APPLICATION IN THE GEORGIA PIEDMONT by ANDREW KILINSKI

112 Pages·2015·4.31 MB·English

by  Andrea Montlick

REGENERATIVE SYSTEM DESIGN: APPLICATION IN THE GEORGIA
PIEDMONT
by
ANDREW KILINSKI
(Under the Direction of Jon Calabria)
ABSTRACT
In the southeast, our built environment will benefit from the productive and
functional ecological systems needed to address impacts on natural systems to
support forthcoming population growth, energy, and food production demands.
Through precedent study analysis, interpretation, and current regenerative rating
systems evaluation, regenerative design principles are applied to a ten-acre
urban site in Athens, Georgia, to show how a systems-based design can restore
ecological function within the built environment, while meeting energy and food
production demands. The design application reveals the components critical to
regenerative design, and illustrates how they are applied to a conceptual site
design; it may also be utilized as a template for laypersons, landscape architects,
or other design professionals interested in regenerative design for urban areas in
the built environment.

INDEX WORDS: net-positive, permaculture, regenerative design, regenerative
development, resilience, sustainability
REGENERATIVE SYSTEM DESIGN: APPLICATION IN THE GEORGIA
PIEDMONT

by

ANDREW KILINSKI
BLA, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, 2000
MLA, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, 2015

A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in
Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

ATHENS, GEORGIA
2015
© 2015
Andrew Kilinski
All Rights Reserved
REGENERATIVE SYSTEM DESIGN: APPLICATION IN THE GEORGIA
PIEDMONT

by

ANDREW KILINSKI

Major Professor: Jon Calabria
Committee: Robert Alfred Vick
Thomas Lawrence
Kerry Blind

Electronic Version Approved:

Suzanne Barbour
Dean of the Graduate School
The University of Georgia
August 2015
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my family, friends, and co-workers for their support.
I would also like to thank Jon Calabria, Alfie Vick, Tom Lawrence, Kerry Blind,
Marianne Cramer, Bruce Ferguson, Donna Gabriel, Georgia Harrison, Darrel
Morrison, Bill Reed, David Spooner, Alison Smith, Ron Thomas, and Melissa
Tufts for graciously sharing their time, knowledge, support, and wisdom.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... iv
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. ix
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................... x
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1
Research Question ......................................................................... 2
Purpose and Significance of Research ........................................... 2
Methodology ................................................................................... 3
Precedent Studies ........................................................................... 4
Limitations and Delimitations .......................................................... 6
Thesis Structure .............................................................................. 6
2 PRINCIPLES OF REGENERATIVE DESIGN ...................................... 8
Introduction ..................................................................................... 8
Systems Thinking ............................................................................ 8
History of Regenerative Design....................................................... 9
Defining Regenerative Design....................................................... 10
Key Principles of Regenerative Design ......................................... 13
A Shifting Mindset ......................................................................... 16
Bioregionalism............................................................................... 16
Biophilia ........................................................................................ 17
Biomimicry .................................................................................... 18
v
Interdisciplinary Approach ............................................................. 18
Criticism of Regenerative Design .................................................. 19
Summary ....................................................................................... 20
3 EVALUATION OF REGENERATIVE RATING SYSTEMS .................. 22
Introduction ................................................................................... 22
Rating Green, Sustainable, and Regenerative .............................. 22
Sustainable Sites Initiative ............................................................ 24
SITES Structure ............................................................................ 25
Certification ................................................................................... 27
Summary ....................................................................................... 27
The Living Building Challenge ....................................................... 27
LBC Structure................................................................................ 28
Certification ................................................................................... 30
Summary ....................................................................................... 31
Comparison ................................................................................... 31
4 PRECEDENT STUDIES IN REGENERATIVE DESIGN……………... 36
Introduction ................................................................................... 36
Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies ........................................... 37
Design Process ............................................................................. 37
Buildings…… ................................................................................ 39
Energy Use…. ............................................................................... 40
Water Management ....................................................................... 41
Site and Landscape ...................................................................... 42
vi
Summary ....................................................................................... 43
The Willow School ......................................................................... 44
Design Process ............................................................................. 44
Buildings…… ................................................................................ 45
Water Management ....................................................................... 46
Site and Landscape ...................................................................... 47
Summary ....................................................................................... 48
Phipps Center for Sustainable Landscapes .................................. 48
Design Process ............................................................................. 49
Building and Energy Use ............................................................... 49
Water Management ....................................................................... 50
Site and Landscape ...................................................................... 52
Summary…. .................................................................................. 55
Conclusion .................................................................................... 55
5 APPLICATION OF REGENERATIVE DESIGN .................................. 57
Introduction and Site Context ........................................................ 57
Conceptual Site Design Program .................................................. 62
Site Analysis ................................................................................. 62
Conceptual Site Design ................................................................. 69
Buildings ....................................................................................... 74
Water Management ....................................................................... 75
Net-Positive Energy…. .................................................................. 77
Net-Positive Water ........................................................................ 78
vii
Landscape .................................................................................... 79
Summary ....................................................................................... 80
6 DESIGN ANALYSIS ........................................................................... 82
REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 87
APPENDICES
A SITES Scorecard application .............................................................. 94
B Project landscape plant list ................................................................. 95

viii
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table 1: Summary of Regenerative Design Principles ....................................... 21
Table 2: Living Building Challenge Imperatives .................................................. 30
Table 3: Fundamental Similarities Between Rating Systems ............................. 33
Table 4: Fundamental Differences Between Rating Systems ............................. 35
Table 5: Regenerative Design Strategies at the Lyle Center .............................. 38
Table 6: Summary of Regenerative Design Strategies ....................................... 56
Table 7: Summary of Regenerative Design Strategies for Design...................... 70
Table 8: Estimated Energy Use .......................................................................... 78
Table 9: Estimated Water Use ............................................................................ 79

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