Transcript Poster
Sustainable Community Design
Sean Joyce (CEE), Huong Nguyen (EVE), Thomas Parenteau (CEE)
Advisor: Professors Frederick Hart, Suzanne LePage (CEE)
Project Goals/Objectives
Methods
•Develop an electronic Best Practices Manual
(BPM) to be used by Stantec engineers
•Review of current LEED publications, such as
LEED for New Construction and LEED-ND
•Create a capstone design project, incorporating
several sustainability techniques contained in the
BPM
•Site visit to Greisbach Village, a LEED gold
certified neighborhood in Edmonton, AB, CA
Background
Renovated Capstone Alley
•Review of other sustainability guides and
guidelines, to determine the most effective
implementations of sustainable practices
• Latest version of LEED, LEED for Neighborhood
Development (LEED-ND) calls for a more holistic
approach to sustainable design, incorporating the
entire community rather than just building design
•In order to design sustainable communities,
effective strategies for implementation of LEED
credits must be investigated and documented
Capstone Design
•Used BPM to develop 3 alternative designs for a
typical city alley to improve sustainability
•Designs aimed to reduce stormwater runoff and
heat island effect, as well as promote walkability
•Review case studies of different sustainable
communities throughout North America
Results
•Effective implementation methods were researched
and displayed in a user friendly format that also
identified outside groups to involve in the planning
process
•Each LEED-ND credit was broken into more
specific sub-goals, and the “Associated Best
Practices” column provides several methods to
implement LEED credits. See example below
Alley redesign, implementing methods described
under Credit 1 of the BPM, concerning walkability
Conclusions/Recommendations
•LEED is by far the most popular rating system for
sustainable sites, and if used properly can reduce
the environmental impact of a project
•LEED credits suffer from an inequity of point
values, making it possible to have a certified project
with little to no truly sustainable elements
•By using a design based manual, such as the BPM
created for this project, LEED credits can be
effectively implemented based on the client’s needs
Acknowledgments
The team would like to thank the following people
for their assistance over the course of this project:
Typical city alley before redesign is not desirable
for local residents and is not visually appealing
Frederick Hart, Suzanne LePage, Klaas
Rodenburg