Law and Public Administration
GCPE • PLAN 668
Bob Alpern

PL 668 focuses on what law and planning are -- in theory, practice and actual impact. Special attention is given to the distribution of burdens and benefits among classes, racial groups and geographic areas and between the individual and society; to meetings and decisions and the rules that govern them; and to use and misuse of planning tools at the municipal level. Students should be better able to think critically about the things they see or are told, especially as those things relate to fair shares distribution (the core issue in law) and carrying capacity (the core issue in planning). Students should understand the theory, practice and actual impact of the planning tools available to them at the local level: plans, zoning ordinances, official maps, and procedures for program and planning review. • Download syllabus

Elements of Landscape Architecture
Architecture • ARCH 444
Signe Nielsen

This course offers the following: · Overview of different composite landscapes both historic and contemporary, formal and informal, public and private. · In-depth analysis of plant characteristics, environmental issues, functional intent, seasonal variations and spatial formation. This portion of the course is augumented by a field trip to Brooklyn Botanical Garden, reading and graphic assignments. · In-depths analysis of built elements of the landscape as they provide accent, focus, structure and enrichment to a landscape composition. This portion of the curse is supplemented by texts and graphic analytic assignments. · Throughout the course technical criteria, issues of environmental sustainability, construction issues and other pertinent considerations will be discussed. The teaching method includes slide lectures, a field trip, graphic and written material hand-outs, class discussions and in-class presentations by students. The lectures commence with a broad overview then dissect the identified components (softscape and hardscape) and conclude with summary (design). Student assignments follow a similar intent. • Download syllabus

LEED Certification
GCPE/EMS • EMS 621a
Lauren Gropper

LEED Certification - The US Green Building Council developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system in response to market demand for a common definition and standard of measurement for green building. Based on well-founded scientific standards, LEED emphasizes state-of-the-art strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. This course will present the history and principles of the LEED rating system; compare LEED to other environmental rating systems; provide specific examples of LEED certified construction; and will prepare students to take the LEED certification exam. • Download syllabus

High Performance/Green Buildings
GCPE/EMS • EMS 621b
Carlton Brown

Taught by a practicing high performance/green architect/developer, this course will provide students with the philosophy/theory, history, and best practices underpinning innovations in high performance/green building. Focusing on new construction, the course will offer an in depth look at the process by which several of the architect/developer’s buildings were conceived, designed and implemented with a particular focus on the potential for affordable high performance/green development. • Download syllabus

History & Theory of Historic Preservation
Historic Preservation • PR 510
Eric Allison

The re-use of historic buildings is a neglected aspect of sustainability, conserving the energy used to create them and not using energy to demolish them and build anew. An additional point is that retrofitted older buildings often, due to heavier construction such as masonry walls, use of materials such as wood windows, etc., can be more easily made energy efficient than many newer buildings. Adaptive re-use or simple re-use gets left out of most sustainability discussions and, while included in LEEDS, is only a couple of points. • Download syllabus

Green Adaptive Re-use & Rehabilitation
GCPE/EMS • EMS 621c
Chris Benedict

Taught by a practicing high performance/green architect/developer, this course will provide students with the philosophy/theory, history, and best practices underpinning innovations in high performance/green building and rehabilitation. Focusing on adaptive Re-use and rehabilitation, the course will offer an in depth look at the process by which several of the architect/developer’s projects were conceived, designed and implemented. • Download syllabus

Life Cycle Analysis
GCPE/EMS • EMS 612a
Mathy Stanislaus

Life Cycle Assessment is a systematic set of procedures for compiling and examining the inputs and outputs of materials and energy and the associated environmental impacts directly attributable to the functioning of a product or service system throughout its life cycle. Life-cycle assessments involve cradle-to-grave analyses of production systems and provide comprehensive evaluations of all upstream and downstream energy inputs and multimedia environmental emissions. This course will offer students an examination of the theory, methodology and applications of life cycle analysis. • Download syllabus

Ecological Footprint Assessment/Sustainability Indicators
GCPE/EMS • EMS 612b
Ariella Rosenberg

An ecological footprint is the identification and an analysis of an organization's, a government’s or an individual’s inputs and outputs, and the resulting impacts to the environment. This course will introduce the principles underlying “ecological footprint” analysis and will offer students hands on experience with the various methodologies and applications of this environmental assessment tool. Ecological footprint analysis is often used as a basis for choosing environmental performance/sustainability indicators. Sustainability indicators serve as an environmental management tool by providing benchmarks for measuring an organization’s, agency’s, government’s or individual’ s progress towards meeting environmental goals and reducing their ecological footprint. This class will thus also introduce the theory and use of “sustainability” indicators and examine selected application case studies. • Download syllabus

Environmental Impact Assessment
GCPE/EMS • EMS 612c
Darryl Cabbagestalk

Environmental impact assessment is an important component of the development and planning process. Well-crafted environmental impact statements have the potential to change agency decisions, alter project, and improve the environmental quality of communities. However, the process of impact assessment, though codified in statutes and standardized over the past three decades, remains highly controversial and is frequently the vehicle through which a broad range of project impacts are contested. This course is designed to help you to understand the process of crafting an impact assessment and how assessments can shape program and project design. Although the environmental assessment process is required by federal, state and city governments (as well as by many countries throughout the world) this course focuses on the local level. • Download syllabus

Solid Waste Management--Systems and Alternatives
GCPE/EMS • EMS 621d
Resa Dimino

This mini-course will present relevant concepts, literature, and practices, both historical and current, relating to solid waste management at the local, regional, national and global levels. Particular emphasis is placed on new innovations in solid waste management including recycling, reuse and reduction. The course will examine the environmental planning implications of various practices and technologies relating to solid waste management and will prepare planners and architects to identify and promote more sustainable ways of managing solid waste. • Download syllabus

Water Quality Management--Systems and Alternatives
GCPE/EMS • EMS 621e
Paul Mankiewicz

This mini-course will present relevant concepts, literature, and practices, both historical and current, relating to Water Quality management. Particular emphasis is placed on the science of water and on new innovations in water quality management systems and approaches including watershed planning and natural waste water systems. The course will examine the environmental planning implications of various practices and technologies relating to water management and will prepare planners and architects to identify and promote more sustainable practices. • Download syllabus

Energy Management--Systems and Alternatives
GCPE/EMS • EMS 621f
Steve Hammer

This course examines the unique nature of energy use and planning in urban areas. As the home to significant – and ever growing – rates of energy consumption, urban areas are logical candidates for energy planning efforts. This course is designed to introduce students to key issues associated with local energy planning: how cities use energy; the sources of this energy, what alternatives exist, and the delivery systems that get energy to cities; the institutional, market, and regulatory environment in which urban policymakers operate; and what steps cities are taking to better manage their energy use. The fact that many cities have a limited capacity to act is an important focus of this course, as it helps us better understand why local policies are shaped a certain way, and why cities often develop dramatically different strategies for influencing local energy use. • Download syllabus

Environmental Economics
GCPE/EMS • EMS 624
Gelvin Stevenson

This course examines the relationship between the environment and socioeconomic systems. An economic framework is used to identify the causes of environmental problems and their potential solutions. The course is interdisciplinary, incorporating material from the natural sciences, philosophy and other social sciences, in examining the issue of sustainable development. This course will emphasize contemporary environmental policy in an urban context, with an focus on the equity and efficiency aspects of environmental issues. The course will begin with consideration of several analytical tools (e.g. marginal analysis, cost-benefit analysis, public goods, risk and alternatives assessment and equity analysis). The second section will examine the role of the public sector in addressing these issues and the relative effectiveness of the various tools at its disposal (e.g. regulation and market-based incentives). • Download syllabus

Watershed Planning
GCPE/EMS • EMS 641
Ira Stern

Everyone lives in a watershed and depends on distinct ecological land features for drinking water resources - ground or surface source alike. Watersheds are essentially drainage areas and occur throughout the world’s landscape in urban, suburban, rural and wilderness areas. Land uses, management practices, and geology within watersheds are directly related to the quantity and quality of water “produced” in these land areas. Watersheds are a growing focus of national and international attention. The “watershed approach” to ecosystem management is a cutting edge approach that can be used to analyze and address many of world’s global environmental issues. With the advent and refinement of such laws as the Clean Water Act, Surface Water Treatment Rule, and Total Maximum Daily Loads over the last twenty years in the United States, the importance of watershed planning increases every year. • Download syllabus

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
GCPE • PLAN 544
Steven Romalewski

This course provides an introduction to geographic information systems (GIS) for urban planners– teaching you the basic skills, techniques, and interpretive capabilities to make effective maps, analyze data within an urban planning context, and understand the pros and cons of different GIS techniques, databases, and software applications. • Download syllabus

Planning for the Sustainable Campus
GCPE/EMS • PLAN 632
Eva Hanhardt

The course explores opportunities for sustainable campus planning and management. Students will study Green Campus Initiatives in the U.S. and identify opportunities at Pratt Institute’s campus in coordination with Pratt staff and faculty. The class will evaluate Pratt’s ecological footprint; compare it to the footprint documented in the summers of 2000, 2004 and 2005; and undertake the implementation of specific opportunities for green campus development. • Download syllabus

Environmental Justice
GCPE/EMS •
Samara F. Swanston

Environmental Justice will examine the role of equity in environmental planning, policy-making, decisionmaking respecting the distribution of environmental burdens and benefits. The course has several components. It examines the History of the Environmental Justice Movement, the Principles of Environmental Justice and Green Partnerships, and seminal Environmental Justice studies. It includes the Law of Environmental Justice including civil rights, and environmental justice laws and strategies, seminal civil rights and environmental justice litigated cases and a survey of the results of legal strategies to achieve Environmental Justice. Environmental Justice includes the role of race, class, gender and health in environmental planning and policy-making with a particular focus on the national, state and local laws, rules and zoning resolutions governing Environmental Infrasturucture Siting Criteria, Impacts and fairness. The course includes the role of environmental, expert and local knowledge in influencing planning, public policy and decision making. Finally the course identifies opportunities for students to incoporate ennvinmental justice into principled professional practice. • Download syllabus

Environmental Law
GCPE/EMS • EMS 640
Samara F. Swanston

Environmental Law is a general introduction to the field of environmental law. It focuses on issues of Environmental Justice and major environmental statutes, including the State Environmental Quality Review Act, known as ("SEQRA"), the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), the National Historic Preservation Act, (“NHPA”) the State Historic Preservation Act, (“SHPA”) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ("CERCLA") and recent Brownfields Laws that planners will likely encounter in their professional work. These statutes are critical to principled practice in the planning and environmental management fields. The coursework includes an introduction to Law, to Environmental Law and a brief overview of major environmental statutes not covered in this course. It is designed to help students understand how to read statutes, regulations and cases, to understand the role they play in a professional practice, and to understand the relationship between planning, architecture and the environment as they develop familiarity with statutory analysis of the complex regulatory material in the field of Environmental Law. • Download syllabus

Environmental History and Ethics
GCPE/EMS • EMS 613
Dr. Robert L. Chapman

With modern technologies significantly enlarging our spheres of action and responsibility, we must ask: What is the history of environmental concern in the United States? To what extend are social/institutional value assumptions responsible for our present environmental condition? How far should moral concern extend when considering the relationship between culture and nature? These are key questions that must be answered if we are to successfully integrate human action with natural processes. The objectives of this course are to refine our critical skills, helping us to better discern the nested and complex issues under consideration, which in turn should serve to guide our actions toward nature and provide some measure for obligation and responsibility. • Download syllabus

Sustainable Development Seminar
GCPE/EMS • EMS 620
Ron Shiffman

The purpose of the Seminar is to expose Pratt Graduate Students and other interested parties to the issues of sustainable development and the interdependence and interrelationship of sustainable development to global, national, regional and local programs, policies and practices. The participants will engage in a series of seminar discussions based on extensive readings as well as exposed to a series of lecturers that are leaders in the field and who over the course of the semester will weave together the physical, social and economic dimensions of the subject. Participants are expected to read in preparation for each of the classes, to engage the speakers in discussion of the topics immediately following the formal presentation by the lecturer. • Download syllabus

Urban Design Studio I
Urban Design • UD 601
Meta Brunzema

This course focuses on the methods and techniques for analysis fo urban areas. The assignments involve site visits, the development of land use conditions, transportation and image maps and the studies of the constraints and opportunities for change. A format is then established for categorizing the issues affecting life and business in an area and then isolating the problems, developing alternate improvements or solutions and weighing the benefits and costs from varying points-of-view. • Download syllabus

Neighborhood Commercial Revitalization
Historic Preservation • PR 630
Norman Mintz

Downtown revitalization affects every community- from urban neighborhoods to village Main Streets. Inherent in the success of such efforts is the rehabilitation of existing and historic buildings. Efforts to preserve such structures not only enhances the richness of the community, but it can be a way to sustain energy and natural resources. The use of sustainable resource materials is heavily encouraged in the rehab process--whether for the façade or storefronts. • Download syllabus

Enviromenal Control Systems
Architecture • ARCH 622
Matthew Herman, Bob Kearns, and Jeremy Snyder

This class gives students a broad overview of technologies used to control the environmental conditions inside a building. As part of this course, industry standards in energy efficiency and current reseach into human health and environmental health issues are addressed. Students are introduced to the concept that carbon emissions are a real problem that building contribute greatly to. They are taught the sources of these emissions, and they are taught how to reduce or eliminate carbon emissions from the buidings they will design in the future. Students are introduced to analytical tools to quantify the impact of thier design decisions in terms of energy and carbon emissions. • Download syllabus

Land Use Controls and Development
GCPE • PLAN 548
Jonathan Martin

This course presents the nuts and bolts of land use planning as practiced in the US today and gives you the opportunity to develop/design a land use plan for a small hypothetical city. Through lectures and readings you will be exposed to contemporary land use planning issues (including urbanization and urban growth trends, ethics, quality of life indicators, ecological land use planning, and inner city revitalization). We will also devote attention to case study analysis of several large-scale planned developments in New York City. • Download syllabus

Contemporary Urban Form:Land Use and Growth Management Policy
GCPE • PLAN 574
Jonathan Martin

This course introduces the basics techniques of land use control and regulation as practiced in the United States today. Attention is given to the history, development and incidence of a variety of land use regulations, from the general plan to advanced growth management techniques, but much of our focus will be on what works and what doesn’t (and why). Guided by readings from a wide range of sources, the course will be structured as both a seminar and lecture format in five sections: Introduction/Overview, Land Use Regulations, Development Fees, Growth Management, Residential Regulation, and Aesthetics. Students are required to read and summarize the assigned readings in annotated bibliographic format and come to class prepared to engage in lively conversation about the topics at hand. There will be one semester-long research project that asks you to review and investigate one controversial local land use/zoning issue that has occurred (or is currently under review) in that jurisdiction. This assignment will be presented in two parts: a written document and a presentation to class. • Download syllabus

Energy Conscious Architecture
Architecture • ARCH 440P
Brent Porter

The course interweaves critical environmental topics. The discourse begins with flow of energy, energy losses and gains, then the primary gain from the sun, wind effects driven by the sun and temperature differences, ventilation, humidity control and thermal comfort in general. Of major concern is access to sunlight and the lack of shading of neighboring properties. If access to solar energy can be enabled in the urban design, planning and architectural design fields, a major frontier is opened for future energy resources, essential as the decline of oil in the next thirty years must be replaced with ethenol fuels and alternative energy sources such as solar and wind. The introduction of both hand-drawn and computerized generation of “solar zoning envelopes” provides an effective way to shape a building envelope for a particular site to guaranteed as much solar access as possible without shading neighbors within specific time restraints throughout the year. In balance with utilizing sunlight --particularly as solar photovoltaic cells are incorporated seamlessly into expansive glazing for example -- is the recycling and reuse of integral resources such as rainwater, grey water, waste products for generating methane and the retention of waste heat for cogeneration. The research and development of these strategies are growing worldwide. The course will take full advantage of the Internet and various timely publications to keep track of recent developments. The instructor’s more recent research in Scandanavia will be shared. Guest speakers in conjunction with fieldtrips within NYC and in association with such groups as the NY Chapter, AIA, will be scheduled when possible. • Download syllabus

Architectural Materials
Architecture • ARCH 110
Michael Trencher/Kathleen Dunne/Jack McNanie/Bill Bedford

This course reviews basic building materials in the context of fundamental building issues. Materials studied include wood, masonry, and concrete. Each major material is examined in the context of its chemical structure, historical evolution, relevance to contemporary practice, and utilization in new and future products. This course will examine the relationship between materials and issues of sustainability. The course format consists of weekly lectures followed by discussion seminars. Slide lectures introduce each building material and its major contextual issues and provide a survey of visual information related to that material. Seminar sections provide students with the opportunity to ask questions and clarify the content of the lecture. • Download syllabus

Building Environment
Architecture • ARCH 312


This course focuses on the interior environment of buildings, and how comfort is designed and maintained. Topics include site, solar orientation, heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting and acoustics. Special emphasis will be placed on natural systems, energy efficiency, LEED and other issues of sustainability. • Download syllabus

Building Services
Architecture • ARCH 313


This course examines the service systems employed in contemporary buildings: electricity, communications, alarms, movement, water, waste and other services are covered. In addition there will be an emphasis on LEED, energy efficiency and other sustainability issues. • Download syllabus

Architectural Assembly Systems
Architecture • ARCH 216


This course reviews assemblage of materials in the context of fundamental building issues. Materials studied include steel and concrete systems, and selection criteria for non-structural materials such as glass, plastics, and other building components. This course brings together issues of fire, water, movement, sound and temperature control. The course format consists of weekly lectures followed by discussion seminars. • Download syllabus

Comprehensive Architecture Project- Integrated Building Systems
Architecture • ARCH 663
Team taught - See Course Description

The First Professional Master of Architecture program has created an innovative new teaching program for the Comprehensive Architecture Project (CAP) design studio that emphasizes ecological issues by bringing leading professionals to the school to team-teach directly in the studio. The National Architectural Accrediting Board mandates that students develop their building designs to a high level of technical resolution in the CAP studio, and the Graduate Architecture program has used this as an educational opportunity to introduce students to a wide array of sustainable design approaches. The CAP studio is team-taught by Design Professors and Architects Stephanie Bayard, Alexandra Barker and Maria Sieira, Building Systems Professor Nico Kienzl, a principal in the leading environmental engineering firm Atelier 10, and Structures Professors Philip Anzalone and Professor Negicovski who are also practicing engineers. Students designed their projects in teams of three and incorporated new strategies in efficient, high performance mechanical and structural systems, producing building designs that displayed the latest thinking in sustainable design. The studio curriculum asked the student teams to design a mixed-use commercial and retail building in three different climatic zones; the northeast, the south and the west. The particular ecological design approach was therefore a product of research into the appropriate applications for a specific climate. Design solutions included such things as sun control, geothermal heating and cooling with air and water systems, displacement ventilation, and structural systems of lightweight, recycled or sustainable material. Site design was also stressed asking students to consider sun and wind orientation, topographic conditions and water management. Design, technology and structures classes were scheduled in an overlapping manner allowing all members of the teaching team to be regularly present at desk critiques. All reviews and public critiques were conducted with the entire teaching team present. • Download syllabus

Sustainable Planning Studio
GCPE • PLAN 653
Ron Shiffman and Eva Hanhardt

The Sustainable Planning Studio class is the capstone project for students in the Environmental Systems Management Program and is also open to students in the GCPE Planning and Historic Preservation Programs, Architecture, and from other Pratt Departments by permission of the Professors. The goal of the sustainable planning studio is to provide students with a “hands on” opportunity to apply the knowledge they have gained in previous coursework to a real world project. Working with the Mayors’ Office of Long Range Planning and Sustainability, the class will look at how new developments being proposed by the NYC administration can be designed to maximize sustainability. Using the LEED Standards for Neighborhood Development that are currently being pilot tested as a reference, the studio will consider a specific development and identify how it could be developed to maximum sustainability (environment, economy and equity) standards including, but not limited to, a LEED platinum (the highest) rating. In the process the class will also evaluate how well the proposed LEED standards apply to neighborhood development in large urban areas such as NYC. • Download syllabus

Advanced Design
Architecture and Interior Design • ARCH 401
Anthony Caradonna and Francine Monaco

Advanced problems in design dealing with complex architecture, interior and environmental problems are presented in the fall semester. This cross disciplinary initiative is a catalyst for design based interdepartmental, community and industry collaborations. This initiative has gained support through a 2004 interdisciplinary curriculum development grant and looks to expand interdisciplinary sustainable design opportunities for students and faculty. The architecture and interiors design studio initiative began in the fall 2003 semester. Founded and conducted by professors Anthony Caradonna from undergraduate architecture and Francine Monaco from undergraduate interiors, the annual fall interdisciplinary design semester teams ten students from each department. Students engage in sustainable design strategies, materials and market research. Students develop full scale constructions of interiors based projects. Students develop inventive sustainable design strategies based on in depth materials, fabrication and market research. The materials research and fabrication course conducted by professor Mark Parsons is integral to the studio course. Students create prototypes for commercially viable design products. Students approach design by defining and addressing sustainable issues including: Invention and innovation; Cross disciplinary design problems; Interdisciplinary team work & entrepreneurial-partnerships; Sustainable materials, environments & communities; No Waste, affordable design and fabrication strategies; Multivalent performance, function and life cycle design; Real life applications, full Scale Construction and detail design; Building envelope, furniture, lighting and material product development; Self funding strategies & royalty and profit generating based initiatives; Solar power, photovoltaic and nanotechologies. • Download syllabus

Materials
Architecture and Interior Design • ARCH 413
Anthony Caradonna

Seminar workshop dealing with materials research, fabrication methods and design applications coordinated with the architecture + interiors interdisciplinary design studio in the fall semester. • Download syllabus

Toxics and Hazards
GCPE • EMS-621G
Damon Chaky

This course will focus on toxic and hazardous substances in the environment, with particular emphasis on trace metals and organic compounds associated with construction materials and the urban industrial environment. We will examine issues such as urban air quality and indoor air pollution, the persistence of toxic chemicals in the environment, and the regulation and cleanup of toxic substances. Case study discussion will focus on sources and exposure to toxic substances in the built environment in general and the NYC urban environment in particular. The course is intended for graduate students, but is open for enrollment for all majors through the crosslisted section SCI-590. Find the syllabus here • Download syllabus