Design Research

A parcel-scale tool that puts a dollar value on what natural land does for a community, such as holding floodwater and storing carbon.

Land managers weighing conservation acquisitions rarely see the economic value of ecosystem services at the moment of decision. The tool adapts the U.S. EPA H2O / EnviroAtlas methodology to Hillsborough County and estimates four services for every parcel: flood water retention, usable air, usable water and carbon sequestration.

Land cover, soils, tree canopy and other environmental layers are intersected with parcel boundaries, so each parcel resolves into ecosystem types with acreages and per-service values. Each is compared across current and alternative land-cover scenarios, one fully developed and one restored.

The analysis runs as a scripted ArcGIS Pro toolbox in Python. A configuration table drives data sources and publishing, so annual refreshes need no code changes, and a dry-run mode previews every publish. Results are delivered through a web application where selecting a parcel updates its land-use makeup and a chart of service values by scenario. Cached vector tiles keep a map of more than 500,000 parcels responsive.

Authorship: I am first author, with Dr. Kotryna Klizentyte (University of Florida) as second author.

My contribution: I built the analysis pipeline and ArcGIS Pro toolbox and delivered the results through the web application. I also wrote the operations guide and parcel report templates that let County staff refresh the data and produce reports on their own.

A proposal for bioswale modules that report on their own health, so maintenance follows need instead of a calendar.

Pittsburgh’s steep topography and aging infrastructure, together with intensifying storms, raise flood risk. Bioswales improve infiltration and reduce runoff, but they demand upkeep and monitoring to keep performing.

This proposal suggests Adaptive Bioswale Modules in ceramic or bio-based composites that support biodiversity and nutrient cycling. A sensor interface tracks NPK and soil moisture, and site factors such as soil compaction and hill slope tune maintenance schedules, cutting unnecessary spending and extending the life of the urban waterscape.

The diagram reads left to right. Two inputs, the location of the form on Pittsburgh’s slope and flood data and the topology of the object, feed the form generation, and the module is paired with a soil sensor. The outcomes are better infiltration and sensor feedback for maintenance, plus support for biodiversity and nutrient cycling. The printed form and sensor node continue in my thesis work.

Two paths to efficiency for a duplex in a cold coastal climate: one ideal, one buildable.

Unit 39 gets some morning sun but limited afternoon solar gain because of the wall it shares with its neighbor. The theoretical redesign rotates the building 90 degrees to face south and maximize winter gain. It is the ideal configuration, and not feasible for the existing structure.

The recommended retrofit is a sunspace built on the existing south porch: a glass enclosure with operable windows and skylights that reopens as a porch in summer. It warms interior surfaces and air passively, reducing space heating, the home’s main energy load, with night insulation shades and the common wall helping distribute heat.

A canopy that turns its face to the sun, disc by disc, derived from the Federation Square facade.

Heliotrope is a generative shading canopy built in Rhino Python and Grasshopper. Circular discs are packed on a hexagonal grid: row spacing is derived from column spacing with a 30-60-90 triangle, so every disc keeps an even gap to its neighbors in all directions.

A sun-path arc acts as the attractor. As the sun moves from morning to evening it drives the tilt of each disc, and the views across the day show the field opening and closing.