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- All Subjects: Sustainability
- Creators: The Design School
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
An exploration of how architecture can react to American hyper-consumption of clothing products. With the goal to raise public awareness and create systemic, sustainable change in the fashion industry, this project synthesizes each part of manufacturing, including production, consumption, and post consumption, into one local campus. By bringing manufacturing back into the daily rhythms of an urban context and combining a prototypical mix of fashion related programs, ethically minded consumers are formed.
This thesis discusses accounting fraud in the workplace today, using the recent Wirecard scandal as a jumping off point. The thesis goes into the common causes of accounting fraud (organized by the three components of the fraud triangle), effective methods for countering fraud, and lessons that can be learned from the 2020 Wirecard scandal
The goal of this research was to analyze the impact of consumer behavior on the sustainability of the fast fashion industry, specifically in regards to the framework of the Triple Bottom Line. First, a review of relevant literature investigating the three aspects of the Triple Bottom Line (environmental, social, and economic) as it pertains to the fast fashion industry was conducted to provide context for this research. Research methods utilized scholarly articles and journals along with companies’ CSR reports to determine the course of development of the fast fashion industry over time. Additionally, the impact of consumer behavior was investigated and linked to trends observed in the production and business practices of the industry over time. Based on the analysis of the influence of past consumer behavior on the industry, it was clear consumers play a major role in the industry and its sustainability in terms of the Triple Bottom Line. This suggests that the unsustainability of the fast fashion industry is due in part to consumer behavior and the retailers themselves, which is important to understand for the industry going forward as it aims to improve overall sustainability.
conservation.
This thesis project first looks to the Living Building Challenge’s Water Petal framework as standards for this building to follow. The framework outlines that the building needs to be water positive, meaning all the water needs to be taken from the environment, run through the building, and discharged back out into the environment in a safe manner that benefits the local environment. To begin my research, I first looked to case studies of buildings that incorporate elements of the hydrological cycles of their sites, studying how these buildings function
efficiently without causing damage or depleting resources. The project then goes onto analyze the site on which the building will sit. The prototype building is located in Papago Park, facing the Papago Buttes. The building itself is a meditation pavilion, providing a place for visitors to rest and enjoy the beauty of the natural landscape.
In terms of the water systems at work in the building, the project acquires water through several means. The first is through rain, in which the building catches rainwater on slanted planes of the roof as well as through a ground filtration system within the landscaped zones surrounding the building. The water filters through the soil, through multiple filters and eventually to a large storage tank below. Water is also collected using existing bioswales lining the nearby canal to harness water as part of the building system. This water is also filtered and sent to the storage tank. Because of the weather patterns we have here in Arizona, the storage tank is very large, needing to hold about 3,000 gallons of water. This water is then ready to be used by toilets or irrigation, or treated one step further through the process of ozonation to be used for sinks and drinking fountains. The blackwater, or sewage water, then gets pumped through a
membrane bioreactor in which sludge is sent to an anearobic digester and the remaining water continues to a constructed wetland where it ends its journey. Along the way, this water is pumped through a shallow channel in the ground in which people within the building can view as it makes its way out to the wetland. Upon reaching the wetland, the water will eventually seep back into the ground, replenishing the natural water table and thus completing the full loop cycle
of the project.
Information was examined using thirteen indicators of sustainability. Eight indicators were chosen that represented environmental sustainability, plus five indicators that represent social and economic sustainability. Based on the information analyzed, each company received a score for each indicator according to the level of information disclosed. This created a sustainability scorecard, with Marriott and Hilton scoring the highest, Wyndham and Best Western scoring the lowest, and Choice Hotels falling in the middle .In summary, it was determined that Hilton is reporting at the highest level, based on the measured indicators in addition to receiving external assurance on their disclosed results from implemented practices, The other four companies have further steps they should take to better communicate their sustainable practices and overall commitment to sustainability.