OBJ 1.3 Flashcards
Determine optimal use of onsite resources by incorporating sustainability principles
Angle of Repose
The maximum angle of a slope, measured in degrees, at which a granular material is stable and will remain in place without sliding.
Thermal Mass
Thermal mass is a material that collects, stores, and reradiates heat from the sun in a passive solar-designed structure. Common materials are concrete, brick, adobe, or water; dark surfaces absorb more solar radiation than light surfaces.
Albedo
Albedo is a measurement of an object’s ability to reflect sunlight, measured on a scale of 0 to 1. An object that has perfect reflectance has an albedo of 1, and an object that is a perfect absorber has an albedo of 0.
Sky Dome
When considering daylighting for buildings, the term sky dome refers to the way light from the sky refracts and reflects in the atmosphere, producing a diffuse, nondirectional light.
Passive Solar
In a passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and to reject solar heat in the summer.
Urban Heat Island Effect
The tendency for temperatures in urban areas to be higher than in rural areas.
Sun Altitude
Solar altitude is the measure of the angle of the sun relative to the Earth’s horizon. This angle varies depending on time of day and time of year; it also varies according to the observer’s location on the Earth.
Sun Azimuth
The direction of the sun horizontally from true north as measured in angular distance. True north represents a 0 degree azimuth, east 90 degrees, and clockwise around the compass rose back to north.
Climate
Prevailing weather conditions in a general area over a long period of time.
Cold, Temperate, Hot and Arid, Hot and Humid
The four main climate type groups. Cold climates tend to be cold year-round (Montana, Alaska, etc.). Temperate climates are warm in the summer months and cooler the rest of the year (majority of states). Hot and arid climates are hot year-round with little to no precipitation (parts of California, Arizona, New Mexico). Hot and humid climates are hot year-round with high humidity (Louisiana, Florida, Hawaii, etc.).
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
The air quality within and around buildings and structures,especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants.
Air Pollution Temperature Inversion Phenomenon
Air temperature at ground level is lower than at higher elevations, causing heavy, cold, trapped air below to release pollutants.
Carbon Dioxide
A naturally occurring chemical compound of two oxygen atoms bonded to a carbon atom produced by respiration, combustion, and fermentation. It acts as a greenhouse gas in our atmosphere.
Carbon Monoxide
A colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is toxic to humans when found in high concentrations. Produced by gas-powered vehicles, industrial buildings, building heating systems using oil or gas, and biomass burning.
Ventilation
Intentional fresh air (passive cooling and active cooling) necessary to assure healthy and odor-free conditions.
Infiltration
Accidental exterior air that enters a building (through cracks and openings in the building envelope) due to construction quality, wind pressure, and temperature difference.
Ecosphere
Area of earth from surface to five miles up into the troposphere.
Biosphere
Area of earth from surface to five miles up into the troposphere, the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. A closed system, it is also called the zone of life on Earth.
Troposphere
The lower portion of the Earth’s atmosphere, it contains 80% of the atmosphere’s mass and 88% of its water vapor and aerosols.
Organic Feedstock
Something organic (e.g., wood fiber, paper, cotton) that mold can use as an energy source. Mold cannot eat inorganic materials like concrete, brick, or gypsum.
Ahwahnee Principles
The Ahwahnee Principles for Resource-Efficient Communities, written in 1991 by the Local Government Commission, paved the way for the Smart Growth movement and New Urbanism. These principles provide a blueprint for elected officials to create compact, mixed-use, walkable, transit-oriented developments in their local communities. Cities and counties across the nation have adopted these principles to break the cycle of sprawl.
Sun Chart
A graph of the sun’s ecliptic through the sky throughout the year at a particular latitude. It is a plot of the azimuth versus altitude throughout the day for the period between the winter and summer solstices.
Light Pollution
Brightening of the night sky that inhibits the observation of stars and planets, caused by streetlights and other man-made sources.
Cut-off Classification
Luminaire classification by the IES for an outdoor fixture’s glare control and cut-off angle for purposes of designing nighttime dark sky environments. Fixtures can be full cut-off, cut-off, semi-cut-off, or no cut-off.
Zenith
Directly overhead, opposite of the nadir.
Nadir
Directly below, opposite of the zenith.
Annuals and Perennials
Plants are designated as either annuals or perennials. Perennials come back every year; annuals do not. Some annuals in cooler climate zones are perennials in other zones.
Deciduous Trees
Trees that lose their leaves, typically shade trees, such as oak, maple, ash, elm, hickory, aspen, olive, cottonwood, and crabapple.
Coniferous Trees
Trees that produce cones but do not lose their leaves (often the leaves are needles). Most evergreens are coniferous. Good for wind blocks. Species include pine, spruce, fir, cedar, juniper, etc.
Invasive Species
A non-native species that has become too pervasive in a landscape and is not wanted.
Endemic
A species that is unique to a geographical location, usually an island.
Brundtland Report
Named for Gro Brundtland, Prime Minister of Norway, this was a report published in 1987 that prompted the first serious worldwide discourse on sustainable development.
Kyoto Protocol
141 countries signed this, which aims to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. It went into effect in 2005.
Three Tenets of Sustainability
Reduce, reuse, recycle: These tenets are listed in order of their importance and the first far outweighs the other two.
Two resources that are critical to manufacturing
Water and energy are both determinants of a material’s greenness and sustainability.
Two classifications of recycling
Internal recycling is the reuse of materials that are by-products or waste products from manufacturing. External recycling is the reclamation of a material for use in the manufacturing process of the same or a different product after it has become obsolete or unnecessary in its present application.
