Browsing by Subject "green building"
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Item The Austin Green Building Program: an analysis of the program's effectiveness(Texas A&M University, 2005-02-17) Tinker, Audrey KristenCurrent water shortages in the United States and Texas are expected to only worsen so that by 2050, approximately 40% of both U.S. and Texas residents will live in areas of water scarcity (U.S. House Committee, 2003; Texas Water Development Board, 2003). In response to these grim projections, both lawmakers and environmentalists are calling for conservation measures so that future shortages or costly new supply initiatives are avoided. One area where substantial consumption decreases could be made is the municipal sector, which is projected to account for 35% of all water consumed in Texas by 2050 (Texas Water Development Board, 2002). Both organizations and voluntary programs have been established to reduce water consumption in this area. One of the largest and most innovative programs in the state is the Austin Green Building Program (AGBP). It was the first program of its kind in the U.S. that rates new homes and remodels in regards to five categories related to sustainability: energy efficiency, water efficiency, materials efficiency, health and safety and community (City of Austin, 2001). This research identified the factors (weather, home size, lot size, appraised value, and existence of a pool) that effect water consumption for residences qualifying as "Austin Green Homes", and identified those green features or designs that had the greatest effect on water consumption, that were most commonly included, and the reasons why contractors incorporated them. Non-green features such as temperature, rainfall, home and lot size, appraised value and a pool seemed to have the greatest impact on water consumption, from an analysis of R2 values, albeit a positive relation for each variable. When green features were investigated, findings showed that different features were effective in reducing water consumption for different builders and in many cases, water-conserving features actually led to increased use. Finally, results showed that large builders incorporated fewer water-related green features in their homes and achieved lower star ratings in general than small green builders.Item Towards a culture of sustainable preservation : sustainable design, historic preservation, and cultures of building(2009-05) Kleon, Meghan F.; Moore, Steven A., 1945-; Holleran, MichaelThe growing sustainable design movement in the United States focuses almost exclusively on the construction of new buildings, largely ignoring the existing and historic building stock that constitutes the majority of our built environment. Historic preservation, a discipline that deals exclusively with the existing building stock and puts an emphasis on long-term management of the built environment, would seem to be an ideal partner for the sustainable design movement as it begins to address existing buildings. The practice and goals of the two fields, however, are currently perceived to be in opposition to one another by the building community and the general public. This thesis argues that sustainable design and historic preservation represent two unique and distinctive building subcultures – distinct subsets of the larger building culture of which they are a part, and that the opposition between the two disciplines stems from not only their historically distinct discourses, but also from cultural and ideological conflicts between the two fields. Different languages, code typologies, cultural identities, and conflicting attitudes toward the use of technology in contemporary building practice all stand as barriers to a significant partnership between the two disciplines. This thesis explores the cultures of sustainable design and of historic preservation in order to provide a view for practitioners in both fields into the culture of the other, and ultimately proposes a path towards developing shared cultural understandings by placing a new emphasis in both fields on social sustainability.