Sustainable Design Practices Flashcards

Which sustainable design strategy involves designing a facility so components can be disassembled and materials recovered at end of life?

Answer: Design for disassembly

Design for disassembly enables material recovery and reuse at end of life, supporting circular economy principles valued in Envision.

A highway project in an arid region adopts drought-tolerant native plantings for its right-of-way. Which Envision benefit does this MOST directly achieve?

Answer: Reduced water consumption and support for local biodiversity

Native drought-tolerant plantings reduce irrigation water needs and support local ecosystems, addressing both Resource Allocation and Natural World credits.

What does the Envision framework call the highest achievement level for a credit?

Answer: Restorative

Restorative is the highest Envision achievement level, indicating the project restores conditions beyond the baseline rather than just minimizing harm.

Which principle of sustainable design emphasizes locating infrastructure to avoid sensitive ecological areas before applying mitigation measures?

Answer: Mitigation hierarchy

The mitigation hierarchy prioritizes avoidance first, then minimization, then mitigation, and finally offsetting as a last resort.

A wastewater treatment plant is redesigned to recover biogas for on-site energy. This BEST exemplifies which sustainable design concept?

Answer: Resource recovery

Resource recovery converts a waste stream (biogas from sludge digestion) into a useful energy input, reducing both waste and energy demand.

In sustainable infrastructure design, what is the role of a 'heat island effect' analysis?

Answer: To quantify how surface materials and vegetation affect local air temperatures

Heat island analysis evaluates how paving, roofing, and vegetation choices influence local temperatures, informing design decisions that reduce urban warming.

Which of the following BEST describes the concept of 'net zero water' in sustainable design?

Answer: A project that balances water withdrawals with water returned to the same watershed

Net zero water means the project withdraws no more water from the watershed than it returns, achieved through conservation and on-site water management.