Site Survey
Percolation test
A test to determine the absorption rate of soils
Albedo
The fraction of the radiant energy received on a surface that is reflected and is expressed as a number from zero to 1.0. Aka. Solar Reflectance (SR)
Light surfaces: high albedo
Dark surface: low albedo
Garden City Movement
a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. Ebenezer Howard; best of both: city and countryside.
Greenbelt, MD; Newport News, VA etc.
Example of each region:
Cool, Temperate, Hot Humid, Hot Arid
Cool: Includes all of Canada, the northern part of the middle United States, and the mountainous regions of Wyoming and Colorado.
Temperate: Includes most of the middle latitudes of the United States, including the northwest and northeast areas of the country.
Hot Humid: Includes the southeastern parts of the country.
Hot Arid: Stretches from Southern California across the desert southwest to portions of southern Texas.
Preservation vs Rehabilitation
Preservation: Attempts to retain all historic fabric through conservation, maintenance, and repair.
Rehabilitation: Emphasizes the retention and repair of historic materials, but gives more latitude to replacement, typically because the property is more deteriorated before work begins.
Runoff Coefficient
The fraction of total precipitation that is not absorbed into the ground.
Emissivity
The ability of a surface to emit stored energy.
New Urbanism
A more recent (1980s) planning philosophy that attempts to counter the many undesirable aspects of city development, including suburban sprawl, reliance on the automobile, environmental deterioration, housing segregation, loss of farmland, and single-use development. Seaside, Florida.
Ground Coupling
Uses the stable coolness of the earth to cool a building, typically by using a ground-source heat pump.
Restoration vs Reconstruction
Focuses on the retention of materials from the most significant time in a property's history, while permitting the removal of materials from other periods.
Allows the opportunity to re-create a non-surviving site, landscape, building, structure, or object in new materials
Difference between:
Soil, Gravel, Sand, Silt, Clay
The pulverized upper layer of the earth, formed by the erosion of rocks and plant remains and modified by living plants and organisms.
Rock particles up to 3 1/2in and are low in plasticity. Very good for building foundations and provide good drainage.
Particles up to 1/4in and are low in plasticity. Very good for building foundations and provide good drainage.
Fine-grained sedimentary soil composed of material smaller than sand but larger than clay. Behave as granular materials, but sometimes slightly plastic in their behavior.
Smaller particles than silts with some cohesion, or tensile strength, and are plastic in their behavior when wet. Very unpredictable and usually make poor foundations unless they can be kept dry.
Solar Reflectance Index (SRI)
A measure of a roof's ability to reject solar heat, defined so that a standard black surface has an SRI of 0, and a standard white surface has an SRI of 100.
PUD
Planned Unit Development. Each large parcel of land is designed to have a mix of uses - residential, commercial, recreational, and open space - and is designed with a variety of lot sizes and densities.
Brownfield
Property whose redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminate
Renatable Area
The sum of the occupant area and a prorated share of the areas of a building used by all tenants.
Rank in order of bearing capacity:
Organics, Shale and Slate, Hardpan, Boulders, Bedrock
Bedrock: The solid rock that forms the earth's crust. Has the highest bearing capacity of all soil types.
Shale and Slate: Soft rocks with fine texture. Make up the group with the second highest bearing capacity.
Hardpan: An unbroken mixture of clay, sand and gravel. Good base for building foundations.
Boulders: Describe rocks that have broken off of bedrock.
Organics: Materials of vegetable or other organic matter and make poor bases for foundations.
Heat Island Effect
The unnatural buildup of heat around buildings, especially in urban areas.
TOD
Transit Oriented Development. Construction that takes place in areas surrounding transit stops; it usually includes a relatively high density of living units, commercial development, and other support services.
Aquifer
A natural, underground reservoir from which wells draw water.
1-way structural system
A standard structural system where the load is transmitted through structural members in one direction at a time. Wood is used primarily
Borings
Undisturbed samples of soil are removed at regular intervals and the type of material is recorded in a boring log.
Infiltration vs Catch Basin
Catch Basin: An area that temporarily contains excessive runoff until it can flow at a controlled rate into the storm sewer system.
Infiltration Basin: A closed depression in the earth from which water can escape only into the soil.
Catchment Area
The geographical region of land development that is dependent on or affected by some surrounding base of population.
Passive solar cooling
A natural cooling method that utilizes the concepts of shading, natural ventilation, radiative cooling, evaporative cooling, and ground coupling.
Cast-in-Place Construction
Concrete structure that require framework. Though time consuming, they can conform to an almost unlimited variety of shapes, sizes, design intentions, and structural requirements.