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27-484: The purpose of EDRA is the advancement and dissemination of environmental design research, thereby improving understanding of the interrelationships between people, their built and natural surroundings, and helping to create environments responsive to human needs. Along with IAPS, MERA, PaPER, and EBRA, EDRA is one of the major international associations that focuses on the field of Environmental Design Research. EDRA holds an annual conference in different locations around

54-570: A larger scope, environmental design has implications for the industrial design of products: innovative automobiles, wind power generators, solar-powered equipment, and other kinds of equipment could serve as examples. Currently, the term has expanded to apply to ecological and sustainability issues. 1. Sustainability - Minimizing the environmental impact of human activities through the use of renewable resources, energy-efficient technologies, and eco-friendly materials. 2. Functionality - Designing spaces that are practical, accessible, and tailored to

81-544: A network lunch meeting during the annual conference and several organize and sponsor Pre-conference Intensives or sessions during the conference. Environmental design Environmental design is the process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products. It seeks to create spaces that will enhance the natural, social, cultural and physical environment of particular areas. Classical prudent design may have always considered environmental factors; however,

108-623: A research program. The concept of "environmental" in these programs is quite broad and can encompass aspects of the natural, built, work, or social environments. The following universities offer a Ph.D. in environmental design and planning: Virginia Tech until recently offered the degree program, but has since replaced it with programs in "architecture and design research" and "planning, governance, and globalization". Fanshawe College in London, Ontario Canada offers an honours bachelor's degree called "Environmental Design and planning. Examples of

135-654: Is a type of telescope designed to point straight up at or near the zenith, and used for precision measurement of star positions, to simplify telescope construction, or both. The NASA Orbital Debris Observatory and the Large Zenith Telescope are both zenith telescopes, since the use of liquid mirrors meant these telescopes could only point straight up. On the International Space Station , zenith and nadir are used instead of up and down , referring to directions within and around

162-570: Is possible to create zero emission buildings, where energy consumption is self-generating and non-polluting. It is also possible to construct "energy-plus buildings" which generate more energy than they consume, and the excess could then be sold to the grid. In the United States , the LEED Green Building Rating System rates structures on their environmental sustainability . Environmental design and planning

189-486: Is the moniker used by several Ph.D. programs that take a multidisciplinary approach to the built environment. Typically environmental design and planning programs address architectural history or design (interior or exterior), city or regional planning, landscape architecture history or design, environmental planning, construction science, cultural geography, or historic preservation. Social science methods are frequently employed; aspects of sociology or psychology can be part of

216-424: The antipode of that location 12 hours from solar noon . In astronomy , the altitude in the horizontal coordinate system and the zenith angle are complementary angles , with the horizon perpendicular to the zenith. The astronomical meridian is also determined by the zenith, and is defined as a circle on the celestial sphere that passes through the zenith, nadir, and the celestial poles . A zenith telescope

243-463: The environmental movement beginning in the 1940s has made the concept more explicit. Environmental design can also refer to the applied arts and sciences dealing with creating the human-designed environment. These fields include architecture , geography , urban planning , landscape architecture , and interior design . Environmental design can also encompass interdisciplinary areas such as historical preservation and lighting design. In terms of

270-559: The vertical direction ( plumb line ) opposite to the gravity direction at that location ( nadir ). The zenith is the "highest" point on the celestial sphere. The word zenith derives from an inaccurate reading of the Arabic expression سمت الرأس ( samt al-raʾs ), meaning "direction of the head" or "path above the head", by Medieval Latin scribes in the Middle Ages (during the 14th century), possibly through Old Spanish . It

297-558: The Sun ("The sun reached its zenith..."), but to an astronomer, the Sun does not have its own zenith and is at the zenith only if it is directly overhead. In a scientific context, the zenith is the direction of reference for measuring the zenith angle (or zenith angular distance ), the angle between a direction of interest (e.g. a star) and the local zenith - that is, the complement of the altitude angle (or elevation angle ). The Sun reaches

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324-1034: The United States and around the world. The first annual conference was held at Chapel Hill, North Carolina on June 8–10, 1969. Most conferences are held in the United States where the EDRA membership is concentrated, but over the last 40 years, four have been held in Canada (EDRA18/1976 in Vancouver, EDRA 18/1987 in Ottawa, EDRA 28/1993 in Montreal, and EDRA 36/2005 in Vancouver), two have been held in Mexico (EDRA 22/1991 in Oaxtapec and EDRA 39/2008 in Veracruz), and one

351-480: The complex challenges of modern environments. The first traceable concepts of environmental designs focused primarily on solar heating , which began in Ancient Greece around 500 BCE. At the time, most of Greece had exhausted its supply of wood for fuel , leading architects to design houses that would capture the solar energy of the sun. The Greeks understood that the position of the sun varies throughout

378-686: The decades after World War II, "The world was forced to confront the dark shadow of science and industry." From the middle of the twentieth century, thinkers like Buckminster Fuller have acted as catalysts for a broadening and deepening of the concerns of environmental designers. Nowadays, energy efficiency , appropriate technology , organic horticulture and agriculture , land restoration , New Urbanism , and ecologically sustainable energy and waste systems are recognized considerations or options and may each find application. By integrating renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic , solar thermal , and even geothermal energy into structures, it

405-409: The declination of the star equals the latitude of the observer. If the current time at Greenwich is known at the time of the observation, the observers longitude can also be determined from the right ascension of the star. Hence "Zenith stars" lie on or near the circle of declination equal to the latitude of the observer ("zenith circle"). Zenith stars are not to be confused with "steering stars" of

432-486: The environmental design process include use of roadway noise computer models in design of noise barriers and use of roadway air dispersion models in analyzing and designing urban highways. Designers consciously working within this more recent framework of philosophy and practice seek a blending of nature and technology, regarding ecology as the basis for design. Some believe that strategies of conservation, stewardship, and regeneration can be applied at all levels of scale from

459-521: The house from the colder northern winds. This clever arrangement of buildings influenced the use of the grid pattern of ancient cities. With the north–south orientation of the houses, the streets of Greek cities mainly ran east–west. The practice of solar architecture continued with the Romans , who similarly had deforested much of their native Italian Peninsula by the first century BCE. The Roman heliocaminus , literally 'solar furnace', functioned with

486-408: The individual building to the community, with benefit to the human individual and local and planetary ecosystems. Specific examples of large scale environmental design projects include: 6. Zenith The zenith ( UK : / ˈ z ɛ n ɪ θ / , US : / ˈ z iː n ɪ θ / ) is the imaginary point on the celestial sphere directly "above" a particular location. "Above" means in

513-561: The kitchen of the Emperor Tiberius during the year. Along with the solar orientation of buildings and the use of glass as a solar heat collector, the ancients knew other ways of harnessing solar energy. The Greeks, Romans and Chinese developed curved mirrors that could concentrate the sun's rays on an object with enough intensity to make it burn in seconds. The solar reflectors were often made of polished silver, copper or brass. Early roots of modern environmental design began in

540-476: The late 19th century with writer/designer William Morris , who rejected the use of industrialized materials and processes in wallpaper, fabrics and books his studio produced. He and others, such as John Ruskin felt that the industrial revolution would lead to harm done to nature and workers. The narrative of Brian Danitz and Chris Zelov's documentary film Ecological Design: Inventing the Future asserts that in

567-883: The needs and behaviors of the people who will use them. 3. Aesthetics - Incorporating elements of visual appeal, sensory experience, and emotional connection into the design. 4. Holistic Approach - Considering the interconnected social, economic, and ecological factors that shape the environment. Today, environmental design is applied across a wide range of scales, from small-scale residential projects to large-scale urban planning initiatives. Key areas of focus include: - Sustainable architecture and green building - Landscape architecture and urban planning - Transportation design and infrastructure - Industrial design and product development - Interior design and space planning Environmental designers often collaborate with experts from disciplines such as engineering, ecology, sociology, and public policy to create holistic solutions that address

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594-476: The observer's zenith when it is 90° above the horizon, and this only happens between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn . In Islamic astronomy , the passing of the Sun over the zenith of Mecca becomes the basis of the qibla observation by shadows twice a year on 27/28 May and 15/16 July. At a given location during the course of a day, the Sun reaches not only its zenith but also its nadir , at

621-526: The same aspects of the earlier Greek houses. The numerous public baths were oriented to the south. Roman architects added glass to windows to allow for the passage of light and to conserve interior heat as it could not escape. The Romans also used greenhouses to grow crops all year long and to cultivate the exotic plants coming from the far corners of the Empire. Pliny the Elder wrote of greenhouses that supplied

648-442: The station, relative to the earth. Zenith stars (also "star on top", "overhead star", "latitude star") are stars whose declination equals the latitude of the observers location, and hence at some time in the day or night pass culminate (pass) through the zenith. When at the zenith the right ascension of the star equals the local sidereal time at your location. In celestial navigation this allows latitude to be determined, since

675-414: The year. For a latitude of 40 degrees in summer the sun is high in the south, at an angle of 70 degrees at the zenith, while in winter, the sun travels a lower trajectory, with a zenith of 26 degrees. Greek houses were built with south-facing façades which received little to no sun in the summer but would receive full sun in the winter, warming the house. Additionally, the southern orientation also protected

702-572: Was held in Scotland (EDRA 32/2001 in Edinburgh). EDRA celebrated its 40th anniversary in Kansas City, Missouri May 27–31, 2009. Proceedings are published as part of each conference. These include full-length refereed and invited papers, symposia, workshops, and posters. There are 19 interest area networks: Each active network has web page at the parent site: www.edra.org. All networks hold

729-472: Was reduced to samt ("direction") and miswritten as senit / cenit , the m being misread as ni . Through the Old French cenith , zenith first appeared in the 17th century. The term zenith sometimes means the highest point , way, or level reached by a celestial body on its daily apparent path around a given point of observation. This sense of the word is often used to describe the position of

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