Learn how building footprint consolidation helps protect natural areas, preserve open space, and support conservation in this LEED Green Associate Exam question.
Table of Contents
Question
The protection and restoration of natural vegetation, wetland areas and bodies of water through building footprint consolidation helps to
A. minimize hardscape
B. prevent light pollution
C. support conservation programs
D. preserve open space and sensitive areas
Answer
D. preserve open space and sensitive areas
Explanation
The protection and restoration of natural vegetation, wetland areas and bodies of water through building footprint consolidation helps to preserve open space and sensitive areas, which are important for maintaining biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human well-being.
Building footprint consolidation refers to the strategy of minimizing the area of land that is occupied by a building and its associated infrastructure, such as roads, parking lots, and utilities. By reducing the building footprint, project teams can avoid or minimize the impacts of development on natural habitats, wetlands, and water bodies, which often provide critical functions such as water quality improvement, flood control, wildlife habitat, and recreation.
LEED v4.1 recognizes and rewards this strategy in the Sensitive Land Protection credit, which aims to conserve existing natural areas and restore damaged areas to provide habitat and promote biodiversity.
Building footprint consolidation refers to designing and constructing buildings in a compact way that minimizes the total area of the site that is built upon or covered by impervious surfaces. By consolidating the footprint of buildings and development, more of the site can be preserved as open space. This allows natural vegetation, wetlands, water bodies and other ecologically sensitive areas to be protected and restored.
While consolidating the building footprint can help minimize hardscape (impervious paved areas) to some degree, this is more of an indirect benefit and not the main goal. The primary purpose is preserving open space and sensitive natural areas.
Building footprint consolidation generally does not directly prevent light pollution, which is caused more by the design of exterior lighting fixtures and how they are used. Supporting conservation programs is a separate endeavor from the physical design and construction of the building.
So in summary, consolidating the footprint of buildings on a site directly preserves more of the site as open space and allows sensitive natural areas to be protected and restored, making D the best answer. Building footprint consolidation is an important sustainable design strategy covered in the LEED Green Associate Exam.
USGBC LEED Green Associate certification exam practice question and answer (Q&A) dump with detail explanation and reference available free, helpful to pass the USGBC LEED Green Associate exam and earn USGBC LEED Green Associate certification.