Programming & Analysis

Max before step footing required

1:10, 10%, 6 deg

Min land and parking lot slope to provide stormwater runoff

1:100, 1%, 0.5 deg

Max ADA ramp slope every max 30' long segment

1:12, 8%, 5 deg

Max before ADA ramp required and max parking lot slope

1:20, 5%, 3 deg

Max for driveway

1:4, 25%, 14 deg

Max ADA Cross-slope

1:50, 2%, 1 deg

Swell/Shrink Clay

-10%

Swell/Shrink Sand

-10%

What is the minimum slope for swales to prevent standing water?

1%: the minimum slope for swales to prevent standing water (1/100) 2%: maximum cross slope for ADA walkways (1/50) 5%: maximum slope before accessible ramps are required (1/20)

100-year floodplain

1-in-100 chance of flooding this year Most building and zoning regulations are based on a 100-year-flood event.

Zoning code limits building heights. What other restrictions is it likely to place?

1. Floor-area-ratio (FAR) 2. Lot building set-back distances (how close you can build to your front, back, and side lot lines) 3. Parking space number minimums (and thankfully, more recently, parking space maximums) 4. What type of occupancy or program is allowed (no gun shop next to elementary schools) 5. How you must deal with your site's water runoff (maximum gallon per hour allowed into the sewer) 6. Building sign restrictions for businesses (height, size, number, type)

Catchment areas

1. In a discussion of stormwater runoff, the catchment area is the region from which rainfall flows into a stream, culvert, catch basin, or roof drain. The field of building feasibility study reappropriated the phrase "catchment area" from the stormwater people as a useful parallel. 2. It is the region from which residents are expected to visit your building. When siting a school, how many children live in an area bounded by the midway points between your site and other schools? When siting a hospital, what proportion of residents within X miles are over the age of 70 and how many of them have health insurance? For your proposed indoor pool site, it is unlikely that residents will drive past another, more proximate, indoor pool to visit your spot further away. Your proposed corner store will have a catchment area of no more than six blocks because it relies on pedestrian customers. In this way, to judge the feasibility of building here, we'll map a catchment area based on demographics, commerce, geography, and human habit to describe the area from where your building will draw people.

How to resolve conflicts between historical preservation and the outdoor building site (because cobblestone paths prove difficult to navigate in a wheelchair)?

1. Short distances between arrival and destination points 2. Convenient parking 3. Paths at least 3' wide and slopes no steeper than 1:20 4. Stable, firm, slip-resistant outdoor surfaces (may require resetting the paving surfaces)

"Ideal" structural parti for seismic design

1. Uniform loading of structural elements (stress connections from non-uniform loading- for instance, cantilevers- are weak points in an earthquake) 2. Low, wide buildings (prevents overturning) 3. Equal floor heights (means fewer stress connections) 4. Symmetrical plan shape (minimizes torsion/twisting) 5. Shear walls or bracing at the perimeter (more efficient at resisting torsion/twisting than shear walls in the core) 6. Short spans (less stress on members and more columns provide redundancy if some are lost in an earthquake) 7. Minimize openings in floors and roofs (more efficient diaphragms) Extend shear walls continuously from roof to foundation

Standards for Preservation

1. Use the property to maximize the retention of distinctive features. 2. Retain the historic character 3. Recognize the property as a physical record of its time 4. Preserve past renovations that have acquired historic significance in their own right 5. Repair historic features so that the new material, color, texture, and design match the old 6. Preserve archaeological resources in place.

Max for Green Roof

1:1, 100%, 45 deg

Steepest slope for planted areas

2:1 (63.4 degrees)

Swell/Shrink Limestone

35%

Swell/Shrink Granite

40%

1 Acre

43560 SF

Steepest slope for parking lots

5% maxium (1% minimum for runoff)

How many accessible entrances are required?

50% of public entrances must be accessible. For most small buildings, fire code requires two means of public egress, so, in that case, one must be accessible (the main entrance). Larger buildings have more entrances, and 50% of those must be accessible.

What is the difference between a Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessment (ESA)?

A Phase II ESA is more thorough than a Phase I ESA. Any property owner, regardless of fault, can be held liable for releases of hazardous materials from their land. However, if you purchased a property and can prove you performed appropriate environmental due diligence, but found no environmental red flags before the purchase, you are granted protections from that liability should toxic sludge be found later to be leaking from your land into the river. The Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) has become an established standard for this type of before-you-purchase-land environmental due diligence, and is used by the buyer and lender to both assess risk and protect from future litigation. A Phase I ESA includes site inspection by an environmental professional, a historical records review of the property, and interviews with owners, occupants, neighbors, and local government officials. If a Phase I ESA turns up a recognized environmental concern (REC), then the environmental professionals conducting it will recommend a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment (ESA). Unlike a Phase I ESA, a Phase II ESA is invasive, involving soil testing, groundwater sample testing and testing of building materials.

ASTM E 1903: Phase II Environmental Site Assessment.

A more in-depth analysis often required if Phase I turns up a red flag. In Phase II, soil samples are taken; pipe insulation sample is taken to a lab.

How many nighttime hours on March 21 and September 21 at 22 degrees north latitude?

A: 12

An architect is developing a 115-acre site with a goal for the entire site of 16 units per acre. He's developed 75 acres of the site so far at 14 units per acre. What should the density be, in units per acre, for the remaining not-yet-developed portion?

A: 19.75 115-acre site with a goal for the entire site of 16 units per acre. 75 acres of the site developed so far at 14 units per acre. What should the density be, in units per acre, for the remaining not-yet-developed 40-acre portion? 14*(75/115) + x*(40/115) = 16 Need more problems like this? Click here to watch an Amber Book : 40 Minutes of Competence video with extra questions. If you do, be sure to hit pause and make your own earnest attempt at solving the calculation; listening to me solve it without attempting it yourself does you less good.

How far up a hill should you locate a small building in a cold climate

A: Approximately a quarter of the way up the hill. Memorize this:

From a programming point of view, what else makes a building more efficient?

A: Daylight availability (so electric light isn't needed), summertime shading, central mechanical systems are more efficient than in room-systems (one fan and one compressor for multiple zones), sharing heat from core to perimeter (variable refrigerant systems), on-demand hot water heating (so that hot water needn't be stored for later use), radiant hydronic heating and cooling systems, small openings in cold and hot-arid climates, large openings in hot-humid climates, and southern glass and thermal mass (cold sunny climates).

What is the building efficiency ratio of an office building with 100,000 sf, given that 20,000 sf is dedicated to elevators, physical plant equipment, restrooms, hallways, lobby, and the building management office?

Answer: 80% The leasable space, divided by the total space, returns the building efficiency ratio. As you may imagine, this number varies by project, is largely controlled by the architect, and often determines whether a development is profitable.

Historical buildings often feature narrow corridors, heavy and narrow doors with decorative hardware, steep terrain, monumental stairs, or other elements difficult to navigate if disabled. How does one balance the sometimes competing priorities of historic preservation and accessibility?

A: Just like you'd guess. . . balance them carefully, with common sense, and clever design. First, review the property's historical significance by exploring its nomination file in the National Registry of Historic Places. Use that to prioritize which character-defining feature and spaces to protect from changes. Focus on changes instead to alter secondary spaces and finishes, nonsigniificant spaces, later additions, previously altered areas, and service areas Second, assess the building's existing (and required) level of accessibility. Look for inaccessible entrances, floor surface textures that don't play well with wheelchairs, narrow walkway widths, elevators, toilets, weights & configurations of doorways, and steep grade changes. Finally, balance the two competing mandates cleverly. "Provide the greatest amount of accessibility without threatening or destroying those materials and features that make a property significant." Confirm that changes to the historic character can be reversed in the future. Assemble a team of accessibility consultants, historic preservation professionals, building inspectors, persons with disabilities, and the state historic preservation officer (who can allow special accessibility provisions for your project).

Can you build in a riparian zone?

A: Not usually, but it depends on local zoning and if the bank will loan your client capital to build where it will likely flood. Riparian zones: the buffer areas adjacent to a water body. They are sometimes wet (after a rain or at high tide) and sometimes dry; often heavily vegetated; and important for flood and erosion control, wildlife habitat, and water quality. They are especially salient in dry climates where the stream banks are the only places with enough water to support trees, and heavy rains pose a considerable erosion/mudslide threat without the vegetation to shore up the banks. Clients want to be on the river/wetland/lake for views and recreation, but those areas flood often, damaging buildings. Old thinking: put the river in a ditch and build right up to it. New thinking: let the river do it's thing. . . give it some room on either bank for the sake of everyone. To see a diagram, go here. For a photo, go here.

Why the reflector "hat"? For transfer through conduction, convention, or radiation?

A: Radiation This is kind of similar to how Low-E windows work, at least for half the low-E process. They reflect the sun's heat, like this reflector redirects the flame's heat, but unlike this reflector, low-E windows let (most of) the light through. That concept will probably never be intuitive to you, but own it none-the-less. Electromagnetic energy (radiation) can be blocked (shaded), allowed through (transmitted), or bounced back (reflected). . . and with the right film on a window, some of the frequencies (heat) can be reflected while other frequencies (light) are transmitted.

How many nighttime hours on March 21 and September 21 at 42 degrees north latitude?

A: again, 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness during the equinox, regardless of latitude. . . . that's why we call it the equinox. It's the midpoint in the season when long nights turn to long days at the middle latitudes, and extremely long nights turn to extremely long days at the higher latitudes.

Identify the following standards: ASTM E 1527 ASTM E 1903 ASHRAE 55 ASHRAE 62 ASHRAE 90.1

ASTM E 1527: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment. ASTM E 1903: Phase II Environmental Site Assessment. ASHRAE 55 Thermal Comfort. ASHRAE 62: Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). ASHRAE 90.1 Energy and Lighting. *The standards on this list primarily apply to mid-sized or large buildings. To hold unscrupulous people making false claims about building performance accountable, to standardize measurement conditions so that we can accurately compare performance from one building to another, to establish a baseline used for clearing code, LEED, or a similar third-party hurdle, and to facilitate a common language in courtroom proceedings, organizations like ASTM, ANSI and ASHRAE create and maintain standards. If you are exploring environmental performance as it applies to the ARE exam, you'll want to take a minute to memorize which of these standards measures what.

ASHRAE 90.1 Energy and Lighting.

Also cited (and cited often) in LEED, this checks greenwashing by owners, architects, and energy consultants. It establishes minimum performance for Energy Use Intensity (EUI), which measures annual kBTUs-used per square foot of floor area. Recently, buildings are publishing their EUI, even in design publications and design awards announcements. Understanding EUI isn't a big part of these exams, but is becoming important to the profession. For instance, a warehouse has a median EUI of about 25 kBTU/sf (not much lighting or equipment or need for occupant thermal comfort. . . and spread over a large space). An office or school is 50, a mall is 100, a grocery store or hospital is 200 (lots of equipment), and a fast food restaurant is 400 (lots of equipment in a small total floor area). The goal then is to get your building well under those industry averages to drive down societal energy use.

ASHRAE 62: Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ).

Also cited in LEED. Establishes just how fresh "fresh air" must be, establishes required outside air ventilation rates, etc.

Rehabilitation

Alters or adds to meet today's needs

You are employing a cut-and-fill strategy, whereby the earth you are using as compacted fill behind a retaining wall will come from excavation for the building's foundation. How much compacted soil will be available for the retaining wall? Given: 230 bank cubic yards of earth will be removed for the foundation After excavation that becomes 300 cubic yards of loose soil The shrink factor for the soil is 10%

Answer: 207 cubic yards of compacted soil will be available for the retaining wall. Loose soil is always more fluffy than bank soil, and compacted soil is always less fluffy than loose soil, but compacted soil may actually be less fluffy than bank soil (or may not be). Read that last sentence again until you own it. compacted cubic yards=(100%-shrink %) x bank cubic yards compacted cubic yards=(100%-10%) x 230 cubic yards compacted cubic yards=207

You are employing a cut-and-fill strategy, whereby the earth you are using as compacted fill behind a retaining wall will come from excavation for the building's foundation. How much excavated soil will be needed for the retaining wall? Given: 230 compacted cubic yards of earth required for the retaining wall The swell factor for the soil is 10%

Answer: 209 bank cubic yards of excavated soil is required for the retaining wall. This time we are asked to solve the problem in the reverse order: instead of 230 cubic yards of excavated soil available, we instead require 230 yards of compacted soil. compacted cubic yards=(100% +swell %) x bank cubic yards 230 compacted cubic yards=(100% +10 %) x bank cubic yards 209= bank cubic yards *if you are asked on the exam, don't forget that there are 27 (not 3) cubic feet in a cubic yard. Because of shrink and swell, to achieve a balanced site, we often need to cut less volume than we fill (and sometimes need to cut more than we fill) A handy trick: remember that the multiplier (shrink or swell factor) is always multiplied by the undisturbed bank cubic yards.

You are employing a cut-and-fill strategy, whereby the earth you are using as compacted fill behind a retaining wall will come from excavation for the building's foundation. How much compacted soil will be available for the retaining wall? Given: 230 bank cubic yards of earth will be removed for the foundation After excavation that becomes 300 cubic yards of loose soil The swell factor for the soil is 10%

Answer: 253 cubic yards of compacted soil will be available for the retaining wall. A single cubic yard of soil in place on your site will occupy, perhaps 1.3 cubic yards on the pile after it has been excavated because loose fill obviously takes up more volume than undisturbed soil. Then, after erosion of the pile from wind and rain, losses due to hauling spillage, and especially volume losses from compaction, we may only have 1.1 (or even 0.8!) cubic yards of compacted fill left when used under a roadway on another part of the site months later. Shrink and swell factors vary, depending on the soil type, time elapsed, and all the other variables that storage, transport, and compacting entail. . . and they can account for more than mere rounding errors when calculating cut-and-fill volumes. Waste (too much excavated and now we have to haul it away) and borrow (too little excavated and now we have to purchase fill from elsewhere) can be very expensive. When possible, we design for a balanced site: one where we have neither waste nor borrow, so we need to account for shrinkage and swelling. Earth in its natural state is calculated as bank-measure, so we might say that we are "Removing 230 bank cubic-yards from that hill for the building foundation excavation." Earth in transport is calculated as loose-measure so we may say that we are, "moving that same soil in the amount of 300 loose cubic yards" Loose soil, once compacted, is calculated as compacted-measure so we may say about that same quantity of earth, "We'll get 253 compacted cubic yards behind that retaining wall." Shrink and swell factor is the decrease or increase in the volume of earth, expressed as a percentage, as compared to the volume of earth in its natural "bank" state (not compared to its transport volume). So, when I gave you "After excavation that becomes 300 cubic feet of loose soil" in this problem, I was giving you extraneous information you didn't need to solve it. compacted cubic yards=(100%-shrink %) x bank cubic yards or compacted cubic yards=(100% +swell %) x bank cubic yards So for this problem compacted cubic yards=(100% +10 %) x 230 cubic yards compacted cubic yards=253 After excavation, but before compaction, the loose soil or rock always swells in volume relative to the bank measure and we use a (different) swell factor to measure that. loose cubic yards=(100% + swell %) x bank cubic yards You weren't asked to solve it, but in this case the swell factor (bank measure to loose measure) 300 loose cubic yards=(100% + swell %) x 230 bank cubic yards 30%= swell factor

You are going to mount photovoltaic panels (solar panels that produce electricity) flush to this south-facing roof in Little Rock, Arkansas (35 degrees latitude, 92 degrees longitude). What should be the measure of angle A?

Answer: 35 degrees, an angle equal to the latitude value is most efficient for year-round solar collection. Think about it for a second in your head until you own it. . . the sun is lower in the sky for more of the year at higher latitudes (Alaska) and higher in the sky at lower latitudes (Hawaii).

You are going to mount photovoltaic panels (solar panels that produce electricity) flush to this south-facing roof in Little Rock, Arkansas (35 degrees latitude, 92 degrees longitude) and you wish to optimize for summer performance. What should be the measure of angle A?

Answer: 35-15=20 degrees. The latitude value is optimal for year-round solar collection but if you wish to prioritize summer collection on a south-facing slope, subtract 15 from that value. It makes sense if you think about it. . . the sun is more overhead in the summer. Why would you wish to optimize for only summer? Perhaps this is an off-the-grid summer camp and summer is the only time we wish to charge the batteries; perhaps Little Rock is cloudy in winter so optimizing for summer collection makes more sense; perhaps electricity rates fluctuate and are higher in summer when demand peaks because of air conditioning loads.

You are going to mount photovoltaic panels (solar panels that produce electricity) flush to this south-facing roof in Little Rock, Arkansas (35 degrees latitude, 92 degrees longitude) and you wish to optimize for winter performance. What should be the measure of angle B?

Answer: 40 degrees. A=35+15=50 degrees B=90-50=40 degrees The latitude value is optimal for year-round solar collection but if you wish to prioritize winter collection on a south-facing slope, add 15 to that value to solve for Angle A. It makes sense if you think about it. . . the sun is lower in the sky in the winter. To derive Angle B, subtract Angle A from 90 degrees. If you need more practice on this, click here to watch an Amber Book : 40 Minutes of Competence video.

What is the floor-area-ratio (FAR) of a five-story building, each story with footprint of 1,000 sf, sited on a 10,000 sf lot

Answer: 5×1,000/10,000=0.5 Zoning codes set maximum FARs Each municipality has different rules for counting basements, attics, porches, the areas under balconies, etc..

What are catch basins?

Catch basin: the box below an outdoor drain.

You are going to mount photovoltaic panels (solar panels that produce electricity) flush to this south-facing roof in Little Rock, Arkansas (35 degrees latitude, 92 degrees longitude). What should be the measure of angle B?

Answer: 90-35=55 degrees. Angle A is equal to the latitude value for year-round solar collection. A+B+C=180 degrees. . . and because C=90 degrees, A+B=90 degrees

What is the occupancy classification of a 250sf chipboard storage room. You can use this reference to approximate the case study documents you'd be provided on an exam.

Answer: Again, this is S-1 Moderate Hazard Storage. Obviously, not every possible room use could possibly be explicitly included on the occupancy classification list in the code. Because chipboard is "cardboard-adjacent" we can assume that the two sit in the same occupancy classification. Note that S-1 Moderate Hazard Storage includes flammable (but not gasoline-like flammable): lumber, furniture, baskets . . . and S-2 Low Hazard Storage includes markedly less-flammable items (though sometimes with thin flammable wrappers): cement in bags, meat, glass, washers/dryers.

What is the occupancy classification of a 250sf cardboard box storage room.

Answer: Group S-1 Moderate Hazard Storage. You'll be afforded the use of a search function in the case study portion of the exam, so search smart. Search that site I provided you for "cardboard" Because the storage room is more than 100sf, declaring it an "accessory space" (and not having to classify it as a separate occupancy from the rest of the building) is not an option for you here.

Building foundations should rest on _______. Shallow soils in temperate climates (less than 2 feet deep) Peat Sand Topsoil

Answer: Sand Peat and topsoil are organic, so they are unstable. In temperate and cold climates, foundations should rest below the frost line, typically more than two feet deep. Sand may not seem stable, but it is! If you've been to the beach, you've almost certainly seen hundreds of buildings supported by sandy soil. This house is on friction piles (telephone poles driven into the ground); this one is likely on a spread footer concrete foundation.

You are stumped on a test item in PA. Your answer choices are: Schematic Design (SD) Design Development (DD) Construction Documents (CD) Construction Administration (CA) . . . . which one do you guess as the answer?

Answer: Schematic Design (SD) If not sure, always guess the design phase that corresponds with the exam division you are taking! PA =Schematic Design (SD) PPD = Design Development (DD) PDD = Construction Documents (CD) CE = Construction Administration (CA)

If the Zoning code limits the building to no more than three stories, and the building code limits it to no more than five stories, how many stories is the building limited to?

Answer: Three stories. Whichever is more restrictive controls.

According to the building code, a bank has an occupancy of _______ .(You may use the Amber Book Case Study material or the internet to look this up.) Assembly (A) Business (B) Institutional (I) Mercantile (M)

Answer: a bank is Business (B) occupancy. Why is a bank, post office, or barber shop considered a Business and has the B classification—while a courtroom is considered an Assembly, and has the A classification? They both have papers in storage and visitors. I suppose some threshold of people per square foot is crossed when you move from bank to courtroom on the density scale. In any event, that is why when faced with this kind of question on the exam, you'll be sure to search the case study for "bank." Don't memorize these; use the search function instead because occupancy questions will almost surely come within a case study, and even if they don't come in the case study section, you can often still look up the answers later in the case study section.

According to the building code, a courtroom has an occupancy classsification of _______ . (You may use the Amber Book Case Study material or the internet to look this up.) Assembly (A) Business (B) Institutional (I) Mercantile (M)

Answer: a courtroom is classified as Assembly (A) See a list of code occupancies here. In the exam, you'll want to be sure to use the search function to find the appropriate occupancy: in this case you'd search for "courtroom" and find it under occupancy classification A-3. These four classifications—Assembly, Business, Institutional, Mercantile—plus Educational (E), can mislead you if you try to guess instead of search. For instance, a medium-sized university lecture hall is not considered Educational, it is Assembly instead—Educational occupancy is reserved generally for K-12. A bowling alley, funeral parlor, and restaurant seem like they'd be Mercantile, but the code also considers them Assembly spaces—Mercantile is reserved for places where things are sold, like markets or department stores, without the density of a restaurant. You might assume that museums and libraries are Institutional occupancies, but they are also Assembly—Institutional as an occupancy is not about government and civic institutions, but rather for buildings like hospitals and jails where people may not be able to leave on their own in a fire. Generally if your building has a high density of visitors, it may be an Assembly occupancy, even if it doesn't feel like a theater or banquet hall. Business occupancy includes spaces for lawyers and architects where people work every day (and know their way out if the lights fail and the corridor fills with smoke).

Should the open field/lake/clearing be on the north or south side of your building?

Answer: it depends on the climate Locate buildings so they have less shade (E,W,S) in cold climates and more shade (E,W,S) in hot climates. If there is a clearing, open field, or water feature, treat those as access to sun, and drop your building to the north of the clearing, open field, or water feature (cold climate) . . . or the south side of the clearing, open field, or water feature (hot climate).

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) code (commonly referred to as the "fire code" or "life safety code") doe not require that a fume hood be fire-rated, but the fire inspector insists that the fume hood you install must be one that is UL tested and fire rated. What do you do?

Answer: the fire inspector is the authority having jurisdiction (ASJ), and if she says it has to be fire-rated. . . it has to be fire-rated. AHJs enjoy broad powers of interpretation and wield considerable weight.

Which is a better choice for a rural site with a geothermal heat pump, trenches or wells?

Answer: trenches As you might imagine, horizontal trenches, which look like this and this, are a better option if land is available to house them. Vertical wells are more expensive, but the only option in, for instance, a tight urban infill site. They look like this and this (you can see why this is an expensive option-look at all those rigs). In summer, geothermal heat pumps couple the hot condenser with water that has been cooled by pumping it through the ground—creating a more efficient system than a normative air-cooled condenser. The compressor (pump) doesn't have to work as hard because the hot side doesn't have to cool itself in 100-degree air. In the winter, the system reverses and the cold side doesn't have to heat itself in 0-degree air, and can instead access 50-degree water heated underground. Digging the earth for these loops of water is, from an architect or owner's point of view, the dominant factor when considering the geothermal option. The pipes, which are actually more like continuous flexible tubing, can snake and loop through horizontal "trenches," about three feet below the surface, or snake through vertical "wells," that extend hundreds of feet downward. Both options prove expensive and disruptive to the land, especially if it's difficult to get large equipment access to the site, if it's been raining lately and the earth is soft, or if the soil is rocky/stiff and unlikely to make good contact with the tube. The systems I described above are "closed loop" systems where the same water (perhaps with a little antifreeze mixed in if wintertime is cold on this site) is recirculated between the indoor equipment and the ground in perpetuity. If there happens to be an underground aquifer or a pond on the site, an open-loop system may prove the best option, whereby temperate water is drawn up through a pipe from the pond or aquifer, used to cool (or, in wintertime, heat) the refrigerant, and then dumped back into the body of water while new water from the pond or aquifer is siphoned up to replace it. An open loop tied to an aquifer looks like this; an open loop tied to an on-site pond looks like this.

The elevator inspector, electrical inspector, fire inspector, and your interpretation of the building code are each requiring a different minimum level of fire protection for an elevator shaft. Which of these entities governs?

Answer: you must meet the most stringent requirement of any of these authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs)

horizontal "trenches" (geothermal heat pump)

As you might imagine, horizontal trenches, which look like this and this, are a better option if land is available to house them. The pipes, which are actually more like continuous flexible tubing, can snake and loop through horizontal "trenches," about three feet below the surface, or snake through vertical "wells," that extend hundreds of feet downward. Both options prove expensive and disruptive to the land, especially if it's difficult to get large equipment access to the site, if it's been raining lately and the earth is soft, or if the soil is rocky/stiff and unlikely to make good contact with the tube. Digging the earth for these loops of water is, from an architect or owner's point of view, the dominant factor when considering the geothermal option.

BFE

Base Flood Elevation

Historic preservation and sustainability: this unfolds generally as common sense would dictate. Form a team with members that have a preservation background and members that have a sustainability background. Identify methods to reduce energy use, but consider the impact on the historic building. Execute what is needed to meet energy performance goals, but start with that which is least likely to denigrate the historic nature of the building. Only engage the disruptive technologies after you've engaged the less-disruptive ones.

Begin with the least invasive, most cost-effective, weatherization measures. Address air-tightness before adding insulation. Insulate unfinished spaces (attics, basements, crawl spaces) first, then only if the energy model deems it necessary should you remove historic plaster and trim in finished spaces to insulate there. Weather stipping and caulking windows is acceptable, as is installing storm windows. Don't, for instance, remove a historic, durable, heart pine floor and replace it with a bamboo floor because the bamboo flooring seems to be sustainable. Use solar only after other less-intrusive options have been exhausted. When upgrading the heating and cooling systems, use the least invasive strategies first: smart, programmable thermostats and ductless HVAC systems that use refrigerant or water pipes instead of ducts. If you require ducts, route them away from important spaces and better to expose them if concealing them requires ripping out important historic finish materials. Don't position outdoor HVAC equipment where it can be seen. (Consider a geothermal system, which is efficient and has no visible outdoor equipment.) Retain the roof's character if it is visible, typically the case in sloped roofs. . . but if the roof is low-slope ("flat"), feel free to install a green roof, high albedo membrane, or cool roof technology.

Site A: Best site for a cold climate (2)

Body of water provides clearing for direct (and reflected) southern solar gains

Site A: best location in a cold climate (1)

Body of water provides clearning for direct (and reflected) southern solar gains

What is the difference between a covenant and an easement?

Both covenants and easements are contractual obligations that "ride" with the deed from today's property owner to the next property owner. Neither is mandated by the municipality, but rather agreed upon by interested parties. Easements often give someone else the right to use your property. For instance, I may pay you $30,000 for the right to share a portion of your driveway because I can't access the roadway from my landlocked property without driving through yours. Or the utility company may have an easement on your property so that they can run power lines on poles and send utility workers to service them without fear of prosecution for trespassing. The next owner is then obligated to share the driveway with me and refrain from shooting utility workers on their land because I would never give you $30,000 for the right to use your driveway if you might sell the land next week and I'd have to negotiate and pay the next owner too. Covenants often restrict what future owners can do on the property. If you plan on moving but promise your neighbors that no one will ever put a fence higher than five feet around the property, you can add that in a covenant and it rides as a sidecar to your deed. Planned communities that prize uniformity may have hundreds of covenants governing such design decisions as the slope of the roof, the color of the walls, and the depth of the porch. An easement is typically affirmative, giving someone else the right to use your property, and a covenant is usually negative, restricting future owners from doing something with the property. Each may be in-perpetuity or may sunset after some number of years. Sometimes these two concepts overlap. If you wish to set aside some of your land in perpetuity as an undeveloped tract for wildlife habitat, that is usually called a "conservation easement" because it gives the birds and turtles access to the land. But it is also sometimes called a "conservation covenant" because it limits future owners from paving that portion of the land for a parking lot.

What climate benefits from air movement (breezes)? What climate benefits from evaporation?

Buildings in hot-humid climates benefit from breezes, but buildings in hot-arid climates do not. Buildings in hot-arid climates benefit from evaporation (evaporative cool tower, swamp cooler, water feature, spraying water), but buildings in hot-humid climates do not.

Loose-measure (Cut-and-Fill Strategy)

Earth in transport Ex. "moving that same soil in the amount of 300 loose cubic yards"

ASHRAE 55 Thermal Comfort.

Cited in LEED, this establishes ranges for temperature, humidity, airspeed, and thermal radiation as it relates to the clothing and activity of the occupants. It's easier to achieve low energy use if you allow the building to get too warm or too cold, so requiring that it meets ASHRAE 55 keeps the energy modeler honest.

What do we use climate zones for?

Climate zones are useful for energy and thermal comfort rules-of-thumb, for instance 1. How much insulation should we use under our foundation in Climate Zone 5? 2. Are Low-e windows really that helpful in Climate Zone 3? 3. Do we need a vapor barrier in Climate Zone 2? 4. In what climate zone is a Trombe Wall appropriate? 5. Is a heat pump efficient for heating in Climate Zone 6? 6. How much heating load in BTU/sf*yr should we expect for a commercial building in Climate Zone 4?

Radial-ring - (development pattern)

Concentric circles of bypass roads established to divert traffic around the dense center each time the city grows in girth, like Houston

The Dept of Interior (National Park Service) Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties

Content from this document, the bible of historic preservation, very much comes into play on these exams. That said, the document is long, specific, and because the exam covers this lightly, of only moderate yield (number of extra questions right, per-hour-of-studying). My advice: If you have the time, a general interest in historic preservation, a career that involves renovations, or enjoy skimming technical non-fiction, read this. If not, know that you'll be fine with the content in the Amber Book. If you want to go deeper, but still keep to what may be relevant to your version of the exam, the Dept of Interior has a sidecar document focused on sustainability in historic preservation. You can find that here.

Covenant

Covenants often restrict what future owners can do on the property. If you plan on moving but promise your neighbors that no one will ever put a fence higher than five feet around the property, you can add that in a covenant and it rides as a sidecar to your deed. Planned communities that prize uniformity may have hundreds of covenants governing such design decisions as the slope of the roof, the color of the walls, and the depth of the porch. Both covenants and easements are contractual obligations that "ride" with the deed from today's property owner to the next property owner. Neither is mandated by the municipality, but rather agreed upon by interested parties. An easement is typically affirmative, giving someone else the right to use your property, and a covenant is usually negative, restricting future owners from doing something with the property. Each may be in-perpetuity or may sunset after some number of years. Sometimes these two concepts overlap. If you wish to set aside some of your land in perpetuity as an undeveloped tract for wildlife habitat, that is usually called a "conservation easement" because it gives the birds and turtles access to the land. But it is also sometimes called a "conservation covenant" because it limits future owners from paving that portion of the land for a parking lot.

Restoration

Depicts a property at a particular period of time, removing evidence of other periods. Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.

Horizontal vs vertical louvers

Design horizontal louvers for south-facing apertures where the sun is high in the sky, and vertical louvers for east- and west-facing apertures where the sun may be low in the sky at sunrise or sunset. North-facing apertures almost never need shading because the sun doesn't hang out much on the north face of the building.

Detention ponds, retention ponds, bioswales, and cisterns

Detention ponds: hold stormwater for a while, then slowly drain out. They are dry between storms, control flooding, require large amounts of space, and can breed mosquitoes. Retention ponds: hold stormwater and are always wet. These look like regular ponds (but uglier, if not designed correctly). They both control flooding and promote higher water quality because the soil below them filters out pollutants from the water. Bioswale: vegetated or mulched channels that convey stormwater away slowly enough to allow for water to seep into the soil, which removes pollutants before recharging groundwater: like an ecologically thoughtful version of a detention pond. Cisterns: Underground temporary storage container for roof or pavement runoff. No extra space required and no mosquitos. Concrete and asphalt promote runoff and therefore erosion. We can solve this erosion problem by releasing the water slowly and both solve the erosion problem and clean the water by holding it for a while and allowing it to seep through the soil slowly for groundwater recharge. Green roofs and porous pavers also help recharge the onsite soil slowly, rather than run it off to the creek. Most municipalities require your medium-sized or large project to take care of its own stormwater on site. No longer do we simply redirect stormwater to the street and assume that the gutter and drain system will whisk the runoff problem away.

Irregularly-shaped buildings and seismic failure (2)

Does this mean you can't design an irregularly-shaped building in an earthquake zone? Of course not. Herzog and de Meuron built the de Young Museum in San Francisco. It just means that irregularly-shaped buildings are less efficient, and therefore in need of extra care (bracing, etc.).

Accessibility and historic interiors

Door knobs don't meet ADA (arthritis), so new buildings use levers instead. To keep the old knobs on the historic interiors, prop the door open during operating hours. Restrooms with historic fixtures or marble partitions pose a conflict. You may relocate those within the room to create larger stalls. Add grab bars, shift fixture heights, and protect the knees of those in wheelchairs from burns by covering under-sink hot water pipes. You may create a new unisex accessible restroom if reconfiguring the old ones runs counter to preservation mandates. A new addition to the building-if it maintains the old scale, protects a significant landscape, doesn't try to "look old," and touches the old building lightly such that it can be removed in the future-might be a solution to the entrance door, entrance ramp, elevator, and restroom conflicts.

Double-loaded corridors

Double-loaded corridors allow for larger floor plates and more efficiency, as measured in hotel rooms/sf, because rooms can sit on either side of the hallway.

Identify common development patterns. In what type of cities can you find each of these?

Each of these describes the streets layout. . . 1. Grid/rectangular/chessboard: like Midtown New York 2. Radial/star: Major roads fan out from a central point, like Washington DC or Paris 3. Radial-ring: Concentric circles of bypass roads established to divert traffic around the dense center each time the city grows in girth, like Houston 4. Contour-forming: In steep terrain, roads follow lines of elevation, like rural mountain roads 5. Irregular/field: Roads every which way, most associated with organic (not centrally-planned) city growth, like Boston 6. Satellite: Smaller cities linked to a central megacity, like Shanghai *Most development happens as s mixture of these

Bank-measure (Cut-and-Fill Strategy)

Earth in its natural state Ex. "Removing 230 bank cubic-yards from that hill for the building foundation excavation."

Easement

Easements often give someone else the right to use your property. For instance, I may pay you $30,000 for the right to share a portion of your driveway because I can't access the roadway from my landlocked property without driving through yours. Or the utility company may have an easement on your property so that they can run power lines on poles and send utility workers to service them without fear of prosecution for trespassing. The next owner is then obligated to share the driveway with me and refrain from shooting utility workers on their land because I would never give you $30,000 for the right to use your driveway if you might sell the land next week and I'd have to negotiate and pay the next owner too. Both covenants and easements are contractual obligations that "ride" with the deed from today's property owner to the next property owner. Neither is mandated by the municipality, but rather agreed upon by interested parties. An easement is typically affirmative, giving someone else the right to use your property, and a covenant is usually negative, restricting future owners from doing something with the property. Each may be in-perpetuity or may sunset after some number of years. Sometimes these two concepts overlap. If you wish to set aside some of your land in perpetuity as an undeveloped tract for wildlife habitat, that is usually called a "conservation easement" because it gives the birds and turtles access to the land. But it is also sometimes called a "conservation covenant" because it limits future owners from paving that portion of the land for a parking lot.

EUI

Energy Use Intensity measures annual kBTUs-used per square foot of floor area. ASHRAE 90.1 Energy and Lighting.

Irregularly-loaded buildings and seismic failure (1)

Failures in earthquakes from: 1. Soft story problem (tall first story with slender columns and not much lateral bracing). This issue, top row, is the most common and causes the most death and destruction. 2. Weight irregularity (More weight in the top floor, shown in red) 4. Shear wall doesn't extend full height of the building Shear wall not continuous over full height of the building 5. One story weaker than the others Jutting building elevations (click here)

You have a high water table on the site you plan to build on. . . now what?

Foundation footings and basement slabs should sit above the water table (soil depth where wet all year). With a high water table, we may need to use a shallow footing (but of course, below frost depth). . . or mound up the earth below the building. . . . or use piles, pilings, piers, or caissons, which can be drilled or driven below the water table.

Road hierarchy

From smallest to largest: local collector arterial expressway

Should I study the building code for the ARE?

I don't think that studying code is a good use of your time. This test has relatively few code questions, and there's so much material to study, so I don't think you'll earn a good yield (number of extra questions correct, per hour of studying). Plus the code questions almost always are part of a case study with searchable code excerpts. If you do wish to study the IBC, focus on Chapter 3 (use groups), Chapter 5 (how to determine the size/construction type of a building and required separation between occupancies), and Chapter 10 (egress sizing requirements). Do not memorize! Just become familiar with what's available so you will know what to search or browse for during a harried case study section of the exam.

open-loop (geothermal heat pump)

If there happens to be an underground aquifer or a pond on the site, an open-loop system may prove the best option, whereby temperate water is drawn up through a pipe from the pond or aquifer, used to cool (or, in wintertime, heat) the refrigerant, and then dumped back into the body of water while new water from the pond or aquifer is siphoned up to replace it.

Where do you locate your building on a hill? At the bottom? Partway up? At the crest?

If you are building in the mountains, know that the valley will pool sinking cold air on still nights (good for hot-arid) and the top will have the most wind (good for hot humid). So locate your buildings on the following elevations based on climate:

Where is the most effective location for an outdoor noise barrier?

If you have a noise source (truck) and a receiver (person with ears on a balcony), the least effective place for an outdoor noise barrier is halfway between them. The most effective location is as near as possible to the noise source or as near as possible to the receiver. The image is from my book, Architectural Acoustics Illustrated (Wiley 2015)

conservation covenant

If you wish to set aside some of your land in perpetuity as an undeveloped tract for wildlife habitat, that is usually called a "conservation easement" because it gives the birds and turtles access to the land. But it is also sometimes called a "conservation covenant" because it limits future owners from paving that portion of the land for a parking lot.

conservation easement

If you wish to set aside some of your land in perpetuity as an undeveloped tract for wildlife habitat, that is usually called a "conservation easement" because it gives the birds and turtles access to the land. But it is also sometimes called a "conservation covenant" because it limits future owners from paving that portion of the land for a parking lot.

What to do if your land is too flat to drain?

If your vegitated land is sloped at less than 1%, or your parking lot is sloped at less than 0.4%, water will pool causing basement flooding, parking lot damage, mosquitos, etc. . . . to prevent that, create local low-points and install storm drains (then to catch basins, then to underground storm sewer pipes, then to daylight or to underground cisterns that slowly drain) If, on the other hand, you have more slope than those minimums, and therefore enough for gravity to pull water to one part of the site, use curbs to redirect water to retention/detention ponds or swales.

How should you locate and orient your buildings relative to wind on the site?

In a cold climate you want to block the wind, so shelter your building in the "wind shadow" of other obstructions such as out-buildings, other existing nearby structures, patches of trees, or landscape walls. Use unheated rooms (i.e. an attached garage) to buffer your buildings from winds. In a hot-humid climate, locate your building to be free of any wind shadow. Orient buildings with the long axis perpendicular to wind in hot-humid climates to give rooms access to breezes. For instance, if the wind comes from the west, locate the long axis of the building north-to-south. But doesn't that contradict good solar-gain orientation where we'd want to locate a building with its long axis aligned east-west? YES, it does . . . you probably read the question incorrectly if you find such a contradiction. Unfortunately, the exams don't typically force you to make hard choices where one thermal priority contradicts another. Only answer the question with the information given. If the question asks about breezes, focus on cross-ventilation, not environmental noise from a nearby train track. If it asks about noise, focus on the train track and not on solar access. Right-click to rotate buildings when you drag-and-drop them in a site. Right-click on a digital white board item like a shape or text box to rotate it, copy it, etc.

Gross floor area

In matters of code, gross floor area is measured from the inside face of exterior walls. In other matters of programming and analysis (programming, pre-design, schematic design, or cost estimating), gross floor area is measured from the outside face of the exterior walls. It is a value used in the denominator of economic efficiency proportion measures like "net-to-gross" (interior area, excluding corridors, lobbies, elevators, bathrooms, and stairs, divided by gross floor area). "Usable area," is like net area, except that it includes corridors. "Rentable area" is like usable area, except that it includes bathrooms and lobbies. "Grossing factor," is rentable area, divided by usable area. To make these concepts even more difficult to remember, their specific definition varies somewhat by region and industry, so you might have correctly heard one of these terms used in another way. Argh. Try not to stress and do your best based on these definitions.

In a historic preservation setting, list the most important accessibility requirements.

In order of priority: Main public entrance and primary public spaces accessibility Restroom accessibility Secondary space accessibility If you'd like to learn more on this subject, go here.

Contour-forming - (development pattern)

In steep terrain, roads follow lines of elevation, like rural mountain roads

closed loop (geothermal heat pump)

In summer, geothermal heat pumps couple the hot condenser with water that has been cooled by pumping it through the ground—creating a more efficient system than a normative air-cooled condenser. The compressor (pump) doesn't have to work as hard because the hot side doesn't have to cool itself in 100-degree air. In the winter, the system reverses and the cold side doesn't have to heat itself in 0-degree air, and can instead access 50-degree water heated underground

You are designing a health clinic in Zambia on a remote site. A well is not an option here, so water will be delivered to a tank. No pump will be used in the building's plumbing because the clinic is off-the-grid and only has power through photovoltaic panels on the roof. The pressure at the faucet is not sufficient. This can be best rectified by _______. Increasing the diameter of the pipe Increasing the height of the water storage tank Swapping out for a larger tank with a larger diameter Utilizing pressure-increasing valves

Increasing the height of the water storage tank

How to address erosion on steep slopes?

Install perforated pipes or catch basins and drains to redirect the water down the hill to daylight.

In your own words, what is net present value? Provide an example.

It is the easiest concept to own in life-cycle cost analysis because the spreadsheet will tell you that, for instance, Curtain wall System A, over the next 20 years, will cost 10 million in today's dollars and Curtain wall System B will cost 12.5 million, also in today's dollars. You have a choice between two systems: System A has a lower installation cost, but B has a lower operating cost because it is more energy-efficient. Net present value, a technique in life-cycle cost analysis, allows you to easily compare the total cost of the two choices because the cost of installation, plus operation, of each choice is translated to today's dollars. It accounts for inflation (saving a dollar in energy bills in five years is worth less than saving a dollar today in construction cost); it accounts for compound interest (if we save a dollar today, we can invest that dollar over the next five years to earn a return); and aside from energy costs it often accounts for maintenance costs and how long each choice is expected to last before a replacement is needed. In this example, the less expensive system to install (but the more expensive system to operate) has the lower total cost over time. The savings in energy use is not enough to make up the difference in construction cost.

What is a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost estimate?

Just what you'd think. . . an early-stage very approximate cost estimate focused on feasibility that can be considered accurate to something like +/- 50%.

What are form-based codes?

Local zoning codes shift the emphasis from regulating building use (residential-only allowed here, commercial goes over there on the other side of the city) to an emphasis on regulating urban form. The principle of form-based codes, most often associated with the New Urbanism movement, is to encourage walkability and allow a bakery or dentist office to open near the homes that they serve. It might include mandates for street trees, sidewalks, front porches, back alleys and public space. It might also limit front-facing parking lots, dumpster visibility, and the type of building materials available to the architect.

Compacted-measure (Cut-and-Fill Strategy)

Loose soil, once compacted Ex. "We'll get 253 compacted cubic yards behind that retaining wall."

Overhangs vs louvers

Louvers are almost always less impactful on the architecture and structure.

Preservation

Maintains and repairs existing historic materials

Radial/star - (development pattern)

Major roads fan out from a central point, like Washington DC or Paris

Where on the site do you locate the building?

Not where the water table is high!

Where does surface water flow on this site? Draw arrows or run your finger on the screen to show runoff. To print this out and draw on it (recommended) open the image file here.

Note that water moves through the location of the proposed building.

Note the boring log above. (To print out a pdf of the image, click here) At what depth does the soil have a very high bearing capacity? At what depth is the water table? At what depth does the soil have the highest moisture content? How deep is the topsoil? Do we want dense soil or loose soil on our site? Do we want wet soil or dry soil? Do we want cohesive soils or non-cohesive soils?

Note the boring log above. At what depth does the soil have a very high bearing capacity? 18.5 ft At what depth is the water table? 13.1 ft At what depth does the soil have the highest moisture content? 5 ft How deep is the topsoil? 3 in Do we want dense soil or loose soil on our site? Do we want wet soil or dry soil? Do we want cohesive soils or non-cohesive soils? It depends

ASTM E 1527: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment.

Often required in commercial real estate before a bank loans money to develop a site, environmental engineers will attempt to determine if there is asbestos, lead paint, contaminated soil, etc. Phase I is a cursory evaluation, involving a walk-through, interviews with occupants, inspections of adjoining properties, and review of government records pertaining to the site. Was there a dry cleaner or gas station nearby that might have contaminated the soil? Does that pipe insulation look to be of an age that indicates it may have asbestos?

What is the most efficient parking lot layout? One-way or two-way traffic? Perpendicular, parallel, or angled?

One-way traffic angled parking offers the most parking spaces on a given site. See here.

New exterior addition to a historic building?

Only consider new construction if the existing building's non-significant interior spaces cannot accommodate the new functions. Your new addition should be compatible with the scale and massing of the historic building, but your addition should be differentiated from the historic building. No saccharine, Disney, modern-day interpretations of what a historic building might look like in the new addition! Design the new addition so that it can be removed in the future without destroying the original historic building. This is a pretty good addition to a historic building.

What is the difference between Preservation Rehabilitation Restoration Reconstruction

Preservation: Maintains and repairs existing historic materials Rehabilitation: Alters or adds to meet today's needs Restoration: Depicts a property at a particular period of time, removing evidence of other periods. Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. Reconstruction: Recreates non-surviving portions of a property

Can you build on a floodplain?

Provided you get your lowest floor above base flood elevation, most municipalities will allow you to build within the 100-year floodplain, but some disallow construction within the 25-year floodplain. A 25-year floodplain encompasses the area, usually adjacent to a body of water, that has a one-in-25 chance of flooding this calendar year. This is different than the "It floods every 25 years," misconception because it may flood here twice in one year and then not flood for 90 years, and that's normal. Likewise, a spot in a 100-year floodplain has a 1-in-100 chance of flooding this year. Most building and zoning regulations are based on a 100-year-flood event. The National Flood Insurance Program was created by the federal government and administered by FEMA when it became clear that flood insurance couldn't be effectively offered by the private sector: too much financial risk in the event of, say, all of Houston flooding in a single hurricane event, or all of Los Angeles in a Tsunami, where the insurance company wouldn't have enough cash reserves to cover the damage to everyone. FEMA, then has requirements should you choose to build on a floodplain. As you may imagine, the rules are complex, but generally new and substantially-renovated buildings must be built such that your lowest floor sits above base flood elevation (BFE). You can find the BFE of your site by studying FEMA maps, and you can get your lowest floor above BFE on piles, on a crawlspace, or on fill. If you build on a floodplain, the feds may require you to purchase flood insurance.

Reconstruction

Recreates non-surviving portions of a property

How do you repair masonry walls in historic structures?

Repair and replace only the deteriorated masonry; don't replace the whole wall. Match the brick or stone that was removed (this may be difficult to pull off). Replacing (only) damaged materials with matched replacement is a common theme in historic preservation guidelines. Don't clean old masonry unless necessary and then only clean it gently; cleaning can damage it. Don't remove the paint on historically-painted masonry, but don't paint historically-unpainted masonry. Repoint mortar joints with evidence of deterioration (disintegrating mortar, mortar joint cracks, or loose bricks). Duplicate historic mortar joints in strength, composition, color, and texture when repointing is necessary. Finding the right mortar is not about using old-fashioned mortar, but rather ensuring that you use a softer mortar because old mortars were the lime-type. You don't want a repointing mortar that cures harder than the old, soft, brick. Don't repoint masonry with mortar of high Portland cement content because those cure too hard! Use Type O "high-lime" mortar because it will allow the bricks to expand and contract from thermal changes. High-lime mortar also binds to the old brick better and is self-healing. These soft, historic bricks spalled because of a renovation repoint with Portland cement mortar.

Irregular/field - (development pattern)

Roads every which way, most associated with organic (not centrally-planned) city growth, like Boston

Solutions for the reentrant corner problem in seismic design

Separation, strengthening, or stiff wall elements

Single-loaded corridors

Single loaded corridors offer the opportunity for daylight in the circulation space, and may make it easier to provide cross-ventilation in the rooms, provided the corridor has operable windows and the occupants don't mind leaving their hallway doors open (or have louvers that can connect their rooms to the hallway air).

Single-loaded corridors vs double-loaded corridors

Single loaded corridors offer the opportunity for daylight in the circulation space, and may make it easier to provide cross-ventilation in the rooms, provided the corridor has operable windows and the occupants don't mind leaving their hallway doors open (or have louvers that can connect their rooms to the hallway air). Double-loaded corridors allow for larger floor plates and more efficiency, as measured in hotel rooms/sf, because rooms can sit on either side of the hallway.

Best location in a warm climate? Best location in a cold climate? (Site A or Site B)

Site A: cold climate; Site B: warm climate

Satellite - (development pattern)

Smaller cities linked to a central megacity, like Shanghai

What is the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ)?

The authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) is the person, office, or organization responsible for enforcing the code. The AHJ may be a federal, regional, state, county, city, or town official. In practice, this may be the electrical inspector requiring a GFI receptacle, the labor board requiring a minimum number of nursing stations, the regional water management authority limiting the depth of your well, the health board limiting the distance between the commercial kitchen and farthest dining table, the insurance representative insisting on a sprinkler system, or an elevator inspector disputing the oil pressure in the elevator machinery . . . but most commonly, when we refer to the AHJ we are referring to the life safety (fire) code and the authority having jurisdiction will be the state fire marshal.

Which one of these building forms is more efficient in a cold climate, assuming that they each have equal volume?

The multi-story cubic building has less surface area (for the same volume) and therefore less skin heat-loss (and less skin heat gain, and a smaller roof for less radiant summertime gains)

What is universal design?

The theoretical framework behind ADA. . . The idea that buildings should be able to be used by all people, regardless of disability, age, or size—that accessibility it is not a design constraint for the benefit of a small minority, but rather that universal design is good design.

Why avoid cantilevers, irregularly-shaped buildings, re-entrant corners (L- or T- shaped plans) when designing in seismic zones?

There are two reasons to avoid re-entrant corners (and other irregularly-shaped buildings) in your parti: 1. First, like any irregular shape, they produce differential motions between different wings of the building, stressing the re-entrant corner (interior notch) 2. Second, these shapes create torsion in the building that is difficult to predict

Device to limit topsoil erosion in Catch Basin

This catch basin, because it's adjacent to a construction site, has a device to limit topsoil erosion. Water moves through. . . but soil stays on site.

What causes light pollution?

Threee things cause light pollution: (1) Uplights. Click here to see what they look like. (2) Unshielded lights without cut-offs (cut-offs are blinders or baffles that prevent "leaked" light from moving toward the night sky). Click here. (3) Well-lit light-colored ground surfaces that reflect downward-facing light back up to the night sky. It can be seen in the University of Arizona campus nighttime helicopter photo below: the large light spots are reflections from light-colored concrete lighted parking lots.

Site B: Best location for a building in a warm climate

Trees provide shading from southern sun

Best location for a building in a warm climate

Trees shade (at least a portion) of southern sun

Accessible ramps at entrances to historic buildings

Tricky, because the accessible entrance should be the main public entrance, whenever possible. . . and the main public entrance is often in the center of a significant historic facade and atop monumental stairs! Focus on materials (don't use unpainted treated wood for the ramp, put your ramp's railing behind a stone wall, don't install temporary ramps, etc.) Wheelchair platform lifts and inclined stair lifts don't take up a lot of space in plan and can be easily removed in the future (important for historical preservation), but they are usually visually hard-to-hide, aren't permitted in many states, and should be under a covering, protected from the weather to avoid excessive maintenance requirements. Argh, this is hard. Can you punch a new main entrance into a historic building to accommodate the accessibility mandate? Yes, but only after exhausting all possibilities of modifying an existing entrance. Keep the existing historic entrance doors and frames (but you'll need 32" clear path through them, which is generally only achievable in a 36" wide door). Argh again. Tough calls everywhere we look. Historic doors often require a lot of pressure to open, but hard-to-open doors don't meet ADA requirements. Finally . . . an easy win: install automatic door openers. Newer hinges may also reduce the required pressure (and some special hinge types can even get you an extra inch of clear door width). ADA dictates that door thresholds may not exceed ½", and many historic thresholds do. If the threshold is deemed historically significant, add a bevel to each side. Otherwise, alter it or replace it altogether.

Cisterns

Underground temporary storage container for roof or pavement runoff. No extra space required and no mosquitos. Cisterns may be constructed of an array of large pipes. This one is shown uncovered, left, and later covered in what will be a parking lot, right.

Name the causes, and solutions, of the urban heat island effect (1)

Urban heat island effect: the local urban microclimate is warmer than surrounding hinterlands, especially after sunset on sunny, still-air days when the thermal mass of the city slowly releases the solar energy it absorbed all day Causes: reduced natural landscapes, fewer trees, absence of vegetation, fewer bodies of water (evaporation and transpiration cool the microclimate), more hardscapes, more roofs, dark-colored pavements and roofs, building and road geometries that block breezes that would have otherwise flushed the hot air from the city Solutions: just what you'd think. . . plant urban trees and reduee asphalt paving! Also disturb less greenfield, design light-colored pavements and light-colored or green roofs, wide boulevards to allow uninterrupted summer breezes to flush cities of built-up heat

Name the causes, and solutions, of the urban heat island effect (2)

Urban heat island effect: the local urban microclimate is warmer than surrounding hinterlands, especially after sunset on sunny, still-air days when the thermal mass of the city slowly releases the solar energy it absorbed all day Causes: reduced natural landscapes, fewer trees, absence of vegetation, fewer bodies of water (evaporation and transpiration cool the microclimate), more hardscapes, more roofs, dark-colored pavements and roofs, building and road geometries that block breezes that would have otherwise flushed the hot air from the city Solutions: just what you'd think. . . plant urban trees and reduee asphalt paving! Also disturb less greenfield, design light-colored pavements and light-colored or green roofs, wide boulevards to allow uninterrupted summer breezes to flush cities of built-up heat

vertical "wells" (geothermal heat pump)

Vertical wells are more expensive, but the only option in, for instance, a tight urban infill site. The pipes, which are actually more like continuous flexible tubing, can snake and loop through horizontal "trenches," about three feet below the surface, or snake through vertical "wells," that extend hundreds of feet downward. Both options prove expensive and disruptive to the land, especially if it's difficult to get large equipment access to the site, if it's been raining lately and the earth is soft, or if the soil is rocky/stiff and unlikely to make good contact with the tube. Digging the earth for these loops of water is, from an architect or owner's point of view, the dominant factor when considering the geothermal option.

Post-and-Beam/Pole Fundation required

Very steep site

Where should we locate drains, catch basins, or retention ponds?

We locate drains, catch basins, and ponds at the low points of the land (or roof), where water would otherwise want to accumulate. We are especially interested in intercepting, and piping out, water that would otherwise move downhill into a building.

When the shear wall is overly-perforated with apertures or doesn't continue uninterrupted all the way from roof to foundation:

When the shear wall is overly-perforated it fails to bestow the benefit of a shear wall. It no longer protects the building from failure under a lateral load like an earthquake.

Venturi effect

Wind flows fast through breezeways and narrow openings. See here.

Can foundations bear on loam?

Yes, loam can support a building. It is a combination of sand, silt and clay. Gravel, clay, shale, sand are okay; rock (bedrock, limestone, sandstone) is great for supporting foundations of heavy buildings. Organic soil and peat (dark brown or black and easily compressible) are not competent soils. Image: peat, not competent enough to support a building, being harvested for use in gardens.

Bioretention ponds

are vegetated and always wet, like an ecologically thoughtful version of a retention pond.

Express this slope: as a fraction as a ratio as a percentage as an angle

as a fraction. . . 1/4 as a ratio. . . 1:4 as a percentage . . . 25% (note that if the slope is steeper than 45 degrees, the slope is more than 100%) as an angle. . . 14 degrees. SOH CAH TOA tells us that Tan=opposite/adjacent so arctan [or inverse-tan or tan^-1] of 25/100 = 14 degrees. Be sure that your calculator is set to "degrees" rather than "radians."

Energy Use Intensity (EUI)

measures annual kBTUs-used per square foot of floor area. For instance, a warehouse has a median EUI of about 25 kBTU/sf (not much lighting or equipment or need for occupant thermal comfort. . . and spread over a large space). An office or school is 50, a mall is 100, a grocery store or hospital is 200 (lots of equipment), and a fast food restaurant is 400 (lots of equipment in a small total floor area) ASHRAE 90.1 Energy and Lighting

25-year floodplain

encompasses the area, usually adjacent to a body of water, that has a one-in-25 chance of flooding this calendar year. This is different than the "It floods every 25 years," misconception because it may flood here twice in one year and then not flood for 90 years, and that's normal.

Retention ponds

hold stormwater and are always wet. These look like regular ponds (but uglier, if not designed correctly). They both control flooding and promote higher water quality because the soil below them filters out pollutants from the water. On occasion, they can provide for swimming and recreation, but can breed mosquitos and pose a drowning hazard.

Detention ponds

hold stormwater for a while, then slowly drain out. They are dry between storms, control flooding, require large amounts of space, and can breed mosquitoes.

net-to-gross

interior area, excluding corridors, lobbies, elevators, bathrooms, and stairs, divided by gross floor area

Usable area

is like net area, except that it includes corridors

Rentable area

is like usable area, except that it includes bathrooms and lobbies

Grossing factor

is rentable area, divided by usable area

Shrink and swell factor (Cut-and-Fill Strategy)

is the decrease or increase in the volume of earth, expressed as a percentage, as compared to the volume of earth in its natural "bank" state (not compared to its transport volume)

Grid/rectangular/chessboard - (development pattern)

like Midtown New York

Riparian zones

the buffer areas adjacent to a water body. They are sometimes wet (after a rain or at high tide) and sometimes dry; often heavily vegetated; and important for flood and erosion control, wildlife habitat, and water quality. They are especially salient in dry climates where the stream banks are the only places with enough water to support trees, and heavy rains pose a considerable erosion/mudslide threat without the vegetation to shore up the banks.

Borrow (Cut-and-Fill Strategy)

too little excavated and now we have to purchase fill from elsewhere (Very Expensive)

Waste (Cut-and-Fill Strategy)

too much excavated and now we have to haul it away (Very Expensive)

Bioswale

vegetated or mulched channels that convey stormwater away slowly enough to allow for water to seep into the soil, which removes pollutants before recharging groundwater: like an ecologically thoughtful version of a detention pond. To see an example, click here. (Bioretention ponds are vegetated and always wet, like an ecologically thoughtful version of a retention pond. To see an example, click here.)