Project Planning & Design

Phase I ESA

A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, or ESA, is a report done to help determine whether a property has been contaminated, and it is the first step in an environmental investigation. An ESA is often done before the sale of a project as a requirement from the lender. It is a thorough visual investigation that addresses the land, any structures, and surrounding properties. It also includes looking up records and reports and conducting interviews to find out prior uses of the property and whether potential environmental hazards exist. Actual sampling of materials like soil or groundwater is not done in a Phase I ESA.

Phase II ESA

A Phase II Environmental Site Assessment is done after a Phase I ESA to assess any of the findings of the Phase I ESA. It includes testing of air, soil, groundwater, or building materials to get definitive answers about contaminants. If contamination is found, another investigation is usually required, along with clean-up.

Wind rose

A circular graphical tool for showing wind speed and direction at a given location.

Passive design

A design strategy that uses natural climatic conditions to heat, cool, and light a building.

Community development block grants

A flexible program that provides communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community needs.

Green Seal

A nonprofit environmental standards development and certification organization.

Typical walking distance

A quarter of a mile.

Soils report

A report that gives an understanding of earth conditions that will affect a building. Typically required in areas with expansive or low-strength soils, where a new foundation may encounter fill, or where lots of site grading needs to be done (aka, geotechnical report).

Sick building syndrome

A series of symptoms connected with the phenomenon of building occupants feeling sick when they are in a building, and then recovering when they leave the building.

Environmental product declaration

A standardized, internationally recognized comprehensive tool for providing information on a product's environmental impact based on an ISO-compliant life cycle assessment (LCA) and verification by a third party. It includes the life cycle of the product, energy use and efficiency during manufacture, transportation methods, and end-of-service-life recycling.

Selective surfaces

A surface that has high absorptivity in one wavelength (solar) and low emissivity in another (infrared). This material stores incoming radiation without reradiating it.

Prevailing wind

A wind that blows predominantly from one direction at any given location on the Earth's surface. Global patterns, latitude, terrain, and bodies of water all influence prevailing winds.

Gabions

A wirework container or "big cage" filled with stone or concrete rubble. Used to protect slopes against erosion, as with retaining walls, noise barriers, and other uses.

Ecotone

A zone of transition between two different ecological communities. For example, when there is no hard boundary between a field and a forest.

Defensible space

As defined by Oscar Newman, it is a residential environment whose physical characteristics, building footprint, and site layout function to allow residents to become key agents in ensuring their security.

BREEAM

Building research establishment environmental assessment method; a method for assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability of buildings. It is used internationally.

Infiltration basin

Closed depression in the earth from which water can only escape back into the soil.

DU/AC

Dwelling units per acre is a measurement of residential density. Single-family home: up to 10 du/ac. Row houses: 20-40 du/ac. Apartments: 30-105 du/ac.

Groundwater

Groundwater is the water that is present under the Earth's soil. It includes water in aquifers, soil moisture, and permafrost. Groundwater, if present, needs to be drained away from buildings.

Heat vs. temperature

Heat is the energy in a substance. Temperature is the measure of the energy in a substance.

Structural insulated panels

High-performance wall system that consists of an insulating foam core between two structural facings (such as OSB ). They are strong, energy efficient, and built in a controlled factory environment that maintains consistency and quality.

Direct gain

In passive solar heating, south windows that allow heat from the winter sun to directly absorb into the thermal mass inside the building.

Rough grading

Involves the movement of soil prior to construction to approximate levels of final grades.

Recycled content (post-consumer vs. pre-consumer)

Post-consumer: Waste material generated by end users that can no longer be used for its intended purpose. Pre-consumer: Material diverted from the waste stream during the manufacturing process. Use of products that utilize post-consumer and pre-consumer waste in their production reduces the amount of waste produced.

Aeroponics

Process of growing plants in suspension in an air or mist environment without the use of soil.

Building commissioning

Process used on new construction that verifies that systems (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, fire suppression, lighting, etc.) are all functioning according to the design and the owner's requirements. This encourages energy efficiency and lower maintenance and operating costs.

Excavation

Removal of soil to allow construction of foundations and other permanent features below the finished level of the grade.

Restrictive, affirmative, and conditional covenants

Restrictive covenant: a type of deed restriction that implies limitations or stipulations to particular aesthetics or uses; often used in residential areas to control fencing type/color, boat storage, etc. Affirmative covenant: a type of deed restriction that promises a responsibility or future action, such as paying HOA fees or holding adequate levels of insurance. Conditional covenant: a type of deed restriction that, if broken, means the land will revert back to the original owner stated. Note that all covenants are binding and enforceable.

Bioswale

Shallow and elongated grass-lined channel that is moist or marshy; designed to detain stormwater runoff and remove sediment and other contaminants, while allowing water to seep back into the ground.

Insolation

Solar radiation.

Metes and bounds

Method of describing real property using physical features of the local geography, along with directions and distances.

Face-block

Neighborhood defined as two sides of one street between intersecting streets.

NIMBYism

Not in my backyard.

Infill development

Occurs on vacant or underused lots in otherwise built-up sites or areas.

Recharge (groundwater)

Occurs when surface water moves down into the earth to the groundwater. Can be either natural or anthropogenic.

Rail to trail

Old rail routes have been converted to bike trails in communities throughout the United States since the mid-1980s. They are successful because the grades of the rail lines were already relatively flat, which is good for biking.

Preservation

One of the four approaches to the treatment of historic properties. Preservation focuses on maintenance and repair to ensure a building or monument stays as is.

Reconstruction

One of the four approaches to the treatment of historic properties. Reconstruction recreates missing parts with new construction.

Rehabilitation

One of the four approaches to the treatment of historic properties. Rehabilitation is the approach that recognizes the need to change or add to a historic property while maintaining the original.

Restoration

One of the four approaches to the treatment of historic properties. Restoration is when a property depicts a certain point in time and removes all other elements.

Open-loop (geothermal)

Open-loop describes a geothermal heat pump system that uses a well or surface water for source fluid and discharges to the surface or groundwater. It is also known as a pump-and-dump or once-through.

Movable insulation

Operable insulation panels that are put over glazing at nighttime to reduce heat loss.

Bubble diagrams and adjacency matrix are best used for what programming tasks?

Organizing client needs for spatial relationships.

Stormwater runoff management

Stormwater runoff from a project site can overwhelm the surrounding ecosystem, so managing it is an important principle of sustainable design. Some ways to reduce runoff include using landscape areas to complement hardscape, rainwater harvesting, using permeable and semipermeable pavers, and retaining water on-site to release gradually over a longer period of time.

Catchment areas

Surrounding base of a population within a geographical region. It includes gross population within a certain distance, census data, and information from local planning agencies.

Altitude

The angle measured up from the ground plane.

Peak loads

The highest demand within a certain time frame. Often occurs when both climatic conditions and high occupancy factors are present. Peak loads may be daily, seasonal, or annual.

Factors that determine dimensions of streets

Parking configuration; building use; degree/type of nonmotorist activity; truck traffic percentage; ADA requirements; location within urban fabric; and transit use.

Sky cover

Percentage of the sky that is cloud covered. Measured in 0-10 tenths. Clear skies are 0-2 tenths covered. Partly cloudy skies are 2-8 tenths covered. Overcast skies are 8-10 tenths covered.

Azimuth

The horizontal angle at the ground plane measured from compass north to the object.

Water table

The line in the soil below which the ground is saturated.

Night sky radiation

The opposite of insolation, night sky radiation is when heat from the Earth's surface radiates back into space at night. This is reduced on a cloudy night because the clouds act as an insulator.

Rainwater harvesting

The process of collecting, diverting, and storing rainwater for later use. Commonly referred to as "gray water," harvested water can be utilized for irrigation, water closets, and urinals. Unless it is properly treated, it is not suitable for use as potable water.

Natural ventilation

The process of moving air through an indoor space without the use of a mechanical system. Natural ventilation typically uses pressure differences between spaces to drive air between areas.

Emissivity

The property of a material to emit energy as thermal radiation. Black surfaces have higher emissivities than white or shiny surfaces.

Subterranean ground temperature

The temperature of the ground below the surface of the Earth is nearly constant year-round. This near-constant subterranean temperature is what allows geothermal heat pumps to work anywhere in the world.

Energy Star

The trusted government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, helping consumers save money and protect the environment through energy-efficient products and practices.

Cardo and decamanus

The two major streets in a Roman town that run perpendicular to each other.

Traffic calming

The use of design elements to slow vehicular traffic and bring awareness to drivers. Types include speed bumps; changes in width and grade of the street; and changes in paving material, surface, color, or texture. Speed bumps are effective but undesirable because of damage to snow removal equipment, slowing of emergency vehicles, damage to the speed bump itself, and accessibility issues.

Secondary conservation areas

These areas include all other locally noteworthy or significant features of the natural and cultural landscape, such as mature woodlands, wildlife habitats, prime farmland, groundwater recharge areas, greenways and trails, river and stream corridors, historic sites, and scenic viewsheds.

Park covenants

These guide industry development, often describing the type and character of industry allowed within the industrial park; general guidelines for building construction; environmental considerations; buffer zones; and overall general aesthetics.

Une Cite Industrielle by Tony Garnier

Urban planning concept that functions around the concept of a central public area surrounded by different functions housed in separate zones: industry, work, leisure, and transportation. This theory was developed in response to the industrial revolution, which brought overpopulation, dirt, and unrestricted urban growth.

Blowing agents

Used to manufacture foam insulation products, blowing agents have traditionally been greenhouse gases, but improvements have been and continue to be made.

Federal Incentives for Historic Preservation

- Certified local government grants for local preservation planning - Federal Historic Preservation tax credit program - State or local homeowner or business owner tax credits - Historic or local preservation loan funds - Community development block grants - FHWA Transportation Enhancement Program

Types of greenways

- Local systems within a neighborhood - Communitywide systems - Regional systems covering multiple counties - Statewide, multistate, and national systems

Types of special use parks

- Nature and cultural/performing arts centers - Historic sites: downtowns, plazas, cemeteries, historic landscapes, churches, and monuments - Recreation facilities: aquatic centers, campgrounds, ice arenas, fitness centers, community centers, skateboard parks, and stadiums - Public gathering areas: amphitheaters, community commons, town centers, and urban squares

Planning guidelines for a neighborhood center

- One mile between centers to isolate market demand for each center's retail and service uses - Mixed-use center core of 15-25 blocks - Core located at the intersection of neighborhood collectors, along one side of a major artery that serves as a boundary for the area - Center perimeter defined as 1/4 mile walking distance from core, or approximately 40-60 blocks in area - Area within perimeter outside the mixed-use center core provides a range of housing types and densities, approximately 3,000-4,000 residents

Goals and benefits of infill development

- Preserves open space, ag land, and forests by reducing development pressures on greenfield sites - Provides opportunities to revitalize a downtown neighborhood - Increases tax base for a jurisdiction by creating or renewing a property's value - Makes efficient use of abandoned, vacant, and underused sites - Enhances sustainability by making efficient use of existing community amenities and infrastructure - Promotes compact development and increases density - Creates a mixture of uses

Benefits of TODs

- Quality of life: reducing auto dependency, increased housing options, affordability, etc. - Public health: more walkable environments - Economic development: access to jobs for people without cars or with fewer cars per household - Community character: opportunity to create public spaces and well-designed buildings - Environmental quality: design alternative to sprawl that provides opportunity to pursue environmentally sensitive site planning - Transit use: increased ridership and potential for additional funding sources for new transit facilities

Typical impacts from industrial use in a neighborhood

-Transportation: increased volume of traffic and impacts on local and regional transportation systems - Community Services: increased demand for community services, including utilities, police, fire and rescue, emergency services, etc. - Pollution: air pollution generated from increased traffic and/or processes carried out throughout the industrial park - Aesthetics: ensuring compatibility of the design and operation of the industrial park with the character of the community

Embodied energy

All the energy it takes to make a product, including raw material extraction, transportation, and manufacturing. Because it is difficult to measure, it is often estimated.

WaterSense

An EPA program that helps consumers select water-efficient products.

Smart growth

An approach that protects open space and farmland by emphasizing development with houses, jobs, and services near each other.

Critical regionalism

An approach to architecture that strives to counter the placelessness and lack of identity of the International Style, while rejecting the whimsical individualism and ornamentation of postmodern architecture. Popularized by architect and urbanist Kenneth Frampton.

The Image of the City by Kevin Lynch

An influential book about how people perceive and mentally organize space as they move through cities. It suggests that people organize a city based on the following elements: -Paths: the streets, sidewalks, and trails that people use -Edges: perceived boundaries (walls, shorelines, etc.) -Districts: sections with distinguishable characteristics -Nodes: focal points -Landmarks: identifiable reference points

The neighborhood theory by Clarence Perry

An urban planning concept that promoted self-contained, functional neighborhoods within industrial cities. The concept promoted a school being centrally located within a 1/4 to 1/2 mile walk for children and where shopping, churches, and other community services would be placed on the edge of the neighborhood. Ten percent of the land would be dedicated to green/open space, and there would be no major traffic through residential areas.

Closed-loop (geothermal)

Closed-loop is a term used to describe a geothermal heat pump system with a continuous loop of plastic pipe as the heat exchanger. It is a "closed" system where water or antifreeze recirculates through the pipes. The loops can be either vertical (drilled) pipes or horizontal (trenched) pipes, depending on site conditions. Closed loops can also be installed in ponds and lakes.

Primary conservation areas

Comprise only the most severely constrained lands, where development is typically restricted under current codes and laws, such as wetlands, floodplains, and slopes exceeding 25 percent.

Transect

Concept drawn from ecology; a progression through a sequence of habitats. Rural-to-urban transect includes a sequence of human habitats of increasing density and complexity.

Photovoltaic (PV) panels

Convert sunlight into direct current (DC) electricity, which can subsequently be "inverted" to AC electricity to meet an AC load. PV panels can be mounted on the ground or may be attached to building roofs or walls. If they are static, their ideal orientation depends on the sun's altitude angle. PV panels may also utilize solar trackers to better orient themselves in relation to the sun.

Sustainability

Defined as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Transit-oriented development (TOD)

Defined as a development that is located within a ten-minute walk or 1/2 mile from a light rail, heavy rail, or commuter rail station. It includes development along heavily used bus and bus rapid transit corridors. Includes a mix of uses such as housing, retail, office, research, and civic. Densities are higher than usual to take advantage of transit proximity.

Geothermal systems

Energy-efficient heating method that collects heat from under the Earth's surface using a heat pump system and delivers it into a building to supplement the heating demand and reduce the carbon footprint.

Aquifer thermal energy storage

Energy-efficient method to heat and cool a building through the storage and recovery of thermal energy from groundwater in an aquifer. Cold groundwater is collected in winter months and stored for use in the warm months, and vice versa. The cold water that is used and subsequently warmed can also be stored as warm water for cool months.

True or False? Playgrounds are exempt from accessibility regulations.

False.

Rapidly renewable materials

Fiber- or animal-based material that can be grown, harvested, or manufactured in ten years or less.

Xeriscaping

Landscaping designed to reduce or eliminate potable water use in irrigation through the planting of native and adapted species of vegetation and the use of other water-conserving techniques.

Riprap

Large stone or concrete rubble that is used to line shorelines or waterways to protect against erosion.

Densities of housing types

Low density = 5-10 du/acre residential town house/row house = 15-30 du/acre medium rise = 30-40 du/acre center core = 40 du/acre

End-on pattern

This development consists of rows of units located at right angles to the streets.

Court pattern

This development groups units to face a common open space.

Street-front pattern

This development type is linear, with houses and apartments lining both sides of the street.

Invert

This is the lowest elevation of the existing public sewer line. It should be established during planning because the effluent must flow from the lowest point where the sewer lines leave the building to the main sewer. The connection of the building sewer line to the main sewer line must occur above the invert of the main line at any given point in order to interfere with free flow.

Garden city movement

Utopian city planning concept founded on the principles described in Sir Ebenezer Howard's Garden Cities of To-Morrow. The concept is based on the idea that there are three "magnets" of living: town, country, and town-country. Self-contained communities of these three types are surrounded by green-builts and have proportionate areas of residential, industrial, and agricultural uses. The nodes are all connected by rail transit.

Commissioning

Verification after construction that a structure and its systems and subsystems meet project requirements as intended and designed.

Gray water

Wastewater from kitchens, laundry, and bath fixtures, but not toilets.

Blackwater

Wastewater from toilets.

Reclaimed water

Wastewater that has been treated and purified for nonpotable uses.

Pedestrian vs. vehicular collisions

When vehicle speed is less than 20 mph, the pedestrian is usually not seriously injured. Vehicle speeds of 20-30 mph: serious injuries. Over 30 mph: injuries are often fatal.

Windward vs. leeward

Windward is the side of where moist air rises; it is the wetter side of the hill. Leeward is the drier side, where dry air descends.