OF BUILDING ENVELOPE FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY CONSIDERING ADAPTIVE THERMAL COMFORT: A CASE OF TROPICAL CLIMATE IN DHAKA
Creator: Rahman, Anisur
Date: 2014, 2014-05
Description: As demand for fossil fuel increases and availability decreases, energy consumption reduction in building becomes critical component of a city...
Show moreAs demand for fossil fuel increases and availability decreases, energy consumption reduction in building becomes critical component of a city’s comprehensive energy strategy. The performance of a building’s envelope is pivotal to the energy consumption of office buildings and it must mediate between external climate conditions and people’s comfort. By optimizing a buildings envelope, the heat gain or loss of a building can be manipulated and it can reduce energy consumption. In Dhaka, a widespread desire for office building with glazing areas far greater than the percentage required achieving comfortable thermal and light levels, with high solar transmittance, is directly at odds with the need to curb cooling-related energy use. When addressing energy efficiency in a building, it is necessary to account for local climate first and foremost to define the thermal comfort condition. This determines the energy demand and consumption. Passive cooling and natural ventilation, when combined with appropriate window ratios and sun shading strategies, can reduce mechanical system energy demands significantly. This research presents a workflow that integrates adaptive thermal comfort, natural ventilation and envelope optimization to develop a pre-policy statement as a guideline for energy efficient office buildings in Dhaka, Bangladesh. First, a common practice baseline model was developed from data collected from energy audits to gain a clear understanding of the energy consumption in typical existing office buildings in Dhaka. Adaptive Comfort Algorithms from EN15251 and ASHRAE 55 were used to calculate variable set-points related to running mean and monthly mean xv of the outdoor temperature respectively. Variable set-points have been used in EnergyPlus AirflowNetwork to determine the potential energy saving of adaptive comfort control strategy of HVAC equipment and for encouraging natural ventilation envelope strategies to create comfortable indoor environment in the local climatic context of Dhaka. A method of envelope optimization was developed by combining an optimization tool with a building energy simulation tool to determine the optimum solution for improving building envelope performance. GenOpt, a generic optimization program, has been coupled with EnergyPlus for this optimization. Then, the values of envelope and glazing parameters for optimum energy performance were determined using this automatic optimization method. The reduction of a building’s energy consumption was also addressed with regards to capital and operational costs. An economic analysis was performed to establish a correlation between energy saving and capital cost increase associated with the energy-efficient envelope measures. This research shows that significant reductions in energy consumption are possible with the application of fundamental, but not complicated, changes to local building codes and establishment of a comprehensive energy conservation code. This reduction could be even greater if inhabitant behavior can be changed, if users start to take more responsibility for their interaction directly with a building’s envelope and systems to have some degree of control over daily comfort. Technology and design innovations should be utilized for adaptive threshold of appropriate, responsive architecture.
PH.D in Architecture, May 2014
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Title: EVALUATION OF TALL OFFICE BUILDING FORM TO ENHANCE WIND ENERGY PRODUCTION IN BUILDING INTEGRATED WIND TURBINE, A PERFORMANCE BASED APPROACH FOR EARLY DESIGN STAGE
Creator: Abdolhossein Pour, Farid
Date: 2014, 2014-12
Description: A newly emerging way to promote sustainability in the built environment is through the incorporation of wind power within buildings, resulting...
Show moreA newly emerging way to promote sustainability in the built environment is through the incorporation of wind power within buildings, resulting in minimum transmission losses (distributed generation). However, the effectiveness of the proposed solutions are seriously dependent on early integration with the architectural design process. Wind power is considered a potential renewable energy source in tall buildings due to the possibility of accessing greater wind velocities at higher altitudes. In addition, airflow patterns around buildings are considerably influenced by a buildings’ geometric characteristics. Hypothetically, proper modification of building form can turn this unstructured phenomenon in to a massive concentrator effect, capable of boosting power production in tall buildings with an integrated wind turbine (BIWT). These aerodynamic modifications are typically evaluated via CFD simulation or wind tunnel testing. However, these methods are too expensive and time-consuming to analyze all annual fluctuations of local wind regimes (velocity, direction, and density) and is therefore inappropriate for use in early design stages when architectural concepts quickly evolve. As a result, existing wind analysis techniques are often used under simplified conditions (steady state analysis, single velocity, and angle). This approach simply disregards the wide variety of other criteria influencing “BIWT annual energy output” including fluctuations of local wind regimes, and surrounding urban terrain roughness. This research seeks to address the issues indicated above, and proposes a performance based parametric design tool, primarily for the early design stages when architectural concepts evolve rapidly. The automated output delivers real time assessment of BIWT potential energy enhancement for each alternation of the concept, as well as analysis of multiple BIWT typologies simultaneously. The parametric tool employs hourly weather data, different terrain condition mathematical models, and two databases of CFD measurements to approximate annual energy enhancement as result of BIWT geometrical transformations. The tool develops a decision mechanism to find the best BIWT typology and optimum angle, based on the long-term local climatic trends and adjacent terrain context. The outcome of this dissertation is an automated parametric tool which addresses all above indicated difficulties associated with incorporation of current wind analysis method and the architectural design process of BIWT.
Ph.D. in Architecture, December 2014
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Title: YAMUNA RIVER CITY: SUSTAINABLE NEW CITY NEW DELHI, INDIA
Creator: Aggarwal, Sakshi
Date: 2013, 2013-07
Description: The aim of this thesis is to design a sustainable city prototype with a new approach for a 100,000 residents in Delhi , India .This will give...
Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to design a sustainable city prototype with a new approach for a 100,000 residents in Delhi , India .This will give the ‘Delhiites‘ ( as we love to call ourselves ) a chance to live on the water body in a sustainable environment. To create this sustainable environment, the first challenge was to understand the site conditions, followed with the issues on the site, concept of developing new cities, reinforcing old sustainable technologies, and merging with new technologies for a better environmental, social and economic balance. Being on a flood plain, Delhi’s beautiful Yamuna river bed, was never built before, may be ignoring the fact that structure engineering has done some marvels in the past. Thus, I took up this challenge of building a city prototype here. It is hopeful that the design, ideas and process could also be a framework to be applied on other undeveloped land for new cities particularly in India and helps us to provide the solution for any foreseen problems in city development beforehand.
M.S. in Architecture, July 2013
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Title: CHICAGO’S REFORMATIVE URBAN ARMATURES HYPERACTIVE INFRASTRUCTURAL LINKAGES
Creator: Osborne, Zachary C.
Date: 2015, 2015-12
Description: This research will project the impact of a new urban armature of logistics for the city of Chicago capable of improving the movement and...
Show moreThis research will project the impact of a new urban armature of logistics for the city of Chicago capable of improving the movement and experiences of people and goods throughout new hyperactive urban developments. Through the use of historical and contemporary precedence this new urban plan will address the continual shift in public domains, creating improved linkages and socially charged urban environments. As the inevitable densification of Chicago occurs a new network of connective infrastructure is required for creating new dynamic, three-dimensional public realms. The demand for such kinetic building models is caused by the mass influx of the creative-class returning to urban centers for both work and living. Consisting of a highly diverse set of programs, these new models for Chicago's west loop business district will focus on reconnecting the public to undiscovered urban layers. These hybrid developments break the mold of Chicago's modernist high rise tower allowing for mixing and overlapping of building programs, bringing strangers together in impromptu gathering spaces. Tiered circulation networks serve as the key infrastructural element facilitating these new socially engaging environments. Through the use of this tiered system primary circulation elements allow for the direct movements of private users and services while secondary and tertiary systems allows for pedestrians to penetrate "private" space fostering the interactions amongst a diverse a group of people. Within the new west loop district, the principles applied in creating vibrant urban atmospheres must be applied to internalized building programs, offering a variety of destination points throughout. Through the shaping of space by both generic and specific building forms the spaces in between become critical for the mixing of various characters. New urban armatures must be applied within these spaces providing the support for versatile and adaptable building programs and public spaces.
M.S. in Architecture, December 2015
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Title: REPLENISHiE THE VOID
Creator: Monteleagre, Ryan
Date: 2012-12-02, 2012-12
Description: When a site’s program becomes detrimental to the area, should it be deconstructed and completely rebuilt? Or could the celebration,...
Show moreWhen a site’s program becomes detrimental to the area, should it be deconstructed and completely rebuilt? Or could the celebration, preservation and integration of the site’s history yield a much more sustainable, successful and ultimately satisfying result? If the area has fallen into urban blight, can this serve as a catalyst for urban renewal? Can focusing on such projects eventually lead to more sustainable and safer cities while cutting down on urban sprawl? The Union Stock Yards in Chicago was once the center of the meat packing industry in America, at one point the most productive in the world. Famous for its massive size, terrible working conditions and struggle for labor rights, the Stockyards had enormous effects on its surrounding neighborhoods which are still being felt today. The site has since been gutted and is currently an industrial park. This has created a gaping hole in the urban fabric, and much of it is still abandoned, resulting in an urban wasteland. This project uses the troubled history of the site positively and adaptively reuses the Chiappetti Lamb and Veal building. Taking cues from the site’s history as a food producer, an urban farm will offer both fresh produce and jobs for residents of the area. An on site market will be added which will sell locally grown produce, create more jobs and act as a potential draw for residents within and outside the district. Given the infamous history of the stockyards, a Museum of Labor Rights is an appropriate addition. This will attract people from outside the site’s immediate surroundings and preserve the gradually disappearing history of the district. This catalyst for urban renewal in the New City neighborhood of Chicago will be the first phase of the masterplan envisioned for the Union Stock Yard site.
M.S. in Architecture, December 2012
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Title: ADVANCEMENTS IN SUSTAINABLE CONCRETE PRACTICES AND THEIR POTENTIAL IMPACT ON DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
Creator: Villa, Jacqueline
Date: 2012-10-24, 2012-12
Description: Concrete is one of the most widely used construction materials in the world, and Portland Cement is the most commonly used cement in the...
Show moreConcrete is one of the most widely used construction materials in the world, and Portland Cement is the most commonly used cement in the industry. Manufacturing materials are dependent on research and industry specification standards. This report focuses on current innovations in concrete developments, with a specific emphasis on Aluminosilicate or ‘geopolymer’ cements and their possible implications on architecture in the United States. Aluminosilicate cements are currently being researched worldwide and have been implemented in a couple of countries as a replacement for portland cement. It’s one of many sustainable cement solutions, but unlike others, provides enhanced characteristics while remaining in the same price range as ordinary portland cement mixtures. This technology uses no limestone or water thus eliminating the need for high amounts of energy use in the production of its initial ingredients. Introducing new construction materials is challenging, especially to a well established concrete industry such as that of the United States. Precast concrete offers an ideal medium for new concrete materials and their introduction into common practice. More sustainable and durable materials are becoming available, changing construction processes and have the possibility to affect the further evolution of architectural design. This report articulates these advancements and the importance of architectural involvement within the United States construction industry.
M.S. in Architecture, December 2012
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Title: The Tall Building: The Effects of Scale
Creator: Goldsmith, Myron
Date: 2011-01-31, 1953-06-01
Description: The project described in this thesis is a new structural type for tall buildings in reinforced concrete. Both structure and function have been...
Show moreThe project described in this thesis is a new structural type for tall buildings in reinforced concrete. Both structure and function have been analyzed to show their influence on the height of the building and their influence on the architectural expression.
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Title: WAUKEGAN LAKE FRONT REVITALIZATION PLAN
Creator: Webb, Natalia Pena
Date: 2011-04-13, 2011-05
Description: Waukegan is a place that has a strategic location. Not just because it is in the middle of two important cities like Chicago and Milwaukee,...
Show moreWaukegan is a place that has a strategic location. Not just because it is in the middle of two important cities like Chicago and Milwaukee, but because of its proximity to the lake (which is the most desired location for condos and public activities) and all the existing train systems that can help to develop the area as a public transit oriented city. Because of this, Waukegan has a good possibility to become one of the most desirable places to live, but the lack of intervention; coordination and initiative from the city in the past decades have left the place abandoned. People and companies are leaving, and initiatives to redevelop are still known for its residents and are taking too long. For Waukegan the most important strategy is to bring life back to its downtown. After that, some activities could cross easily to the water front, making people aware of the endless possibilities that the area offers not just for dwelling units, but for commercial, recreational and even educational purposes. (Research center and possible school) For the lake front, the strategy should be different for some spaces depending on the surrounding areas and the character that they could have. A strategy is to bring activities that can complement life in the city, for example: theaters, sports centers, hotels etc. Adding 9,000 people to the total people will give the option of have new routes for public transportation, new jobs and new and more equipment for recreational spaces. Apart from that, the unification of the two areas: down town Waukegan and the water front are important in order to understand the place like one. The fact that the highway and the railroad stand are in the middle of both, just creates a strong division. On the top of that, there is no reason to cross over to go to the beach area. If we consider that highway traffic is low and the railroad could be moved (not erase, but moved. Because there is still the necessity for it) the connection between both places could be more clear and strong, not just for people but for cars. This strategy will be critical at the time of unification of the area. In addition Waukegan has a population of 44.8 % Hispanic, 30.9% White Non-Hispanic. With an estimated median household income in 2007: $45,548. This shows that Waukegan is mainly supported by low income families and they are mostly of Hispanic origin. The idea is not to completely change the city but to support their business and culture making places into an attraction for cultural interchange. One of the main purposes of the new vision city is equality. Not thinking that in order to make a place better (more beautiful or desirable) we have to kick out its old residents. People create ties to the place they live. This could be an incentive to bring the community together in order to improve the environment. Also the addition of the new research center in between down town and the new lake front development will help to bring new uses to the area. The research center will offer new jobs and a choice for some people coming from outside to live in the locality. Close to the research center, the new lake front neighborhood will offer an area with several entertainment spaces and then the option to live closer to this location or in a more quiet and familiar area. The research center will have the possibility for future expansion that could be an education center related to the work that is done there. This will bring students to the area and more diversity. There are many good reasons to stop abusing the car use and make use of the many alternatives, but in the end we design and negotiate the same old fashioned neighborhoods. It is because we have not solved the conflict of interest between a better envi-ronment and a better economy. The problem is that in the end people will opt for those places with more commodities and that includes the car.
M.S. in Architecture, May 2011
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Title: TOWARDS REDUCING BUILDING ENERGY CONSUMPTION: COMPARISON OF THE RESIDENTIAL PLANNING PATTERNS IN BEIJING, SHANGHAI AND GUANGZHOU
Creator: Wang, Nan
Date: 2013, 2013-07
Description: The objective of this research is to investigate the influence of urban planning patterns on building energy consumption in different climate...
Show moreThe objective of this research is to investigate the influence of urban planning patterns on building energy consumption in different climate zones. Urban planning patterns affect the thermal performance and energy efficiency of buildings. This research focuses on the planning aspects, explores the energy consumption of a group of buildings with different planning pattern by utilizing single building as a baseline, and identifies planning patterns that can help to reduce the total heating and cooling energy consumption of the buildings. The investigations are carried out in the three largest cities in China – Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, which represent different climate zones. The results of these three cities are compared to find out the influence of local climate on building energy consumption. Different planning patterns are investigated in this research through changing building parameters: aspect ratio, orientation and layout. It is found that these parameters have important influence on reducing building’s energy consumption. It is also found that in different climate conditions, the influence of planning patterns on building’s energy consumption is different, which suggests that the selection of planning pattern will be different for each location. This research makes a significant contribution to the reduction of building energy consumption from urban planning perspective. In addition, two case studies of carefully selected residential communities with fixed site and fixed density are evaluated, and some suggestions for improvement are proposed as a result of the study. Such suggestions can help to propose a prototype model guiding the future architectural and urban planning work.
PH.D in Architecture, July 2013
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Title: Textile Openings
Creator: Carvallo, Maria Paulina
Date: 2011-12-06, 2011-12
Description: A facade may serve many functions throughout the life of a building, but the primary purpose of a building’s facade is to protect the interior...
Show moreA facade may serve many functions throughout the life of a building, but the primary purpose of a building’s facade is to protect the interior of a structure from the outside environment. By examining an element of every facade design, its openings, one may also find solutions to other design and layout questions concerning a building’s interior. Textile facades show potential as new and interesting materials for facade design. However, textile facades must reinvent or adapt standard facade elements such as windows, doors, and other openings within the constraints of the material properties exhibited by textiles. This thesis explores potential facade opening mechanisms, including technical and natural examples. Details of textile facades are considered, including laser cutting of polyester fabrics, textile material properties and tension deformation, and a variety of textile facade designs. Furthermore, a standardized design workflow and process for considering multiple environmental variables present in and around facades, such as solar thermal, day lighting, ventilation, and identity, are discussed and illustrate that the methodology applied herein can be used to predict other applications of textiles.
M.S. in Architecture, December 2011
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Title: IMPROVING DECISION-MAKING FOR ENERGY PERFORMANCE OF BUILDINGS WITH COMPUTATIONAL TOOLS IN EARLY DESIGN STAGES
Creator: Claussnitzer, Sebastian
Date: 2013, 2013-12
Description: In the early design stages of architectural practice, a relative absence of advanced decision-making processes limits the number of building...
Show moreIn the early design stages of architectural practice, a relative absence of advanced decision-making processes limits the number of building-design options that can be exam- ined for energy e ciency. This paper proposes to improve the design process by enhancing decision-making with computational tools: speci cally, tools that autonomously generate and evaluate thousands of design options. Two di erent tools were prototyped, each utiliz- ing contrasting algorithmic approaches. The rst prototype uses numerical optimization to autonomously explore the design space of a parametric building model, and simulates the annual energy consumption through energy modeling. The second prototype, in contrast, utilizes an exhaustive search to explore the design space of a simpli ed building model. Tens of thousands of simulation results are stored in a database, which users access through web-interfaces in near-realtime. The proposed tools for advanced decision-making enable architects to examine many more building design alternatives than are manually feasible, thus increasing the likelihood of identifying better design options.
M.S. in Architecture, December 2013
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Title: HOSPITAL FACILITY DESIGN: A GUIDE TO SPACE PLANNING FOR A NEW GENERAL HOSPITAL IN VIETNAM
Creator: Pham, Tuan Anh
Date: 2015, 2015-07
Description: Vietnam is a relatively small and populous developing country. Over the past several decades, the change in the country’s market economy and...
Show moreVietnam is a relatively small and populous developing country. Over the past several decades, the change in the country’s market economy and the population growth have greatly affected the lives, activities, and the demands for heath care as well as impacted the healthcare system. Since 1994, the time when the United States abolished the trade embargo against Vietnam, the economic development and the growth of the healthcare system in the country have been extraordinary. Even though substantial investment has been obtained from the Vietnamese government, limitations remain in the physical facilities in the healthcare system as well as in the facility design. Designing a new general hospital is a complicated process and requires a lot of attention and knowledge from a design team. Generally, the design process consists of two phases: a planning phase and a design phase. The planning phase is extremely important and will decide the success of the general hospital. G D Kunders, an Indian professional hospital administrator and a healthcare facility planner, has stated “Failing to plan is planning to fail” (Kunders 2004, 61). The main objective of this dissertation, “HOSPITAL FACILITY DESIGN: A GUIDE TO SPACE PLANNING FOR A NEW GENERAL HOSPITAL IN VIETNAM,” is to produce a guide that will be a reference source for the Vietnamese government to improve the current standard for hospital design. As a reference source, the proposed guide can be used as a tool to assist Vietnamese architects and other professionals in healthcare design areas in improving the quality of the hospital planning and design in Vietnam. This dissertation also aims to be a teaching reference source for architecture educators to use in their instruction at universities in Vietnam and a learning resource to help architecture students understand requirements for spaces in a general hospital as well as how a general hospital functions so they can better plan and design it. The proposed guide is set in an arrangement that can help educators and students without strong backgrounds in hospital design to easily understand how to plan a new general hospital. The research methods used in this dissertation are (i) document reviews, (ii) qualitative research based on Post-occupancy Evaluation (POE), and (iii) comparative analyses. The findings are used to create a guide to space planning for a new general hospital to use to improve the current Vietnamese standards, TCVN 4470: 2012, General Hospital - Design Standard, in hospital planning and design for Vietnam. This dissertation consists of eight chapters, which include Chapter 1 - Introduction, Chapter 2 - Literature Review, Chapter 3 - Problem Statement, Chapter 4 - Methodology, Chapter 5 - Data Analysis, Chapter 6 - Findings, Chapter 7 - A Guide to Space Planning for a New General Hospital in Vietnam, and Chapter 8 - Conclusion.
Ph.D. in Architecture, July 2015
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Title: EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF VEGETATION AND GREEN WALLS ON BUILDING THERMAL PERFORMANCE AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Creator: Susorova, Irina
Date: 2013, 2013-05
Description: Urban development poses multiple problems, including environmental pollution, a reduction in biodiversity, and the disappearance of the...
Show moreUrban development poses multiple problems, including environmental pollution, a reduction in biodiversity, and the disappearance of the natural environment. Man-made environments and structures consume a large amount of limited natural resources through their extensive use of energy and materials. This research explored the use of vegetation in building facades as a potential solution to the problems of urban ecology and the excessive energy consumption in buildings. Vegetated facades have the ability to reduce building energy use, reduce the urban heat island effect, improve air quality, and increase the biodiversity of plants and animals in cities. The goal of this research was to evaluate the effects of plants on thermal performance and energy consumption of buildings by developing a thermal model of a building facade covered with a layer of plants. The developed mathematical model accounts for thermal physical processes in a vegetated exterior wall, including solar radiation, infrared radiative exchange between the facade and sky, the facade and ground, the facade and vegetation layer, convection to and from the facade, evapotranspiration from the plant layer, heat storage in the facade material, and heat conduction through the facade. The model calculates vegetated facade surface temperature and heat flux through the facade for multiple weather conditions, plant physiological characteristics, and facade properties. The model was validated with the results of a week-long experiment measuring the thermal properties of bare and vegetated facades on a building at the Illinois Institute of Technology campus. The experiment and subsequent sensitivity analysis demonstrated that a plant layer can effectively reduce the facade exterior surface temperature, daily temperature x viii fluctuations, exterior wall temperature gradient, and, as a result, provide as much additional thermal insulation to the facade as a 2.5 cm layer of expanded polystyrene insulation, depending on a range of plant parameters. The vegetated facade model was also used to analyze the reduction in energy consumption in generic office and residential thermal zones for multiple parameters. The simulations showed that energy reduction could be as high as 6.2% of annual total energy use and 34.6% of cooling energy use in residential thermal zones, depending on building characteristics, plant parameters, and climate zone. Overall, the vegetated wall model developed and validated herein provides a new tool for evaluating the impact of plant layers on facade thermal performance in existing buildings retrofitted with green walls and for designing green walls for optimal energy efficiency in new construction.
PH.D in Architecture, May 2013
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Title: RESILIENT CITIES OF THE FUTURE UTILIZING NATURAL INTELLIGENCE TO RETROFIT THE URBAN SYSTEMS
Creator: Naik, Vaidehi
Date: 2017, 2017-07
Description: Accentuated by the industrial revolution, the climate change is aging our cities, which are now facing an ecological, economical, and...
Show moreAccentuated by the industrial revolution, the climate change is aging our cities, which are now facing an ecological, economical, and political imbalance resulting into the degraded quality of urban living. Not only has global warming altered the earth’s natural patterns, but it also altered the economic and socio-cultural urban patterns. With the growing needs of rapidly expanding urban population due to the industrial revolution, the cities underwent unplanned sprawling of urban agglomerations. However, our globalized economic system has evolved the way we live, work, and play, transforming the modern infrastructure growth models significantly. Our architects, urban planners, and policy makers are powered by the environmental scientist’s years of research and analysis, yet are struggling to replenish the post-industrial age rust belt mayhem with sustainable solutions. As the transition from industrial to ecological age become eminent, by investigating into the natural intelligence’s survival techniques, we could extract practical solutions to using clean and renewable energy systems to support life. This thesis aims at analyzing the current trends in redesigning and retrofitting the urban-systems with the eco-systems at the micro- and macro- scales, thus providing with sustainable solutions to the new city center of the sixth largest town in Canada, Mississauga. Caused by rapid urbanization, population growth & migration, increased emission of green house gases, and overuse & pollution, our deteriorating infrastructure is grappling for mitigation against climate change, and global warming. Using natural intelligence to shift from linear to a closed loop system, the solutions provided herein aims at increasing the infrastructure’s resource efficiency and changing from fossil fuel to solar economy. Catalyzed by the proposed Midwestern high-speed rail line, the project in Mississauga (Ontario, Canada) seeks to introduce the hybrid, mixed-use, transit oriented development to instigate the shift towards eco-cities. These intermodal transit infrastructure aims to bring a strategically sustainable change at a neighborhood scale, thus eventually refurbishing the entire city, one territory at a time. The idea of these utopian cities may seem unachievable at a larger scale, but the cities like Hammarby Sjöstad, Tianjin, and Dongtan seem to lead, inspire, and equip the ignorant with their sustainable approach to growth. By transitioning towards an ecological age, there seems a way to negating the effects of human induced climate change, and make our planet sustainable for the future generations to survive.
M.S. in Architecture, July 2017
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Title: ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY IMPLICATIONS OF DOWNTOWN HIGH-RISE VS. SUBURBAN LOW-RISE LIVING: A CHICAGO CASE STUDY
Creator: Du, Peng
Date: 2015, 2015-12
Description: This research is focused on quantitatively investigating and comparing the environmental and social sustainability of people’s lifestyles in...
Show moreThis research is focused on quantitatively investigating and comparing the environmental and social sustainability of people’s lifestyles in terms of embodied energy, operational energy use, and overall satisfaction with their quality of life in both downtown high-rise and suburban low-rise living using Chicago, IL and a surrounding suburban area of Oak Park, IL as a case study. Specifically, in both cases, the study seeks to evaluate factors such as the embodied energy of the materials that comprise buildings in each location; the predicted and actual monthly energy consumption of the homes; travel via all modes of transport including automobile, public transport, walking, and biking; and the embodied and operational energy of the infrastructure to support each mode of transportation. In addition, this research also engages with the individual building occupants, including single individuals, couples, and families, in a large subset of downtown and suburban Chicago households to directly evaluate perceptions of their life satisfaction and sense of community, which offers a unique direct comparison between dense high-rise and suburban low-rise living. The findings of the study show that downtown high-rise living in Chicago accounts for approximately 58% more life-cycle energy per person per year than Oak Park low-rise living, on average, contrary to some common beliefs (best estimates were ~260 and ~165GJ/person/year, respectively). Building operational energy was estimated to be the single largest contributor of the total life-cycle energy in both the downtown high-rise and suburban low-rise cases, followed by vehicle OE. The findings of the study also show that downtown high-rise residents were associated with higher life satisfaction than suburban low-rise residents when controlling for demographic differences in the research sample. Residence type was not found to be associated with sense of community when controlling for demographic differences, and the factor that was found to be significantly associated with sense of community was household size in the research sample. Also, accessibility and safety were found as the strongest predictors of overall residential environment for individuals.
Ph.D. in Architecture, December 2015
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Title: A MASTER PLAN FOR A DETROIT NEIGHBORHOOD MADE IN DETROIT
Creator: Rios, Adriana Teresa
Date: 2014, 2014-05
Description: A MASTER PLAN FOR A DETROIT NEIGHBORHOOD MADE IN DETROIT Adriana Teresa Rios, M.S.Arch Illinois Institute of Technology, May 2014 Adviser: Tom...
Show moreA MASTER PLAN FOR A DETROIT NEIGHBORHOOD MADE IN DETROIT Adriana Teresa Rios, M.S.Arch Illinois Institute of Technology, May 2014 Adviser: Tom Brock Co-Adviser: George Schipporeit This thesis was written on behalf of the Sustainable New Cities program for the Illinois Institute of Technology. The goal of this Thesis is to establish a working definition of sustainability and the framework necessary for rebuilding a neighborhood in Detroit. The neighborhood in this Thesis being rebuilt is directly Southwest of Downtown Detroit. For the purpose of this thesis, sustainability is defined materially, socially, environmentally and economically. The plan for this Thesis is accomplished in phases to allow for an appropriately sized and conscientiously executed change. There is a large portion devoted to the history of Detroit and current state of the city; the reason for such an examination is to fully understand the past mistakes and successes throughout the history of Detroit. The systems and infrastructure designed in this Thesis effectively create a walkable thriving community that is diverse in it’s ecology, economy, and demographics. A major component for making this Thesis viable is the design of a Technology Campus that will collaborate with the city, local universities, and various technical companies to educate and train existing and new members of the local population. The second intergral aspect of this design is the light rail that will improve and simplify transportation outside of automobile traffic. Aside from the tangible infrastructure benchmarks, this Thesis also establishes the necessary theory behind a neighborhood that will continue to grow change and thrive. This Thesis has achieved a plan that considers all aspects of reconfiguring a neighborhood with sustainability as the focus.
M.S. in Architecture, May 2014
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Title: FERN CREEK MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOSPITAL DESIGN
Creator: Groszko, Larissa A.
Date: 2012-11-10, 2012-12
Description: During the past fifty years, mental and behavioral health treatments and patient needs have changed drastically within the psychiatric field....
Show moreDuring the past fifty years, mental and behavioral health treatments and patient needs have changed drastically within the psychiatric field. However, architecture and design characteristics of a mental healthcare facility have not adapted to meet the demands. In addressing numerous aspects related to psychiatric care, a new hospital design needs to emerge in order to better serve those in need of treatment related to mental and behavioral health disorders. The design of a Mental and Behavioral Health Facility should focus on and incorporate recent healthcare design theories, such as Evidence-based Design and Biophilic Design Theories. The integration of current theories will aid in the development of a healing environment that will support the successful functioning of the facility and patient/family treatment. Facility designs must consider staff areas, inpatient and outpatient care, rehabilitation and family/patient education, as integral components that contribute to the treatment of mental health disorders and illness.
M.S. in Architecture, December 2012
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