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Of the many challenges cities face, congestion and air quality are two interrelated issues that despite technological improvements in vehicle emissions standards and engine efficiency, continue to worsen. Of the strategies attempting to reduce automobile dependency, a popular approach adopted by cities is the concept of transit-oriented development (TOD). The strategy aims to better integrate land use and transportation planning, and is often characterized by a mix of land uses, high density, and proximity to quality public transit. While practitioners and academics argue the economic and environmental benefits of TOD, there are several examples along the Valley Metro light rail corridor where the strategy appears to be failing to attract people, businesses, and ultimately transit riders. The purpose of this study is to explore how urban infrastructure characteristics, specifically transportation connectivity, urban design, and land use interact to support light rail ridership. The study utilizes a rendition of sustainability’s triple-bottom-line framework, wherein economic, environmental, and social elements are represented as criteria in the transportation, land use, and urban design analysis of six Valley Metro light rail stations. Each element has supporting criteria that are ranked relative to the other stations under analysis, culminating in overall TOD scores for each station. The number of TOD projects and ridership trends are also compared, and in combination with the evaluation of urban infrastructure elements, the results suggest the importance of transportation connectivity, pedestrian-scale infrastructure, a sense of place, and employment centers for TOD stations to yield high ridership. Findings are analyzed through a sustainability lens resulting in the proposal of strategic solutions for improving TOD planning methods.
ContributorsSantiago, Rebecca (Author) / Pijawka, David (Contributor) / Prosser, Paul (Contributor)
Created2017-04-17
Description
Sustainable purchasing policies and e-procurement are both fast becoming popular topics across city governments in the United States. As these two relatively new initiatives meet, the relationship they share has some promising implications that have gone mostly unexplored until now. E-procurement systems have gained a reputation of being one of the most effective ways to advance sustainable purchasing goals, but the belief alone may not be enough to create director-level buy-in throughout city governments. The possible link between these two tools was identified while working with the City of Phoenix’s Office of Environmental Programs. While helping them integrate sustainability considerations into their procurement process, it was noticed that e-procurement systems typically facilitated many of the obstructions the department faced and that there could be a positive relationship between their already existing e-procurement system and their sustainable purchasing policy. To investigate this relationship deeper, a survey of city government procurement was sent to 1,845 directors from Finance, Public Works, and Environmental departments across 791 U.S. cities. These decision-makers answered questions relating to their assessment of how sustainable purchasing policies are implemented and the extent to which their city uses an e-procurement system. Tests of independence were then performed to determine if a relationship between different e-procurement activities and perceived success of cities’ sustainable purchasing policies existed. Results show that the use of an environmentally friendly database of products and services in a city’s e-procurement system is the single most important e-procurement pursuit cities can undertake to influence the opinions that city managers have regarding the success of their sustainable purchasing policy. By understanding this connection, The City of Phoenix and other cities facing the same challenges are able to develop best practices to leverage e-procurement for purchasing sustainably and fully implementing their sustainable purchasing policies.
ContributorsIles, Jeffrey (Author) / Darnall, Nicole (Contributor)
Created2017-04-17
Description
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions cause climate change, and if the world does not lower its GHG emissions soon, it will cause irreversible damage that will have overwhelmingly negative cascading effects on the entire planet (Mann & Kump, 2008). Up to 47% of the United States GHG emissions are the result of energy used to produce, process, transport, and dispose of the food we eat and the goods that we consume (US EPA, 2009). The linear-economy status quo does nothing to slow down climate change because it puts resources into landfills. This project promotes a circular economy which combats climate change by reusing resources that are at the end of their life cycle, e.g., food waste soil. The project was a month-long compost competition at an apartment building in Phoenix, AZ that houses 194 residents. The apartment building, Urban Living 2 (UL2), is subsidized housing owned by Native American Connections (NAC), a non-profit organization. The project’s main objective was to increase waste diversion. This was done through composting and improving zero-waste capacity. The compost competition included activities to change community behavior such as private and public commitments, a community barbecue, a movie night (which replaced a planned field trip), and a visioning meeting. By the end of the project, 22% of the tenants were composting. Over a year-long period, this equates to a diversion of, 6000 pounds from the landfill and 1.59 metric tons of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E). The waste diversion increased from 28% to 38%. Tenant participation trended upwards during the project and as the social norm develops over time, more tenant participation is expected even after the competition is over. The six indicators that were used to determine the zero-waste capacity, collectively went up by 1.24 points on a five-point scale. This project will be used as a model for NAC for its other 16 properties in the Valley.
ContributorsVelez, Daniel (Author)
Created2017-04-10
Description
"Community and Composting in Victory Acres” implemented a pilot composting program for a local neighborhood in an effort to increase community cohesion. Victory Acres is a low-income, culturally diverse neighborhood located in Tempe that used to have easier access to the Escalante Community Center before the 101 freeway divided the community. Residents of the neighborhoods surrounding ECC do not have access to the Escalante Community Garden except on Community Harvest Days twice a month. The goal of the project was to reconnect broken ties to the ECG through a neighborhood composting service. Through composting, residents could directly benefit from the community garden’s composting capabilities while encouraging a more sustainable method for dealing with food waste. The composting pilot project in Victory Acres was used as a way to mitigate the greenhouse gases emanating from food waste along with other neighborhood issues. The project would encourage aspects of community cohesion, sustainability, and happiness. By the completion of the project, composting in the neighborhood could continue through increased access to the Escalante Community Center Garden. An assessment via survey responses was made on improvements in perceived community connectedness, sustainability, and happiness. The pilot was unsuccessful in gaining a large client base for composting participation, but it was successful in exploring challenges and barriers to implementation of projects in Victory Acres. Several intervention points were explored, several lessons were learned from successful and unsuccessful engagement techniques, and opportunities arose for further future research.
ContributorsKiefer, Alyssa (Author) / Cloutier, Scott (Contributor) / Prosser, Paul (Contributor)
Created2017-04-28
Description
Humans, throughout the world, build houses to live in and raise their families. The construction of houses and other buildings produces a large quantity of waste during this process. This waste is not necessarily biodegradable or derived from environmentally friendly materials. They often damage the environment causing pollution and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions (Tam, V. W., & Tam, C. M, 2012). This type of waste is categorized as Construction and Demolition(C&D) waste. My culminating experience focuses on C&D waste and this summary is divided into three parts. In the first part, the report covers the impact of the C&D waste in sustainability. Considering the three pillars of sustainability the effect of C&D waste on these three pillars are analyzed. The second part is the policy analysis surrounding current C&D waste in cities within the states of Arizona, Oregon and California. This section also covers the current practices and impact that the policies have had in diverting C&D waste from landfill. The report features application of conceptual mapping to explore the issues surrounding C&D waste in the circular economy, and intervention points for waste diversion. The third part of this project focuses on a selected intervention point: Community engagement, and education. The report also discusses the processes and strategies applied to organize an event to create art from salvaged building supplies. Stardust celebrated their 20th year anniversary in April 2017. In collaboration with them, the “Salvage This” event was organized to engage with artists, to exhibit arts created from salvaged building supplies, and promote reuse concept in the community.
ContributorsParthasarathy, Soumya (Author) / Breetz, Hanna (Contributor)
Created2017-04-28
Description
Stern Produce has been a prominent agricultural produce distributor in Arizona since 1917, with three distribution locations in the state: Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff. The company is a wholesale supplier of produce, meat and dairy products. Stern Produce is seeking to create comprehensive sustainability metrics to develop sustainability baseline information on their operations. This project, in partnership with Stern Produce’s Sustainability Coordinator, provides a final report that describes the sustainability indicators and metrics, provides recommendations for future growth, and highlights immediate areas of impact using the Hart and Milstein’s Sustainable Value Framework (2003). Under the three tenets of people, earth and business, the sustainability areas to focus on for Stern Produce are: sustainable procurement (internal and external); fleet management; organizational continuity; sustainable communities; and, sustainable building operations. By formulating sustainable focus areas, Stern Produce is acknowledging the significance of integrating environmental consciousness with economic performance and social benefits. Based on the findings, the project will assist Stern Produce in identifying intervention points and find new ways to mitigate negative operational outputs. Moreover, the project will facilitate cross-department engagement and involvement, provide data for sustainability key performance indicators, and further social commitments to operating sustainably. Measuring and reporting operations also improve transparency within the company and with external partners. Furthermore, the assessment proposes sustainability initiatives to address staff and community wellbeing concerns. Thus, the project uses a triple-bottom line approach to assess Stern Produce and translate the sustainability indicators into value for the company.
ContributorsFernandes, Nagelle (Author) / Prosser, Paul (Contributor)
Created2017-04-28
Description
The composition of this project can be described as half responsive digital media composition and half social experiment. It is built for the seven screen display of the Decision Theater and utilizes a combination of digital media and creative software tools along with sensor technology to create a media environment that responds to real time physical feedback from participants. The experience uses different desired interactions or “levels” to examine the tension between Shalom Schwartz’ three sets of bipolar cultural values represented in his theory on cultural value orientation. Cultural values are significant drivers of human behavior that change throughout time, however rarely does society name and define these dominant forces outright. This project aims to expose people to consider these forces through interactive discovery and game play. The installation’s primary user input is based on movement and physical interaction and includes visual rewards for desired forms of cooperative engagement. Sustainability science and research often cites education and communication initiatives as the next actionable steps towards a sustainable solution. Art and design are two fields that are uniquely suited for completing this next step, because they both regularly examine, critique, create, and comment as a part of shaping culture and encourage reflexive thinking about our norms and values. The design process included interdisciplinary engagement which is detailed alongside project outcomes, theoretical ties to sustainability, symbolic representations, and observations of user experiences. It may be considered a pilot test of the potential for creative and interactive digital art platforms to allow for the exploration of cultural values and connections to sustainability. This ability to reflect and consider the assumptions that may be engrained within cultural value orientation is fundamentally important to the wider recognition of the cultural shifts needed to create a sustainable future.
ContributorsNixon, Brittany (Author) / Cloutier, Scott (Contributor) / Branch, Boyd (Contributor)
Created2017-03-23
Description
South Africa, like many countries of the Global South, has witnessed explosive growth in urban population in recent decades. In a post-apartheid time, the majority of urban growth has accumulated in densely populated informal settlements. These areas delivered poorly planed and constructed single unit housing lacking adequate and necessary services, leading to increased economic and social exclusion in urban sprawl, with a need for full scale settlement redevelopment. The Kosovo Informal Settlement is one of the oldest and densest in Cape Town, South Africa, with a population of more that 26,000 in an area of 28 hectares. Kosovo is facing many challenges with poverty, hunger, poor health and sanitation, violence, environmental degradation, and fire and flood risks amplifying the necessity to hold priority in the redevelopment process. How can you provide urban upgrading and redevelopment and meet the needs of the community sustainably? The design of the Kosovo informal settlement redevelopment used multiple planning principles, which include space and movement systems, appropriate building sizing, sustainable infrastructure design and planning, building efficiency, and effective land use. Health, safety and security, community education and opportunities, and sustainable resource use must also be considered. Settlement land use can be developed for mixed-use opportunities such as community gardening, education, and training advancements to optimize access for employment options. The Kosovo Informal Settlement is a community with multiple opportunities for advancement in sustainable planning if the proper leadership, community participation and redevelopment stages are introduced and carried out effectively.
ContributorsAnsara, Nicolas (Author) / Mpahlwa, Luyanda (Contributor) / Cook, Edward (Contributor)
Created2017-03-16
Description
Since the the Long Walks of the 1860’s Navajo people have wrestled with the problems of acculturation and assimilation, while trying to preserve their spiritual and cultural foundations. Though history has negatively affected Navajo wellbeing (happiness), sustainable Navajo principles and practices act as a positive counterweight.
Aspiring to build the most socially and environmentally sustainable chapter house possible, the Navajo Nation’s Tonalea Chapter collaborated with our ASU research team. Two roundtable discussion with Chapter elders and members, led to a vision foundation that embodies physical, functional and environmental conditions, as well as cultural and spiritual beliefs and values.
Initially, Houde’s (2007) Six Faces of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) were used to sort commentary. Analysis and review led to expanding the framework from six to eight traditional ecological knowledge categories (TEK8): Culture, Spirituality, Ecosystem, Time, Land, Design, Social Justice and Equity, and Economics.
Sorted narratives and discussions revealed traditional ways of life, beliefs, and values, along with suggestions about who to design for, and what functions are most needed. Based on the TEK8 categorized comments, design recommendations were offered.
Additional work is needed, but a strong foundation for a framework mapping TEK to sustainable design for indigenous people has been developed. By using the TEK8 to address social justice issues through participatory visioning, culturally appropriate design and broader opportunities for happiness may result.
Aspiring to build the most socially and environmentally sustainable chapter house possible, the Navajo Nation’s Tonalea Chapter collaborated with our ASU research team. Two roundtable discussion with Chapter elders and members, led to a vision foundation that embodies physical, functional and environmental conditions, as well as cultural and spiritual beliefs and values.
Initially, Houde’s (2007) Six Faces of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) were used to sort commentary. Analysis and review led to expanding the framework from six to eight traditional ecological knowledge categories (TEK8): Culture, Spirituality, Ecosystem, Time, Land, Design, Social Justice and Equity, and Economics.
Sorted narratives and discussions revealed traditional ways of life, beliefs, and values, along with suggestions about who to design for, and what functions are most needed. Based on the TEK8 categorized comments, design recommendations were offered.
Additional work is needed, but a strong foundation for a framework mapping TEK to sustainable design for indigenous people has been developed. By using the TEK8 to address social justice issues through participatory visioning, culturally appropriate design and broader opportunities for happiness may result.
ContributorsProsser, Paul (Author) / Cloutier, Scott (Author)
Created2016-11-24
Description
Already the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States, extreme heat events (EHEs) are expected to occur with greater frequency, duration and intensity over the next century. However, not all populations are affected equally. Risk factors for heat mortality—including age, race, income level, and infrastructure characteristics—often vary by geospatial location. While traditional epidemiological studies sometimes account for social risk factors, they rarely account for intra-urban variability in meteorological characteristics, or for the interaction between social and meteorological risks.
This study aims to develop estimates of EHEs at an intra-urban scale for two major metropolitan areas in the Southwest: Maricopa County (Arizona) and Los Angeles County (California). EHEs are identified at a 1/8-degree (12 km) spatial resolution using an algorithm that detects prolonged periods of abnormally high temperatures. Downscaled temperature projections from three general circulation models (GCMs) are analyzed under three relative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios. Over the next century, EHEs are found to increase by 340-1800% in Maricopa County, and by 150-840% in Los Angeles County. Frequency of future EHEs is primarily driven by greenhouse gas concentrations, with the greatest number of EHEs occurring under the RCP 8.5 scenario. Intra-urban variation in EHEs is also found to be significant. Within Maricopa County, “high risk” regions exhibit 4.5 times the number of EHE days compared to “low risk” regions; within Los Angeles County, this ratio is 15 to 1.
The project website can be accessed here.
ContributorsBartos, Matthew (Author) / Chester, Mikhail Vin (Author) / Arizona State University. School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment (Contributor) / Arizona State University. Center for Earth Systems Engineering and Management (Contributor)
Created2014-06-12