Environmental & Building Context

Question 1

What is living space ratio?

Answer 1

Open space minus parking space on a lot

Question 2

What is the opposite of a sociopetal force?

Answer 2

Sociofugal force

Question 3

What is catchment area?

Answer 3

This refers to areas containing the population surrounding some service, i.e. catchment area for a school. It is the area surrounding a land development site, encompassing the population base that the development is meant to serve.

Question 4

What is Behavior setting?

Answer 4

a place with defined boundaries in which a standing pattern of behavior occurs at a particular time; may also contain objects that support the behavior

Question 5

What is an infiltration basin?

Answer 5

a closed depression in the earth from which water can escape only into the soil (a large rain garden)

Question 6

What is the relationship between albedo, reflectivity, solar reflectance, and emissivity?

Answer 6

Albedo is solar reflectance. Reflectivity is related to this and used in LEED. Emissivity is the opposite of albedo.

Question 7

What is the solar reflectance index (SRI)?

Answer 7

an index of emissivity and reflectivity ranging from 0.0 (very bad) to 122 (very good)

Question 8

What are 3 ways to mitigate the heat island effect?

Answer 8

Roof with high SRI / shading from trees / open grid paving

Question 9

What does EIS stand for?

Answer 9

Environmental impact statement

Question 10

Define aquifer.

Answer 10

a natural, underground reservoir from which wells draw water

Question 11

What is a bedroom community?

Answer 11

a region or small town that contains mainly housing and offers few employment opportunities

Question 12

What constitutes a blighted area?

Answer 12

an area of a city in which many buildings are in a state of decay and in need of improvement; Some state laws include more specific definitions.

Question 13

What are wetlands?

Answer 13

land that has development restrictions placed on it because it is commonly flooded and may be environmentally sensitive

Question 14

How should you characterize soils analyzed a being silty?

Answer 14

This type of soil is characterized as smaller particles with occasional plastic behavior.

Question 15

How should you characterize soils analyzed as being organic materials?

Answer 15

This type of soil is characterized as very fine material of organic matter.

Question 16

How should you characterize soils analyzed as being gravels?

Answer 16

This type of soil is characterized as rigid particles with moderately high bearing capacity.

Question 17

How should you characterize soils analyzed as being clays?

Answer 17

This type of soil is characterized as particles with some cohesion and plasticity in their behavior.

Question 18

When drawing contour lines, how would your represent a Ridge?

Answer 18

When drawing contour lines, ridges and valleys are frequently confused; the contours point toward the lower elevation for a ridge and toward the higher elevation for a valley.

Question 19

What are contours used for?

Answer 19

These are used to represent three-dimensional land-forms in a two-dimensional drawing.

Question 20

When drawing contour lines, how would your represent a Valley?

Answer 20

When drawing contour lines, ridges and valleys are frequently confused; the contours point toward the lower elevation for a ridge and toward the higher elevation for a valley.

Question 21

When drawing contour lines, how would you represent a hill?

Answer 21

This contour representation is easy to spot as they are represented with concentric circles (or near circles) with elevations near the center being higher.
Ensure to verify the elevations as a depression is drawn the same way with lower elevations being in the center.

Question 22

When drawing contour lines, how would you represent a depression?

Answer 22

This contour representation is easy to spot as they are represented with concentric circles (or near circles) with elevations near the center being lower.
Ensure to verify the elevations as a hill is drawn the same way with higher elevations being in the center.

Question 23

When drawing contour lines, how would you represent a street with curb and gutters?

Answer 23

Representing this in contour lines looks like regularly spaced “W’s” having sharp points at the bottom and a wide rounded or smooth/flat middle point. The bottom points are in the direction of the lower elevation while the while the middle point is in the direction of the higher elevation.

Question 24

What is contextualism?

Answer 24

This is the belief that new buildings should be designed to harmonize with other buildings and elements in the vicinity.

Question 25

What is demographics?

Answer 25

This is the statistical data of a population, such as age, income, and so forth.

Question 26

What is personal space (personal distance)?

Answer 26

This is the subjective distance or areas surrounding a person’s body into which a person feels comfortable allowing others to intrude, depending on the situation. Psychologist Robert Sommer developed a theory that there are four distances of personal space, including intimate distance, personal distance, social distance, and public distance. All of which vary by culture and specific situation.

Question 27

What are the four distances of personal space according to Psychologist Robert Sommer’s theory?

Answer 27

The four distances of this subjective area of comfort surrounding a person are:

1. Intimate distance.
2. Personal distance.
3. Social distance.
4. Public distance.

These distances vary bu culture and situation.

Question 28

What is a Planned Unit Development (PUD)?

Answer 28

This is a large parcel of land, typically with a mix of uses, that has been designed and laid out according to principles approved by the local planning authority and often with citizen input. This type of development is commonly used to develop land in a way that ordinarily would not be allowed based on normal planning and zoning restrictions of a jurisdiction.

Question 29

What is proxemics?

Answer 29

This term is coined by anthropologist Edward T. Hall and now used to describe the study of the spatial requirements of humans and the effects of population density on behavior, communication, and social interaction.

Question 30

What is a superblock?

Answer 30

This is a large parcel of land designed to minimize the impact of the automobile on residential development in which access to interior lots is provided by cul-de-sacs branching from surrounding streets and providing one or more open spaces.

Question 31

What is tax base?

Answer 31

This is the object on which a tax is calculated. ie property is this for property tax.

Question 32

What is a field pattern of urban development?

Answer 32

This pattern of urban development is an amorphous pattern with no real shape.

Question 33

What is a megalopolis urban development pattern?

Answer 33

This pattern of urban development is formed when two or more major urban areas grow into each other as the area between them is developed.