9 research outputs found
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Urban metabolism and land use modeling for urban designers and planners: A land use model for the Integrated Urban Metabolism Analysis Tool
Predicting the resource consumption in the built environment and its associated environmental consequences (urban metabolism analysis) is one of the core challenges facing policy-makers and planners seeking to increase the sustainability of urban areas. There is a critical need for a single integrated framework to analyze the consequences of urban growth and eventually predict the impacts of sustainable policies on the urbanscape.
This dissertation presents the development of an Integrated Urban Metabolism Analysis Tool (IUMAT) – an analytical framework that simulates urban metabolism by integrating urban subsystems in a single comprehensive computational environment. It reviews the existing literature on urban sustainability, urban metabolism, as well as introducing the general framework for IUMAT. IUMAT uses three separate models for quantifying environmental impacts of land-use transition, consumption of resources, and transportation. This work outlines the development of IUMAT Land-Use Model that uses Remote Sensing, GIS, and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to predict land use change patterns. By using Density-Based Spatial Clustering and normal equations, this dissertation introduces a method for generating building-form variables from Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data, which can be used as a new determinant factor in land-use change modeling. The proposed Land-use Model, within IUMAT or other analytical models, can be useful to local planning officials in understanding the complexity of land-use change and developing enhanced land-use policies
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Umass September 11 Intervention
September 11 terrorist attacks not only affect the United States but also the entire international community. Hundreds perished; most of them innocent citizens from over ninety different nations. It has changed the history of America, much like Japan’s strike against Pearl Harbor. The 9/11 attacks triggered the United States’ ongoing war against terrorism, starting with Afghanistan as the first target to overthrow Taliban, changing the course of world history.
The significance of the incident and severity of that traumatic loss makes a case for a memorial on the UMass campus in tribute to those victims. It is worth mentioning that a UMass community member (computer research specialist) lost his life in that event. The intention of this design is to pay a well-deserved tribute to the victims of the September 11 tragedy, together with providing information about the whole story. The statistics of the event have a visceral interpretation. All different aspects and numbers are incorporated into the design: number of the flights, number of the people killed, nationality of the victims, each have their specific place in the design pattern
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FY13 Scope III Emissions Methodology and Data
UMass Amherst has developed it\u27s own methodology for calculating the Scope III emissions of the University, which includes emissions generated from air travel and employee and student commuting miles to campus. This report explains the methodology and presents the data outcomes for Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13)
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FY13-FY15 Scope III Emissions Methodology and Data
UMass Amherst has developed it\u27s own methodology for calculating the Scope III emissions of the University, which includes emissions generated from air travel and employee and student commuting miles to campus. This report explains the methodology and presents the data outcomes for Fiscal Year 2013 (FY13) through Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15)
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UMass Amherst Energy Modeling Guidelines
Facilities & Campus Services, Sustainable UMass and Campus Planning support sustainability and energy conservation initiatives by providing in-house resources to campus staff as well as designers and contractors working with the University. The Campus energy Modeling Guidelines were developed in 2015 as a resource on how to: i) generate energy models for campus buildings; ii) provide quality assurance review of current energy models; and iii) share UMass Amherst energy modeling input parameters with project design teams for them to establish a baseline building energy profile
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UMass Amherst Green Building Guidelines v.2 and LEEDv4
Facilities & Campus Services supports sustainability and energy conservation initiatives by providing in-house resources to campus staff as well as designers, contractors and other consultants working with the University. The UMass Amherst Green Building Guidelines v2 and LEED v4 provide a framework for approaching new construction and major renovation projects at UMass Amherst that are undergoing LEED v4 certification by focusing the conversation on those green building aspects that are most important to the campus. They are intended to be the beginning of a dynamic conversation between designers, environmental consultants and constructors, university stakeholders, and users of new high performance buildings
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UMass Amherst Building Measurement, Verification, Coordination and Template Plan
Facilities & Campus Services, Sustainable UMass and Campus Planning support sustainability and energy conservation initiatives by providing in-house resources to campus staff as well as designers and contractors working with the University. The UMass Amherst Building Measurement, Verification, Coordination and Template Plan was begun in 2013 and finalized in 2015 as a resource to project teams that undertake the measurement and verification of building systems during the first year of occupancy of a new building and renovation project, particularly projects undergoing LEED certification
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UMass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter
The UMass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter articulates the manner in which the Campus Master Plan 2012 principles translate into specific recommendations for campus systems development in support of future smart growth. It summarizes the current physical campus-scale planning projects that Facilities & Campus Services have completed during and after the Master Plan process, and incorporates other operational and educational initiatives that have engaged our campus community as we plan for sustainability.
The CMP Chapter is organized in three major sections: i) sustainability overview; ii) campus master plan systems; iii) current initiatives; and iv) next steps. The first section provides the context for sustainability planning at UMass Amherst and summarizes key drivers, such as the Climate Action Plan of 2012 and our approach to greenhouse gas emissions accounting. The second section articulates the Campus Master Plan 2012 systems approach to sustainability and reviews other completed operational initiatives in infrastructure and facilities planning. The overview of current initiatives describes major efforts to advance sustainability across the campus community and is the basis for outlining the steps that Facilities & Campus Services and Sustainable UMass plan to take to advance the goal for a carbon neutral campus