AmberBook PA Flashcards

Question

What is a covenant?

Answer 1

Covenants often restrict what future owners can do on the property.

Answer 2

1. Main public entrance and primary public spaces accessibility 2. Restroom accessibility 3. Secondary space accessibility

Answer 3

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

Answer 4

5% maxium (1% minimum for runoff)

Answer 5

From smallest to largest: local, collector, arterial, expressway

Answer 6

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.

Answer 7

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)

Answer 8

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.

Answer 9

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).

Answer 10

One-way, 75-degree angled parking.

Answer 11

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.

Answer 12

When construction activities disturb the soil When the soil is used as fill Beneath footings, slabs, basement floors, driveways, sidewalks

Answer 13

We’ll assume it’s worth what it would cost to replace it (new) if it disappeared tomorrow.

Answer 14

We’ll assume it’s worth what similar buildings sold for recently. This includes the comparables (“comps”) many homebuyers and lenders use to price one house based on what others in the neighborhood sold for in the last few months.

Answer 15

Includes the anticipation of future benefits. Converts future income from the property into a present worth or current market value. What would the prudent investor be willing to pay now for the right to receive the future income stream from renting this office building? If the property rents for $8,500 per month, and has a historical occupancy rate of 90%, and costs $900 per month in maintenance and $400 per month in owner-paid utilities, and $750 per month in city property taxes and $175 per month in property insurance premiums and $400 per month in the owner’s hourly time spent managing the property, and is in a Washington DC neighborhood likely to appreciate and the mortgage rates for investment properties currently sit at 3.85%. . . well, as an investor, I’m willing to pay no more than $1.1 million for that particular set of financials with that particular risk profile. So, by the “income approach,” the property has a valuation of $1.1 million.

Answer 16

Rough order of magnitude cost estimate Might be off by as much as 2X Used for a “napkin estimate” before design to determine feasibility. Used in Pre-design/programming (PA exam) As we move through design phases we get more specific and have more confidence that our estimate is close to the final construction cost, eventually where we want to be within 5% For later, SD, DD, and CD stages: “Unit-rate cost estimating” . . . early-on, we’ll use estimates based on per square foot or per cubic foot estimates. Then later, as we know more about the project, our estimates will tally detailed units like “number of pipe bends” and “linear feet of conduit” and “estimated cost of labor to install 50,000 sf of EPDM roofing membrane.”

Answer 17

A: To address inorganic and radioactive pollutants . . . like toxic heavy metals, pesticides, and fertilizers Mixes a soil binder with the on-site dirt to make the soil more solid and stable

Answer 18

A: When the soil is contaminated by inorganic materials (toxic metals). In soil flushing, we inject water into the soil (only if the soil type contains spaces large enough to move the water through). The soil flushing solution includes additives that help with contaminant solubility. The contaminants are then flushed out of the soil and down to the groundwater and the groundwater is extracted and treated at the surface. In soil washing, we’ll excavate the soil out of the ground and wash off the contaminates, and then return the soil to the hole we dug. If you haven’t figured. out yet, the civil engineers who came up with all these remediation processes named them in an intuitive way, where you can figure out how to do them. . . you’ll however want to memorize when each of them is useful, so that will take some memorization of this series of cards.

Answer 19

A: Soils contaminated by fuels and underground VOCs (but not useful for much else) Wells dug into the soil pull contaminated vapor out with vacuum suction where it is filtered with activated carbon at the surface.

Answer 20

A: Bioremediation can be used for VOCs, fuels, inorganics (toxic metals), and explosives. In bioremediation, we inject helpful microbes into the soil that “eat” the contaminant, rendering it less harmful or inert altogether.

Answer 21

Vertical crack: Not a serious problem (typically). Caused by shrinkage as the concrete cures. Typically not one long crack, but may be several smaller hairline, cracks. They may have to be sealed to prevent leaks. Click here. Diagonal crack: Often a problem. Caused by differential settlement. Click here Horizontal crack: A big problem. Caused by shear failure. Click here. What is an example of shear failure? The foundation wall is no longer supported: Imagine the basement wall punches into the footing under load. . . or the ground bulges around the foundation wall as the footing displaces the soil it rests on. To see more, click here.

Answer 22

New buildings require accessibility if: they are (1) places of public accommodation (businesses with a public-facing entrance like banks, hotels, restaurants, doctor’s offices, etc.) or (2) commercial spaces that need to be accessed by people with disabilities. Renovated existing non-compliant buildings require accessibility if: (1) a primary function area is part of the alteration (the teller station of a bank, the lobby of a hotel, the dining room of a restaurant, or the waiting room of a doctor’s office). . . if making the room accessible will exceed 20% of the total cost of the building alteration, then the ADA requirement is considered “disproportionate” and you can cap your accessibility-related spending at 20%, provided you make ADA alterations in this reasonable order of priority until you hit 20% of your budget: entrance; route to the primary function area; at least one unisex restroom or one restroom for each sex serving the area; public telephones serving the area; drinking fountains serving the area; other elements. To summarize, you don’t need to make the following accessible: a single-family house or townhouse; a warehouse not open to the public where no one who works there needs accommodations (though it’s still a good idea to make that warehouse accessible because once they hire someone who needs an accommodation or open to the public so shoppers can “skip the middleman,” they’ll need to make the building accessible!); a renovation of a hallway, janitor’s closet, employee lounge, locker room, storage room, mechanical room, etc.; when changing the height of the drinking fountain exceeds 20% of the cost of the renovation (but you’ll still need to use 20% of the renovation budget to widen the front door and build a ramp to it). You’ll need to make your new or renovated building accessible in just about every other scenario. That includes parking lot spaces, sidewalks, restrooms, etc.

Answer 23

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.

Answer 24

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.

Answer 25

**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. On occasion, they can provide for swimming and recreation, but can breed mosquitos and pose a drowning hazard. To see the difference between dry detention and wet retention ponds, see below. ![]() The detention pond, dry because the. photo was taken between storms, is on the left; and the retention pond is on the right. **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](https://jpalandscapeblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/bioswale-header-image-e1525791333726.jpg?w=584). (Bioretention ponds are vegetated and always wet, like an ecologically thoughtful version of a retention pond. To see an example, click [here](https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/region8/greeninfrastructure/DentionRetentionPonds/100_1062.JPG).) **Cisterns:** Underground temporary storage container for roof or pavement runoff. No extra space required and no mosquitos. To see an image, click [here](https://www.belgardcommercial.com//FILE/12868/picp-rwh-illustration.png). ![]() ![]() 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. 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.

Answer 26

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 **BankLooseCompactedMaterial**Volume VolumeswellVolumeswell or shrinkGranite1 cu yd1.7 cu yd70%1.4 cu yd40%Limestone1 cu yd1.6 cu yd60%1.35 cu yd35%Clay1 cu yd1.6 cu yd60%0.9 cu yd-10%Sand1 cu yd1.1 cu yd10%0.9 cu yd-10% To watch me solve this series of cut-and-fill flash cards, click on [this Amber Book : 40 Minutes of Competence video](https://youtu.be/hyNlJ3H-m6o?list=PLRqQUel8W0R71cVQvIkcQ529D93rr2ggh).

Answer 27

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).

Answer 28

Answer: trenches 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. As you might imagine, *horizontal trenches*, which look like[this](https://www.alternative-energy-tutorials.com/images/stories/geothermal/alt101.gif) and[this](https://farm-energy.extension.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Geothermal_excavation.jpg), 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](https://www.waterfurnace.com/imgs/loops/Commercial/Vertical-Loop.jpg) and[this](https://youtu.be/FJXVrUvbCuc) (you can see why this is an expensive option–drilling deep is a mess). 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](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RI3Gxf3ryxE/maxresdefault.jpg); an open loop tied to an on-site pond looks like[this](https://www.specialtyheating.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/SHC_Geo_O_C_Loop.jpg).

Answer 29

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

Answer 30

Form-based 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. 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. 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.

Answer 31

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.

Answer 32

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..

Answer 33

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.

Answer 34

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.

Answer 35

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.

Answer 36

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

Answer 37

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

Answer 38

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).

Answer 39

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:

Answer 40

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.

Answer 41

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.”

Answer 42

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).

Answer 43

In order of priority: 1. Main public entrance and primary public spaces accessibility 2. Restroom accessibility 3. Secondary space accessibility

Answer 44

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

Answer 45

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

Answer 46

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](https://www.access-board.gov/images/guidelines_standards/Buildings_Sites/guides/chapter4/4edg19.jpg) to each side. Otherwise, alter it or replace it altogether.

Answer 47

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.

Answer 48

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](https://epmgaa.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2020/02/13/Actor_Interpreters.jpeg), Virginia. Reconstruction: Recreates non-surviving portions of a property

Answer 49

5% maxium (1% minimum for runoff)

Answer 50

From smallest to largest: local, collector, arterial, expressway

Answer 51

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%.

Answer 52

Each of these describes the streets layout. . . Grid/rectangular/chessboard: like [Midtown New York](https://www.google.com/maps/place/New+York,+NY/@40.7584416,-73.9812453,1564m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c24fa5d33f083b:0xc80b8f06e177fe62!8m2!3d40.7127753!4d-74.0059728) Radial/star: Major roads fan out from a central point, like [Washington DC](https://ggwash.org/images/posts/200908-131203.jpg) or Paris Radial-ring: Concentric circles of bypass roads established to divert traffic around the dense center each time the city grows in girth, like [Houston](https://d1qnbzgad6pxy3.cloudfront.net/assets/images/maps/TX-Houston.gif) Contour-forming: In steep terrain, roads follow lines of elevation, like [rural mountain roads](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Blacksburg,+VA/@37.3684071,-80.5036622,26250m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x884d950adc06dcc3:0x86ceb8ea4842da2d!8m2!3d37.2295733!4d-80.4139393?hl=en) Irregular/field: Roads every which way, most associated with organic (not centrally-planned) city growth, like [Boston](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Boston,+MA/@42.3196044,-71.0927463,3353m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e3652d0d3d311b:0x787cbf240162e8a0!8m2!3d42.3600825!4d-71.0588801) Satellite: Smaller cities linked to a central megacity, like [Shanghai](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stanislaw_Lobejko/publication/313447389/figure/fig7/AS:459468229091337@1486557170959/Nine-satellite-towns-surrounding-Shanghai.png)

Answer 53

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.

Answer 54

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](https://up.codes/viewer/utah/ibc-2015/chapter/3/use-and-occupancy-classification#3) 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.

Answer 55

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.

Answer 56

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](https://slco.org/globalassets/1-site-files/watershed/streams-101/streams101-12b.png). For a photo, go [here](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Riparian_strip.jpg).

Answer 57

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](https://youtu.be/U-imAkIHDkE) 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.

Answer 58

A: Approximately a quarter of the way up the hill. `

Answer 59

Catch basin: the box below an outdoor drain. It looks like [this](https://www.momentumplatform.com/gandgconcrete/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2019/01/catch-basin.jpg). 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.

Answer 60

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.

Answer 61

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)

Answer 62

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)

Answer 63

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](https://www.t4spatial.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/sanitary-sewer-storm-sewer-system-diagram.jpg), then to [daylight](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/J2QOBxMFSeX26LWV_ZT8xmI87lhI79oC8fEu1FT7aHA5SBWBIaQqfR0vVxcZwcMdKia_jGKlZm-IjalHUppT3dJUxC-DBRZ2xMvJvUOsUc2x24cpFBgyBjQxx-U2M9Lp6VEePsKH) or to [underground cisterns](https://cultec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cultec-sws-parking-lot-04-2019.jpg) that slowly drain) ![]() This drain on an occupiable flat roof plaza, over a sub-grade building, feeds stormwater pipes in the ceiling of the space below. During the Covid pandemic, weeds began growing in these local low-points, perhaps because they supported less foot traffic that otherwise tamped down plant life, or perhaps because landscaping maintenance schedules were disrupted by the pandemic. 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](https://green4drain.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/snc00594.jpg).

Answer 64

Urban heat island effect: the local urban [microclimate](https://bayareamonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/urban-heat-island-graphic.jpg) 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](https://land8.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Alexandre-Affonso.jpg) 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

Answer 65

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.

Answer 66

Threee things cause light pollution: (1) Uplights. Click [here](https://www.greenbuildinglawupdate.com/files/2011/09/Girl-flyer1.jpg) 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](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/odHO5PHSgTDrXLvDBYkVhbBTiSTit3y3d1nuBSmqEsfmH2bu01AkwDj8YnbpJ43-3jq1vaaDnOSJfCc5AxcBr4NvMSM7buBISCSca-JMxLYb1u5y2eyvs0PQFpKejes7Ik39vAZmzNqBIoXO_QFjXwyWIXFm1FA). (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. ![]() Below is a photo of one of those parking lots with a light-colored concrete paving surface: ![]()

Answer 67

![]() 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)

Answer 68

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).

Answer 69

Wind flows fast through breezeways and narrow openings. See [here](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b2/83/6f/b2836fc7bb69e8356252c3dd5b6787d5.jpg) and [here](https://clqtg10snjb14i85u49wifbv-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/venturi-effect-CFD-analysis.jpg). This relationship, between the speed of a fluid (like air) and its pressure, is also called the bernoulli principle.

Answer 70

One-way traffic angled parking offers the most parking spaces on a given site because of the narrower aisles (narrow one-way aisles don’t really work in 90-degree stalls because there’s not enough room to turn.) See [here](https://www.chescoplanning.org/sharedcontent/tools/images/parkingDesignGraphic02.jpg). See [here](https://www.sddc.army.mil/sites/TEA/Functions/SpecialAssistant/TrafficEngineeringBranch/BMTE/calcParking/parkingTutorials/designConsiderations/Pages/layoutElements.aspx#:~:text=The%20most%20efficient%20arrangement%20is,aisle%20for%20every%2030%20spaces.) too. See [here](https://books.google.com/books?id=fs68ZmTwtSMC&lpg=PA79&ots=yqoiWqrd4U&dq=angled+parking+inefficiency&pg=PA81&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false) too. But other times 90-degree parking is more efficient! See [here](https://books.google.com/books?id=fs68ZmTwtSMC&lpg=PA79&ots=yqoiWqrd4U&dq=angled+parking+inefficiency&pg=PA81&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false). So which one do you answer in the exam? Answer: Angled parking, one-way aisles (75 degrees is the most efficient as far as the exam is concerned). NCARB maintains a Wiley publisher bias and that’s what the Architect’s Studio Companion tells us (Wiley book). Handicap parking: easy access to the building, connected by an accessible route (see [here](https://www.access-board.gov/ada/guides/chapter-4-accessible-routes/)), percentage of accessible parking spaces in IBC (see [here](https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IBC2018/chapter-11-accessibility) and scroll down to Table 1106.1) Minimum drainage: 1% (asphalt) . . . 0.5% (concrete) Best location for parking lot: shallow-sloped topography and near the building How many parking spaces? Look it up the zoning ordinance.

Answer 71

Watch [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67PhugMehG4) short video.

Answer 72

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.

Answer 73

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.

Answer 74

Watch this Amber Book : 40 Minutes of Competence video. . . .it’s worth the time, even if you are in a hurry. ![]() 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

Answer 75

[Example boring log](https://www.ensoftinc.com/products/borings/img/log_basic.jpg) [Another example](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jean-Pierre-Bardet/publication/2848873/figure/fig1/AS:279880378929170@1443740090574/Example-of-boring-log-showing-stratigrapy-physical-sampling-record-and-Standard.png) [Another example](https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/3-s2.0-B9780080969121000150-f15-02a-9780080969121.jpg) [Another example](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQPIX4LOoBr7NFppeIzhjpZUkjuhgdEC2LZvA&usqp=CAU) [Another example](https://geotechpedia.com/Images/Software/SuperLog_CivilTech.jpg) [Another example](https://geosystemsoftware.com/products/ld5/webmanuals/usersguide/boringandportprofsmall.png)

Answer 76

Not where the water table is high!

Answer 77

Fire lane requirements. Max 150 feet hose-distance to all exterior first-floor walls for unsprinklered buildings; max 450 feet for sprinklered buildings. (You don’t need to memorize that.)

Answer 78

When construction activities disturb the soil When the soil is used as fill Beneath footings, slabs, basement floors, driveways, sidewalks

Answer 79

![]() For effective cross-ventilation, we need at least one high-pressure aperture inlet and at least one low-pressure aperture outlet.

Answer 80

A: Cross ventilation requires a high-pressure inlet and a low-pressure outlet. ![]()

Answer 81

Boring holes are spaced about every 20 paces on the site for a multi-story building, but of course, how many boring holes on your site changes per the expected variation of the subsoil across different areas of the site, the size and weight of the proposed building, the local customs, the geotech’s level of familiarity with the area’s geology from past projects, etc.. At a minimum, you’ll want holes at the corners of the site and one boring hole in the middle. Spacing isn’t necessary to know for the exam, but I’ve had enough people ask me how many boring holes are needed for a site that I thought it’d be worth making a flashcard for your general career knowledge.

Answer 82

We’ll assume it’s still worth what you paid for it 15 years ago. In real estate, an accounting practice of declaring the price for something based on what it cost *when you purchased it*. Because it ignores property appreciation, it is obviously a highly conservative way to determine the price for a piece of property. In the 70s my aunt paid $150,000 for a house in the middle of San Francisco. It’s obviously worth way more than that now, so historical cost would be a wildly inaccurate method of estimating the value of the house. But, because no one REALLY knows exactly how much a property is worth until its sold, historical cost keeps the owner honest: using the historical cost accounting method, a tech company buying another tech startup would be assured that the startup is conservative on their valuation, not claiming without proof that the office building the startup purchased for $275,000 is now “probably worth” $1 million.

Answer 83

What is the “unit-in-place” method to valuation? We’ll assume it’s worth what it would cost to replace it (new) if it disappeared tomorrow. This is similar to the “cost approach” to valuation, which estimates the cost to replace a 30-year-old building with a new one, then subtracts depreciation to account for the wear of 30 years’ use. Don’t confuse “unit-in-place” with “unit-rate” cost estimating, which is similar, but more for costing out a building not yet built, rather than an existing one. Unit-rate breaks the partially- or fully-designed building into pieces (4,000 square feet of tile flooring) and then multiplies them by the coSt of each of those pieces (times $11 per square foot of tile flooring). Unit-in-place and cost approach are more for appraising than for cost-estimating.

Answer 84

We’ll assume it’s worth what similar buildings sold for recently. This includes the comparables (“comps”) many homebuyers and lenders use to price one house based on what others in the neighborhood sold for in the last few months.

Answer 85

Includes the anticipation of future benefits. Converts future income from the property into a present worth or current market value. What would the prudent investor be willing to pay now for the right to receive the future income stream from renting this office building? If the property rents for $8,500 per month, and has a historical occupancy rate of 90%, and costs $900 per month in maintenance and $400 per month in owner-paid utilities, and $750 per month in city property taxes and $175 per month in property insurance premiums and $400 per month in the owner’s hourly time spent managing the property, and is in a Washington DC neighborhood likely to appreciate and the mortgage rates for investment properties currently sit at 3.85%. . . well, as an investor, I’m willing to pay no more than $1.1 million for that particular set of financials with that particular risk profile. So, by the “income approach,” the property has a valuation of $1.1 million.

Answer 86

But in case I haven’t and you want to watch a great video on this subject, click [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0olpSN6_TCc) (be sure to stay till the end).

Answer 87

Rough order of magnitude cost estimate Might be off by as much as 2X Used for a “napkin estimate” before design to determine feasibility. Used in Pre-design/programming (PA exam) As we move through design phases we get more specific and have more confidence that our estimate is close to the final construction cost, eventually where we want to be within 5% For later, SD, DD, and CD stages: “Unit-rate cost estimating” . . . early-on, we’ll use estimates based on per square foot or per cubic foot estimates. Then later, as we know more about the project, our estimates will tally detailed units like “number of pipe bends” and “linear feet of conduit” and “estimated cost of labor to install 50,000 sf of EPDM roofing membrane.”

Answer 88

A: To address inorganic and radioactive pollutants . . . like toxic heavy metals, pesticides, and fertilizers Mixes a soil binder with the on-site dirt to make the soil more solid and stable Click [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM7fH4hdUf0) to see it in action.

Answer 89

A: When the soil is contaminated by inorganic materials (toxic metals). In soil flushing, we inject water into the soil (only if the soil type contains spaces large enough to move the water through). The soil flushing solution includes additives that help with contaminant solubility. The contaminants are then flushed out of the soil and down to the groundwater and the groundwater is extracted and treated at the surface. In soil washing, we’ll excavate the soil out of the ground and wash off the contaminates, and then return the soil to the hole we dug. If you haven’t figured. out yet, the civil engineers who came up with all these remediation processes named them in an intuitive way, where you can figure out how to do them. . . you’ll however want to memorize when each of them is useful, so that will take some memorization of this series of cards. To watch a video on soil washing, click [here](https://youtu.be/r50LNFog-Hc?t=42).

Answer 90

A: Soils contaminated by fuels and underground VOCs (but not useful for much else) Wells dug into the soil pull contaminated vapor out with vacuum suction where it is filtered with activated carbon at the surface. For more on soil vapor extraction, click here and here

Answer 91

A: Bioremediation can be used for VOCs, fuels, inorganics (toxic metals), and explosives. In bioremediation, we inject helpful microbes into the soil that “eat” the contaminant, rendering it less harmful or inert altogether.

Answer 92

![]() And click [here (a must-see)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CQ11fxAAi8) If you love geeking out, reading EPA. reports, click [here](https://clu-in.org/download/remed/542f06013.pdf).

Answer 93

Vapor extraction can’t suck from below the water table

Answer 94

Vertical crack: Not a serious problem (typically). Caused by shrinkage as the concrete cures. Typically not one long crack, but may be several smaller hairline, cracks. They may have to be sealed to prevent leaks. Click [here](https://www.qualitywaterproofing.com/images/Off_of_openings.jpg). Diagonal crack: Often a problem. Caused by differential settlement. Click [here](https://civildigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/diagonal-corner-crack.jpg) Horizontal crack: A big problem. Caused by shear failure. Click [here](https://www.myfoundationrepairs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Tyler-Wall-Crack-3-min.jpeg). What is an example of shear failure? The foundation wall is no longer supported: Imagine the basement wall punches into the footing under load. . . or the ground bulges around the foundation wall as the footing displaces the soil it rests on. To see more, click [here](https://youtu.be/MQqKABylIJw). Stair-step crack in masonry (foundation wall or above-ground exterior cladding): same as diagonal crack. . . caused by differential settlement. Click [here](https://usstn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IMG_2378-690x460.jpg). or see below. ![]()

Answer 95

Solidification (also called stabilization or vitrification). The soil below contaminants made impermeable by mixing cement or heating and melting the soil. Very expensive and therefore not very common. Soil vapor extraction: Vapor extraction wells vacuum out contaminant gasses and vapors from the soil for treatment. See [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfoLX0CcgZI) for an example at the site of a former dry cleaner. Incineration: controlled burning of contaminated soil or solids to make them safe. On or off-site. To watch an animated video of incineration (and solidification/vitrification) click [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMe4wYbO8ac). Bioremediation: microorganisms injected into the soil to eat the contaminants. We continue to improve upon existing methods and this is becoming more common. Soil washing: water, with or without detergents, flushes the soil and washes it the way you might clean dirty clothes (if you washed dirty clothes with large, complicated, dirty machinery). See [here](https://youtu.be/-2-G9M-Lkus?t=5). Solvent extraction: like soil washing, but solvents used with the water. Dechlorination: Chemical treatment used to remove chlorine atoms and detoxify chemicals in the soil. Phytoremediation: Select vegetation planted to patiently absorb contaminants through their roots over time. Rare, but growing in popularity as we learn more about which plants effectively remove which contaminants. See [here](https://youtu.be/zlH-L3jfFmw?t=97) for a short animated video and [here](https://youtu.be/2D4X6ZSxoEw?t=349) if you want to get into the weeds with a longer, more technical, video (pun intended). Air sparging: air injected into the soil to aid the vapor extraction process (see above). For an excellent animated short video, click [here](https://youtu.be/nizuV0NuJXY?t=5). Passive treatment wells: Groundwater is contaminated, so we’ll intentionally insert a barrier to the aquifer. As the groundwater interacts with the barrier, the chemistry of the groundwater is changed (for the better). For example, a limestone barrier is used to increase the acidity of the area groundwater. To see an overview video for many of these techniques, click [here](https://youtu.be/OmyvCxC3zdI). \*Unless the site is very small, it’s almost always more expensive to haul earth and treat soil off-site (and return clean soil) than it is to treat contaminated soil on-site. Knowing which chemical to use in order to treat which contaminant lies beyond the scope of this exam. Therefore, you’ll want to focus on the differences between systems, how they affect cost, schedule, future development, and the environment.

Answer 96

New buildings require accessibility if: they are (1) places of public accommodation (businesses with a public-facing entrance like banks, hotels, restaurants, doctor’s offices, etc.) _or_ (2) commercial spaces that need to be accessed by people with disabilities. Renovated existing non-compliant buildings require accessibility if: (1) a primary function area is part of the alteration (the teller station of a bank, the lobby of a hotel, the dining room of a restaurant, or the waiting room of a doctor’s office). . . _if_ making the room accessible will exceed 20% of the total cost of the building alteration, then the ADA requirement is considered “disproportionate” and you can cap your accessibility-related spending at 20%, provided you make ADA alterations in this reasonable order of priority until you hit 20% of your budget: entrance; route to the primary function area; at least one unisex restroom or one restroom for each sex serving the area; public telephones serving the area; drinking fountains serving the area; other elements. To summarize, you don’t need to make the following accessible: a single-family house or townhouse; a warehouse not open to the public where no one who works there needs accommodations (though it’s still a good idea to make that warehouse accessible because once they hire someone who needs an accommodation or open to the public so shoppers can “skip the middleman,” they’ll need to make the building accessible!); a renovation of a hallway, janitor’s closet, employee lounge, locker room, storage room, mechanical room, etc.; when changing the height of the drinking fountain exceeds 20% of the cost of the renovation (but you’ll still need to use 20% of the renovation budget to widen the front door and build a ramp to it). You’ll need to make your new or renovated building accessible in just about every other scenario. That includes parking lot spaces, sidewalks, restrooms, etc.

Answer 97

Buildings constructed to be rented out require more focus on net-to-gross than buildings purpose-built for the occupant-owner. The owner of a start-up software company is more okay with a little “wasted space” if it makes his employees more effective because he’ll then still make a profit on that area: the wasted space is where the company dog hangs out and the company dog is good for morale. Buildings built to be rented out, however. . . well “wasted space” may mean that the mortgage on the building paid by the owner exceeds the rent he will receive so he’ll lose money each month forever. Owners planning to occupy buildings themselves obviously thirst for greater energy efficiency than owners of rental buildings where the tenants pay the utility bills (though you may feel a reasonable moral imperative to make all buildings energy-efficient). A hospital owner may prize energy efficiency over a slumlord. PA, more than any other exam division, requires you to be able to think logically, put yourself in the shoes of an owner, and solve puzzles. Not all of them can be covered in your studying so you’re going to have to use your general intelligence and think like a banker.

Answer 98

Design so activities in public spaces are easily observed by others; this is probably the most important single thing an architect can do to prevent crime. For instance, if fencing is needed, use low fencing so that neighbors can see what is happening on the street. If high fencing is required, design it to be seen through. Don’t plant high bushes that will block the view to the playground. Involve the community in design measures that purport to prevent crime Effective lighting, e.g. a lit perimeter around secure buildings without dead spots, light the areas that surveillance cameras see, Traffic-calming measures to reduce the fun of joyriding Anticipate escape routes Specify vandal-proof materials Locate evidence of formal and informal surveillance so that would-be criminals know they’re being watched Think about crime prevention as you design. . . ask yourself, “what could I get away with here?”

Answer 99

Territory: define the boundaries of public and private space (with low fences, low shrubs, or bollards that maintain “eyes on the street” views). The idea is that if your front yard barbeque area is clearly demarcated, vandals, loiterers, and criminals won’t want to hang out on the sidewalk just adjacent to it. Access: Narrow streets with S-curves, one-way streets, and turn restrictions (and where necessary, security fencing, security gates, security personnel, parking lots far from the building, and other “target hardening”) Surveillance: Windows, doors, and porches facing the street (and where necessary, lighting and cameras)

Answer 100

A: Traffic, access (visual access, vehicle access, and pedestrian access), and visual cues that ample parking is located near the front door (That’s why so many shopping centers are located without vegetation, at busy intersections, in parking lagoons).

Answer 101

Answer (for NCARB, developers, and practice): A city will soon be building a community center but hasn’t finalized the program. City officials invite community leaders, kids from the center’s catchment area, coaches, social workers, and neighbors to a series of intensive hands-on workshops–“design charettes.” They discover a need for softball diamonds over basketball courts and a need for a computer center over a weightlifting gym. One of the social workers comes up with an ingenious idea for an indoor-outdoor afterschool homework area that is later incorporated into the program. All of this happens in *predesign/programming* phase. Optional reading. . . Another answer (for educational institutions, design competitions, and some design-minded firms): In the 1800s, the L’ecole de Beaux Arts school in Paris was THE dominant force in architectural education. There were other universities in the world, but a plurality of the faculty at those architecture schools often graduated from L’ecole. As part of that training, professors assigned a design problem with a too-short allotted time until its deadline. At the assignment’s deadline, carts, called “charettes” in French, were drawn in the street past the studios to collect the work. Popular myth has it that students, unable to complete their work when the cart came, made final changes to the drawings AFTER the students had loaded them into the passing cart. The meandering charette then had a tail of stressed stippling students following it. As a student there, to say you were “en charette” (on the cart) meant that you were frantically trying to make a design deadline, even in the absence of a cart. The L’ecole des Beaux Arts practice of intentionally assigning not-quite-enough time for a design problem to tease out the design’s essence (no time for frivolity) evolved into a tradition in architectural education, and those intense assignments with short deadlines themselves became known as charettes. You likely suffered under this tradition in school, and may still suffer under it at work. As someone who’s taught studio almost every semester for 20 years, I can attest to this: charrettes are remarkably effective. Not only do you get more from 48 hours of intense student work than you would with 10 days of “normal” student work, but if a particular student isn’t happy with her work, it can be set aside and she can start again without much penalty: no having to waste a whole semester finishing a project that she doesn’t like just because she started designing it this way and it’s too late to change. This form of charette–the historical and educational one–is most associated with the schematic design phase. . . but if you’re asked on an exam, assume they mean the other (somewhat related) meaning of charette as a *pre-design* phase intensive workshop involving a broad swath of non-designer stakeholders working collaboratively with whiteboard lists and magic markers.

Answer 102

A: Restoration Adaptive use: E.g. turning an old train station into a market. . . The building exterior is restored, and the interior is adapted to a contemporary use. Federal dollars are available for three specific interventions: Stabilization Restoration Reconstruction . . . “adaptive use” isn’t a separate category, but should instead be considered part of “restoration.” Memorize these categories too (I know they overlap the ones above): Preservation: Maintains and repairs existing historic materials. . . Keep the old train station Rehabilitation: Alters or adds to meet today’s needs. . . Turn the old train station into a market Restoration: Depicts a property at a particular period of time, removing evidence of other periods.. . . Restore the train station to its original glory, demolishing old (but not original) additions to the building. Reconstruction: Recreates non-surviving portions of a property. . . Reconstruct the old train station after an earthquake, in the same way it had been before the tremor.

Answer 103

Onsite is cheaper (unless we have a very small site or a small quantity of soil that must be hauled away offsite for washing). Sitework can be VERY expensive, and unlike other expensive building decisions, you generally don’t get a higher quality built work by spending more money on sitework. So cheaper almost always wins. If you are asked the best way to clean up a contaminated site, chances are that the best answer is soil vapor extraction (above water table only) or bioremediation (inject microbes into the soil and wait for them to eat the pollutants). For some contaminants, soil washing is another (often more expensive alternative). Onsite soil washing involves erecting giant laundry machines at the property and lifting soil into the machines (click \<\<[here](https://www.geoengineer.org/storage/wcp_assignment/129/editor_photos/3991/quarry2.jpg)\>\>). Offsite soil washing obviously involves hauling the soil to some remote existing permanent laundry machine industrial facility. While it SOUNDS like offsite would be less expensive because erecting a factory onsite seems more costly, in fact, hauling large quantities of dirt anywhere is crazy-expensive. So offsite soil washing only makes sense if we have a small quantity of contaminated soil.

Answer 104

43,560 square feet in a acre 43,560 = 66 \*660 Or you can use the[“7-11” rule.](https://youtu.be/yQt0FE-W4ok?t=14) The numerals to the left of the comma (four and three) add up to seven; the three numerals after the comma (five, six, and zero) add up to eleven. ARE 5.0 doesn’t require as much rote memorization as previous versions of the exam. . . this is one exception.

AmberBook PA Flashcards

(134 cards)