CLARB Sustainable Design and Environmental Stewardship 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which LEED credit category most directly rewards landscape architects for reducing potable water use in irrigation?
- Water Efficiency — Outdoor Water Use Reduction (Correct answer)
- Sustainable Sites — Rainwater Management
- Energy and Atmosphere — Optimize Energy Performance
- Materials and Resources — Construction Waste Management
Correct answer: Water Efficiency — Outdoor Water Use Reduction
LEED's Water Efficiency category includes credits specifically for reducing or eliminating potable water used for landscape irrigation through native planting, efficient systems, or captured rainwater.
Question 2: What is the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) primarily designed to do?
- Provide a rating system for sustainable land design, construction, and maintenance of landscapes beyond buildings (Correct answer)
- Rate the energy efficiency of building mechanical systems
- Certify individual landscape architects as sustainability specialists
- Replace LEED certification for all projects
Correct answer: Provide a rating system for sustainable land design, construction, and maintenance of landscapes beyond buildings
SITES is a comprehensive rating system that evaluates the sustainability of landscape projects including parks, streetscapes, campuses, and other sites independent of buildings.
Question 3: Which stormwater management approach is considered a green infrastructure strategy?
- Installing a bioretention cell to capture and filter runoff on-site (Correct answer)
- Increasing the size of traditional underground storm sewer pipes
- Paving all surface areas to direct water quickly off-site
- Building a concrete retention basin with no vegetation
Correct answer: Installing a bioretention cell to capture and filter runoff on-site
Bioretention cells are a core green infrastructure practice that mimic natural hydrology by infiltrating, filtering, and slowing stormwater runoff through engineered soil and vegetation.
Question 4: A heat island effect analysis is being conducted for a parking lot redesign. Which design strategy most directly reduces the urban heat island effect?
- Replacing impervious asphalt with permeable pavers and adding tree canopy cover (Correct answer)
- Increasing the number of parking spaces to reduce double-parking
- Using dark-colored pavement to absorb heat efficiently
- Installing underground stormwater detention only
Correct answer: Replacing impervious asphalt with permeable pavers and adding tree canopy cover
Tree canopy shades paved surfaces to reduce surface temperatures, and permeable materials reduce heat absorption compared to conventional dark asphalt.
Question 5: What does the term 'impervious surface coverage ratio' measure on a development site?
- The percentage of a site covered by materials that do not allow water infiltration into the soil (Correct answer)
- The ratio of building floor area to lot area
- The depth of impermeable soil layers below grade
- The percentage of open space required by zoning
Correct answer: The percentage of a site covered by materials that do not allow water infiltration into the soil
Impervious surface coverage ratio expresses the proportion of a site covered by roofs, pavement, and other surfaces that prevent stormwater infiltration, which many municipalities regulate.
Question 6: In xeriscape design, which of the seven principles most directly reduces supplemental irrigation needs after plant establishment?
- Appropriate plant selection — choosing drought-tolerant and climate-adapted species (Correct answer)
- Installing the largest possible lawn areas
- Using only annual plants for seasonal color
- Maximizing hardscape to eliminate all planting
Correct answer: Appropriate plant selection — choosing drought-tolerant and climate-adapted species
Selecting plants naturally adapted to the local climate's rainfall patterns is the foundation of xeriscape — once established, they thrive with little or no supplemental water.
CLARB Sustainable Design and Environmental Stewardship 1
Which LEED credit category most directly rewards landscape architects for reducing potable water use in irrigation?