Structural Steel, Fire Safety and Green Roof Design for New Gateway Park Building

This Major Qualifying Project explored the design of a four-story building at Gateway Park in Worcester, Massachusetts. Several designs with different elements were prepared and analyzed to recommend the best option in terms of cost, constructability, performance and usable area. Additionally, different green roof and fire protection designs for the building were investigated and recommended

Life Safety as a Design Driver: Designing an Embassy for the 21st Century.

D.Arch. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2018

An Environmental Skin: Enhancing Thermal Performance with Double-Skin Facades in Hawaii's Climate

Highly glazed commercial buildings in Hawai`i present overheating challenges due to high outside temperatures combined with solar gains. In order to optimize thermal performance and reduce excessive cooling loads, the thermal behavior of this type of building requires careful investigation. As an increasing interest in double‐skin facades as a successful methodology for controlling building performance continues to be explored in Europe , its feasibility within Hawai`i’s climate has yet to be discovered. In this study, double‐skin façade design strategies are examined in Hawai`i’s climate focusing on enhancing thermal performance on an existing building model. This research adopts a CFD simulation approach to model heat and air flow transfers in various double‐skin façade design scenarios. The impact of solar radiation, surface temperature, cavity height and air flow rate on temperature and velocity fields inside the channel of the double‐skin facade is analyzed. This research focuses on the investigation of context based design for double‐skin facades, particularly focusing on design considerations during the design process. In conclusion, this investigation will help to identify the potential of this specific system within Hawai`i’s climate and its ability to improve thermal performance within existing buildings

Integration of agent-based modelling of social-spatial processes in architectural parametric design

A representation framework for modelling the social-spatial processes of inhabitation is proposed to extend the scope of parametric architectural design process. We introduce an agent-based modelling framework with a computational model of social-spatial dynamics at its core. Architectural parametric design is performed as a process of modelling the temporal characteristics of spatial changes required for members of a social group to reach social spatial comfort. We have developed a prototype agent-based modelling system using the Rhino-Grasshopper platform. The system employs a human behaviour model adapted from the PECS (Physical, Emotional, Cognitive, Social) reference model first proposed by Schmidt and Urban. The agent-based model and its application was evaluated by comparative modelling of two real Vietnamese dwellings: a traditional vernacular house in Hue and a contemporary house in Ho Chi Minh City. The evaluation shows that the system returns differentiated temporal characteristics of spatial modifications of the two dwellings as expected

Northern Eurasia Future Initiative (NEFI): facing the challenges and pathways of global change in the twenty-first century

During the past several decades, the Earth system has changed significantly, especially across Northern Eurasia. Changes in the socio-economic conditions of the larger countries in the region have also resulted in a variety of regional environmental changes that can have global consequences. The Northern Eurasia Future Initiative (NEFI) has been designed as an essential continuation of the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI), which was launched in 2004. NEESPI sought to elucidate all aspects of ongoing environmental change, to inform societies and, thus, to better prepare societies for future developments. A key principle of NEFI is that these developments must now be secured through science-based strategies co-designed with regional decision-makers to lead their societies to prosperity in the face of environmental and institutional challenges. NEESPI scientific research, data, and models have created a solid knowledge base to support the NEFI program. This paper presents the NEFI research vision consensus based on that knowledge. It provides the reader with samples of recent accomplishments in regional studies and formulates new NEFI science questions. To address these questions, nine research foci are identified and their selections are briefly justified. These foci include warming of the Arctic; changing frequency, pattern, and intensity of extreme and inclement environmental conditions; retreat of the cryosphere; changes in terrestrial water cycles; changes in the biosphere; pressures on land use; changes in infrastructure; societal actions in response to environmental change; and quantification of Northern Eurasia’s role in the global Earth system. Powerful feedbacks between the Earth and human systems in Northern Eurasia (e.g., mega-fires, droughts, depletion of the cryosphere essential for water supply, retreat of sea ice) result from past and current human activities (e.g., large-scale water withdrawals, land use, and governance change) and potentially restrict or provide new opportunities for future human activities. Therefore, we propose that integrated assessment models are needed as the final stage of global change assessment. The overarching goal of this NEFI modeling effort will enable evaluation of economic decisions in response to changing environmental conditions and justification of mitigation and adaptation efforts

The early years of Sequoia and Kings Canyon Science: Building a research program

This paper provides a history of the development of the scientific research program at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI) during the period 1968–1994 from the perspective of one of the scientists involved. The years following the 1968 hiring of Bruce Kilgore as the first park-based research scientist at SEKI saw the growth of a research program that included three permanent research-grade scientists and their support staff.  This nucleus was successful in attracting both outside funding and leading university and government scientists to work on issues of importance to the parks and to society at large, topics that included fire ecology and management, black bears, wilderness impacts, acid deposition, and climate change. During this time the SEKI scientists’ role expanded from one focused primarily on the personal research on issues of immediate importance to the park, to increasing responsibilities for marketing and coordinating a growing program of collaborative research that also addressed regional and national priorities. This, in turn, required that the park scientists increasingly become generalists, able to converse in a number of scientific disciplines as well as communicate with non-scientists. Finally, keys to success and lessons learned are discussed

Walley School Community Arts Center Feasibility Study: Appendices

Having a large capacity (over 300 seats) in Walley School demands a major investment in space and cost. Taking this into consideration, the business planning team conducted research and spoke with several individuals in an attempt to inventory and assess the community’s auditorium capabilities. Our research on existing auditorium spaces uncovered many interesting things. We found that there are over 15 existing auditorium spaces available within a 17-mile radius from the Walley School building available for public use

Tools for Assessing Climate Impacts on Fish and Wildlife

Climate change is already affecting many fish and wildlife populations. Managing these populations requires an understanding of the nature, magnitude, and distribution of current and future climate impacts. Scientists and managers have at their disposal a wide array of models for projecting climate impacts that can be used to build such an understanding. Here, we provide a broad overview of the types of models available for forecasting the effects of climate change on key processes that affect fish and wildlife habitat (hydrology, fire, and vegetation), as well as on individual species distributions and populations. We present a framework for how climate-impacts modeling can be used to address management concerns, providing examples of model-based assessments of climate impacts on salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest, fire regimes in the boreal region of Canada, prairies and savannas in the Willamette Valley-Puget Sound Trough-Georgia Basin ecoregion, and marten Martes americana populations in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. We also highlight some key limitations of these models and discuss how such limitations should be managed. We conclude with a general discussion of how these models can be integrated into fish and wildlife management

Sustainability in Shipbuilding – Observations from Project-Oriented Supply Network in Cruise Ship Construction

Sustainability is one key future driver regarding which kind of changes cruise and tourism industries will face and how related ecosystem can anticipate such drivers. Sustainability-oriented innovations might emerge as a differentiation factor for suppliers as a new competitive advantage. To understand more about emerging opportunities on these topics within Finnish maritime industry, Sustainability and Transparency in Shipbuilding Networks (SUSTIS) research and development project was launched in 2015 to develop a holistic approach for sustainability in shipbuilding. As part of the project’s second phase an explorative interview study in 17 organizations was carried out among cruise ship interior related suppliers which main findings are presented in this report. The goal of the study is to summarize previous research on shipbuilding’s construction phase sustainability impacts, point out practices with linkages on sustainability. Also, perceptions of cruise industry’s future and related drivers are discussed. The findings of the study support previous results related to project-based industries that sustainability-oriented innovations are complex to implement into the industry’s decision-making. The tendency of the industry’s actors to focus on business-driven on-going customer projects leaves usually room for incremental initiatives. Therefore results encourage long-term development across projects and introduction of new ideas must happen in early phase. Existing quality and supply chain management information capabilities are examined and considered useful for sustainability requirements. Safety is found as a priority in social sustainability but additional diversification is possible. Results are reflected against supplier-driven agenda construction for sustainability transition