Architecture Site Planning and Design 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is a 'LEED site credit' for 'reduced parking footprint' designed to encourage?
- Larger parking garages replacing surface lots
- Minimizing impervious surface by providing fewer parking spaces than maximum zoning allows (Correct answer)
- Replacing all parking with bike storage
- Using pervious pavement for the entire parking area
Correct answer: Minimizing impervious surface by providing fewer parking spaces than maximum zoning allows
This LEED credit rewards projects that provide fewer parking spaces than zoning maximums, reducing impervious cover, heat island effect, and dependence on automobiles.
Question 2: What is the primary benefit of a 'bioswale' in stormwater management?
- It captures solar energy to power site lighting
- It slows, filters, and infiltrates stormwater through vegetated channels (Correct answer)
- It provides habitat for wetland-dependent migratory birds
- It reduces wind speeds across a site to improve pedestrian comfort
Correct answer: It slows, filters, and infiltrates stormwater through vegetated channels
Bioswales are vegetated channels that slow stormwater runoff velocity, filter pollutants through soil and plant uptake, and promote infiltration into the ground.
Question 3: Which sun angle consideration most directly influences building orientation for passive solar heating in US climates?
- High summer sun altitude at noon
- Low winter sun altitude and southern exposure (Correct answer)
- East sun for morning warming
- North sky providing diffuse daylighting
Correct answer: Low winter sun altitude and southern exposure
In the US, orienting glazing to the south and using overhangs sized for the low winter sun captures solar heat in winter while shading in summer.
Question 4: What does 'ADA accessible route' require on a site?
- At least one level, firm, stable path connecting accessible parking, entries, and site elements (Correct answer)
- A path at least 8 feet wide with handrails on both sides throughout
- Paving with tactile warning strips every 10 feet along the route
- A dedicated route separate from all pedestrian circulation
Correct answer: At least one level, firm, stable path connecting accessible parking, entries, and site elements
An accessible route must provide a continuous, unobstructed path with compliant slope, width, and surface connecting accessible site features and building entrances.
Question 5: What is a 'phased development plan' in the context of large site projects?
- A plan that delays all construction until all permits are approved simultaneously
- A strategy that divides a large project into sequential construction stages to manage cost and market demand (Correct answer)
- A plan requiring government review at each phase before proceeding
- A landscaping plan that staggers plantings over multiple growing seasons
Correct answer: A strategy that divides a large project into sequential construction stages to manage cost and market demand
Phased development breaks large projects into sequential stages so that earlier phases can generate revenue or be occupied while later phases are still being designed or built.
Question 6: What does 'solar access easement' protect?
- A building's right to shade adjacent properties during summer months
- A property owner's right to receive unobstructed sunlight over neighboring land (Correct answer)
- The government's right to install solar panels on private rooftops
- An easement requiring all new buildings to install photovoltaic systems
Correct answer: A property owner's right to receive unobstructed sunlight over neighboring land
A solar access easement is a legal agreement preventing adjacent landowners from constructing improvements that would block sunlight to a specified property.
Architecture Site Planning and Design 2
What is a 'LEED site credit' for 'reduced parking footprint' designed to encourage?