Sustainable Design and Green Building Flashcards
6 cards from real IDFX practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Sustainable Design and Green Building flashcards as text
The WELL Building Standard's 'Air' concept requires which minimum outdoor air ventilation standard as a Precondition?
Answer: ASHRAE 62.1 — Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality
WELL v2 Air Precondition A01 requires compliance with ASHRAE 62.1 (Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality) as the minimum outdoor air ventilation rate baseline for all mechanically ventilated occupied spaces.
In green building rating systems, what does the term 'regional priority credits' refer to in LEED?
Answer: Six pre-selected LEED credits for each geographic region that address the most pressing local environmental concerns, earning a bonus point each
LEED Regional Priority (RP) credits identify six existing LEED credits for each specific geographic location that address the most important environmental priorities for that region. A project earns one bonus point for each RP credit achieved, up to four RP bonus points.
A living wall (vertical garden, green wall) installed in an interior space contributes most directly to which sustainable design goals?
Answer: Biophilic connection to nature, potential air quality improvement, and occupant well-being
Interior living walls primarily serve biophilic design goals — providing visual connection to nature, supporting occupant well-being and stress reduction. They can modestly improve humidity and air quality, though the magnitude of air quality benefits depends on plant selection and system design.
What does 'passive solar design' mean in the context of interior space planning?
Answer: Designing the building's orientation, glazing, and thermal mass to naturally capture, store, and distribute solar heat in winter and block it in summer
Passive solar design uses building orientation (south-facing glazing in northern hemisphere), thermal mass (concrete, tile, masonry absorb and re-emit heat), overhangs (block high summer sun while admitting low winter sun), and natural ventilation to reduce mechanical heating and cooling loads.
The 'precautionary principle' applied to material specification in sustainable interior design means:
Answer: Avoiding or substituting materials suspected of causing harm even when full scientific certainty about their hazard is not yet established
The precautionary principle holds that when an action raises threats of harm to health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if full scientific consensus on causation is not yet established — the burden of proof falls on the material producer to demonstrate safety.
In calculating the energy performance of a glazing system, what does the Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) measure?
Answer: The fraction of incident solar radiation that passes through the glazing as heat (both transmitted and absorbed-then-reradiated)
SHGC (Solar Heat Gain Coefficient) measures the fraction of total incident solar energy — both directly transmitted solar radiation plus the portion absorbed by glass and re-radiated inward — that passes through a glazing system. SHGC ranges from 0 to 1; lower values block more solar heat.