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This book comprises select peer-reviewed papers presented at the International Conference on Sustainable Development through Engineering Innovations (SDEI) 2020. It presents recent advances, new directions, and opportunities for sustainable and resilient approaches to design and protect the built-environment through engineering innovations & interventions. The topics covered are highly diverse and include all civil engineering and construction-related aspects such as construction and environment...

How can we adequately provide housing when disaster strikes, whether that disaster is weather related, like hurricanes, floods, and droughts, happens in a matter of minutes from an earthquake or tsunami, through a slow process like rising sea levels, or is the result of civil disorder or poverty? There is an urgent need for safe, sustainable housing designs that are cheap to build, environmentally friendly, and hardy enough to withstand severe environmental conditions. Not only is there climate...

This book brings together the best designed, best-looking and most functional eco houses in the world today. Built to make maximum use of resources, reduce their impact on the environment and improve the quality of life of their occupants, green homes are no longer only an option available to a few environmentalists; they have currently become one of the strongest design trends in modern architecture. This book features houses made of local materials, natural resources for air-conditioning and...

The creation of pleasant living environments that avoid the simple container of human beings and build spaces of coexistence receptive to the needs of users has been one of the objectives of architectural practice for decades. The projects presented in this book are magnificent recent examples of how architecture can create attractive residential buildings aware of their social function, promoting interaction between users and the harmonious relationship of the community with its natural and urb...

Bicycles as a means of transport in cities are playing an ever more important role. The reasons are: reduction of motorcar traffic, sustainable traffic planning, reduction of noise and exhaust emissions, enhancement of the value of public space, healthier form of transport, savings potential in national health services and infrastructure expenditure. The book illustrates urban design ideas and architectural projects which go far beyond purely redesigning road layouts; its eight essays focus o...

This book focuses on understanding biomimetic architecture and its role as a sustainable design tool. It presents the role of biomimicry in mitigation and adaptation to climate change and examines how biomimetic architecture can provide healthy solutions to limit the spread of COVID-19 in buildings and cities. Coverage includes global examples of biomimetic approaches and buildings, an evaluation of the performance of biomimicry applications in architecture to illustrate best practices, and an e...

In this timely book, Emilio Jose Garcia and Brenda Vale explore what sustainability and resilience might mean when applied to the built environment. Conceived as a primer for students and professionals, it defines what the terms sustainability and resilience mean and how they are related to each other and to the design of the built environment. After discussion of the origins of the terms, these definitions are then compared and applied to case studies, including Whitehill and Bordon, UK, Tianji...

Unlike the mechanistic buildings it replaces, Eco-Architecture is in harmony with nature, including its immediate environs. Decisions have to be taken on ecological grounds concerning locations, siting and orientation, as well as the well-informed choice of materials. Eco-Architecture is by definition inter-disciplinary; it requires the collaboration of engineers, planners, physicists, sociologists, economists, and other specialists, in addition to architects. The papers contained in this book...

Close to 75% of primary energy in New York City is used in or for buildings. Amid the many different initiatives being implemented today to increase energy efficiency, it is clear that it is our built urban environment that needs the most improvement. Besides the fact that existing buildings have to be upgraded, the forgotten, interstitial spaces, where improvement can become architecturally tangible, should also be addressed. The project described in this book developed from the observation tha...

Everyone dreams of having a cabin in the woods-a wood-hewn structure with all (or, at least many of) the amenities of home-tucked away on a mountaintop with an awe-inspiring view, or nestled on the shore of a trout-filled stream or bass-laden lake. Most people also believe that such a dream house is just that-the stuff of dreams-not affordable, not buildable without hiring a construction crew. Author J. Wayne Fears is here to tell you that such a dream cabin can be yours-at a price that won't br...

Praxisnahe Forschungsarbeit, die sich mit den Potenzialen der Holzhybridbauweise für die Immobilienentwicklung beschäftig. Dabei werden sowohl die Aspekte der Holzhybridbauweise im Kontext der Nachhalitigkeit beleuchtet, als auch im Rahmen von Experteninterviews die Chancen und Herausforderungen erfragt und ausgewertet. Ein konzeptionller Vergleich der ökologischen Auwirkungen der Holzhybridbauweise mit anderen Bauweisen und eine Wirtschaftlichkeitsanalyse dieser Bauweise runden das Werk ab und...

It's already impossible to imagine energy-efficient construction without photovoltaics and solar thermal. Yet, the EU-wide introduction of low energy standards for new buildings stipulates that buildings must meet their energy needs in whole or in part from the sun by 2021 at the latest. The integration of solar systems into buildings is no longer just a technical matter, but also a structural and aesthetic challenge. This book provides the necessary expertise for this purpose. In addition to ba...

From eco-friendly sheetrock to sustainable paint finishes, the green building movement is gaining momentum. But with new products, manufacturers, and standards being introduced routinely, how are architects or designers to know what's best for their projects? This book summarizes what is available and the considerations for selecting sustainable materials.

Whole System Design is increasingly being seen as one of the most cost-effective ways to both increase the productivity and reduce the negative environmental impacts of an engineered system. A focus on design is critical, as the output from this stage of the project locks in most of the economic and environmental performance of the designed system throughout its life, which can span from a few years to many decades. Indeed, it is now widely acknowledged that all designers - particularly engineer...

In America's car-dominated landscape, public transit has long played second fiddle, but rising gasoline prices and the global warming crisis point to a need for alternative means of transportation. Darrin Nordahl sets the stage for these efforts by proposing that the experience of public transit and the quality of the ride are pivotal to its success."My Kind of Transit" explores America's most beloved transit systems and how they work. From San Francisco's cable cars to Pittsburgh's funiculars t...

Homesteading is a lifestyle that people around the world gravitate toward-and for good reason. In today's high-stress world, many people dream of heading off to their own cabin in the woods or to their large rural oasis to escape the anxieties and complexities of daily life, to live in a more natural state. Others have embraced the agricultural lifestyle of farming as a career, serving as fundamental contributors to sustaining society. With this classic guide from the US Department of Agricul...

There is an urgent need to build human capacity to make the often vulnerable and exposed buildings and communities we live and work in more resilient to the changing social, economic and physical environments around us. Extensive research has been done over the last decades on both mitigation and adaptation to climate change in the built environment, but the outputs of much of this research have failed to result in the wider uptake of effective greenhouse gas emission reduction solutions. This v...