Chapter 6 - Sustainable Sites

Question 0

What is an aquifer?

Answer 0

A body of saturated rock through which water can easily move.

Question 1

What is an albedo?

Answer 1

A metric to define the reflectivity of an object from the darkest black to white using a scale from 0 to 1.

Question 2

What is biodiversity?

Answer 2

The variety if all life on earth including plants, animals, insects, micro organisms, and humans.

Question 3

What is a bioswale?

Answer 3

A constructed rainwater control feature containing an engineered basin, soil, stone, and vegetation designed to reduce rainwater runoff and increase groundwater recharge.

Question 4

What is the building footprint?

Answer 4

The area of ground that the building occupies as defined by its perimeter.

Question 5

What is as dry pond?

Answer 5

An excavated area designed to hold fainter during a rain event, but is dry when there is no precipitation.

Question 6

What is an ecosystem?

Answer 6

A complex set of interconnected relationships between the living organisms of a specific place that form a system, including plants, trees, animals, fish, birds, micro organisms, water, soil, and humans.

Question 7

What is floor area ration (FAR)?

Answer 7

The density of nonresidential land use, exclusive for structured parking, measured as the total non residential building floor area divided by the total usable land area available for non residential structures.

Question 8

What is green infrastructure (GI)?

Answer 8

The patchwork of natural areas that provide habitat, flood protection, clear, and clean water at the scale of a city or county, or rainwater management systems that mimic nature by soaking up and storing water at the scale of a neighborhood or site.

Question 9

What is the heat island effect?

Answer 9

The absorption of solar heat by hard scales such as roofs, roads, parking lots, and sidewalks, and includes other sources such as automobiles, HVAC equipment, and street and building lighting.

Question 10

What does impervious mean?

Answer 10

The characteristics of a material preventing the penetration of liquids and/or gases.

Question 11

What is integrated pest management (IPM)?

Answer 11

A sustainable approach of controlling pest infestations and damage in an economical way while minimizing hazards to people, property, and the environment.

Question 12

What is light trespass?

Answer 12

The spillage of light across a project boundary onto neighboring sites.

Question 13

What is a low impact development (LID)?

Answer 13

A land management strategy that emulates natural systems to manage rainwater as close to its source as possible.

Question 14

What are native and adapted species?

Answer 14

Plants that are either native to the region or have adapted to the groin and require little to no irrigation.

Question 15

What is nonpoint source pollution?

Answer 15

Water pollution caused by pollutants, such as gasoline, oil, salt, and fertilizers, which are washed into the nearest water bodies by rainwater runoff.

Question 16

What is pervious?

Answer 16

The characteristic of a material allowing the penetration of liquids and/or gases.

Question 17

What is a rain garden?

Answer 17

A depressed area of ground containing soil, stone, and vegetation that is designed to catch and slow rainwater.

Question 18

What is rainwater harvesting?

Answer 18

Water from precipitation that runs off of impervious hardscapes in the built environment, such as sidewalks, roofs, and parking lots, into the nearest water bodies and sewer systems.

Question 19

What is the solar reflectance index (SRI)?

Answer 19

A metric from 0 to 100 that measures how well a material reflects solar heat, with higher numbers signifying better reflectance.

Question 20

What is a watershed?

Answer 20

The area of land where all of the water that is under it drains off of it goes to the same place.

Question 21

What is xeriscaping?

Answer 21

Landscaping designed to reduce or eliminate potable water use in irrigation through the planting of native and adapted species of vegetation and the use of other water conserving techniques.