Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Hoffman, David

Committee Member

Peacock, Evan

Committee Member

Copeland, Toni

Date of Degree

8-11-2012

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Applied Anthropology

Degree Name

Master of Arts

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures

Abstract

This project investigated the sustainability of homes within three intentional communities. Semi-structured interview and photographic walkthroughs examined the variability of architectural and technological approaches toward sustainability. These include: passive solar design, green roofs, radiant flooring, composting toilets, ground assist heat pumps, solar water heaters, multiamily units and modular construction. It was hypothesized that variation in sustainable construction is related to socioeconomic status and that economics would be a constraint. This project investigated whether communities were transmitting their practices to wider society, if individuals were copying vernacular architecture and if architectural practices followed individual beliefs regarding sustainability. It was found that the Internet is the main method of conveying these practices; that variability was tied less to individual beliefs than to the communities’ institutional documents; and that copying vernacular architecture was for aesthetics not sustainability. Intentional communities are good models for sustainable development, but knowledge transmission is limited.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/19752

Comments

Built Form||Strawbale||Architecture||Vernacular Architecture||Green Building||Ecovillage||Sustainability||Co-housing||Intentional Communities||Maryland||Virginia||Radiant Flooring||Multi-Family Units||Duplex||Modular Construction||Formal Consensus||Dynamic Self-Governance||Sociocracy||Green Technologies||Solar Water Heater||Composting Toile||Photovoltaic||PVs||Geothermal||Ground Assist Heat Pump

Download

Share

COinS