Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ecological Considerations of Site
Ecological Considerations of Site
PLANNING 01
CONTENT
I. GROUND FORM
II. SOIL AND GEOLOGY
III. WATER RESOURCES
IV. MICROCLIMATE
V. ORIENTAION
INTRODUCTION
• An ecosystem is a complex system with many parts, both living and non-living. All
parts of the system are important. If one part of the system is removed, lots of other
parts can be affected.
• An ecosystem, with a part of it missing may continuefor a while but in time would
start falling apart.
• All of the parts of the ecosystem work together. If you do not think about how your
work will affect the land, water or air where you are working, you could damage
that ‘ecosystem’ by poisoning the land or water, removing plants and trees or killing
the fish, insects, birds and animals that live there.
GROUND FORM
• A formation or geologicalformation is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy. A formation
consists of a certain number of rock strata C that have a comparable lithology, facies or other
similar properties. Formations are not defined on the thickness of different formations can
therefore vary widely.
• The concept of formally defined layers or strata is central to the geologic discipline of
stratigraphy. Formations can be divided into members and are themselves frequently
parcelled together in groups.
• Ground formation is to be considered in site selection or regarding the development of any
site. The surface features of a plot of land, which influences where and how to build a
development site.
• To study the response of a building design to the topography of a site sections or a site, we can
use a series if site selection or a site plan with contour lines.
SOIL
Soil is the mixture of minerals, gases, liquids, and the myriad of organisms that together support
plant life.
SOIL
• Soil serves a foundation for most constuction
projects.
• Soil is intimately tied to our urgent need to
provide food for ourselves and forage for our
animals.
TYPES OF SOIL
• SAND, SILT, CLAY, AND LOAM
Soil is made up of ditinct horizontal layers, if you could take an elevator ride through the earth’s surface you would pass
several distinct layers.
• The humus is the topmost layer of soil. It contains quite a bit of living materials, plants,
decaying leaves, needles, mosss, and more. This layer is thin and very dark in color.
• The topsoil is the next layer down. It is made mostly of minerals, and most plant roots
live here. This layer is also dark in color due to the amount of decaying plant and animal
matter.
• The subsoil layer is next. It is made of sand, silt and clay that have not been broken all
the way, soil usually has less organic material in it. It is also lighter in color.
• The parent material is the next layer down. It is mostly rock that has been slightly
weathered. Not many things live down here, except for the biggest tree roots.
• The bedrock is the lowest layer of soil. It is a solid rock layer.
GEOLOGY
• Geology is an earth science comprising the study of solid earth, the rocks of which it
is composed, and the processes by which they change.
• Geology can also refer generally to the study of the solid features of any celestial
body ( such as the geology of the moon and mars).
• Geology gives insight into the history of the earth by providing the the primary
evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates.
• Geology is important for mineral and hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation,
evaluating water resources, understanding of natural hazards, the remediation of
environmental problems, and for providing insights into past climate change.
GEOLOGY IS THE STUDY OF THE EARTH:
• Rainwater or Rainfall.
Surface of water – a mixture of surface run-off and ground water
includes rivers, pond , natural surface and undergroun surface.
• Well – are holes in the earth from which a fluid may be withdraw
using manual or mechanical means such as draw bucket, pump, etc.
• Under river flow
Methods of Purificaion and Treatment of
Water
• SEDIMENTATION- article of matters that are suspended in the water are allowed to stay in a
container so that they will settle in sediments in the container.
• CHEMICAL TREATMENTS- water are given chemical treatments to kill the harmful
bacteria’s present and to cure turbid taste or mud taste, remove clay, salts, iron etc. Commonly
used chemical is chlorine.
• FILTRATION- water are filtered on various processes, so as to remove the particles of
vegetable matter, mud, and other particles of matter present in the water, most commonly used
materials are sand and gravel.
• AERATION- raw materials is made to pass on pipes of tiny sieves and exposed to air of fine
mist.
MICROCLIMATE
• Micriclimate refers to very localised weather conditions around buildins or small neighbourhood clusters.
• A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area.
• Microclimatic phenomena are localised at the scale of the building or building cluster and include air
movement, precipition, and temperature.
• Building location and geometry can affect microclimate especially in dense in urban areas where air movement
can be distorted to form and downwash phenomena that reduce the liveability of external space.
• Tall buildings create their own microclimate, both by overshadowing large areas and by channelling strong
winds to ground level. Wind effects around tall buildings are assessed as part of a microclimatic study.
• The type of soil found in an area can also affect microclimates. For example, soils heavy in clay can act like
pavement, moderating the near ground temperature. On the other hand; if soil has many air pockets, then the
heat could be trapped underneath the topsoil, resulting in the increased possibility of frost at ground level.
Why use Microclimate Design?
• A well-considered microclimatic strategy in the design of buildings and urban space,
help reduce exposure and to contribute to the success of well used external space.
Careful attention to building form can ensure the potentially harmful wind effects are
mitigated around tall bildings.
• The use of shelter belts, both natural and constructed reduce exposure to the faces of
buildings therfore reducing excessive heat loss and protecting external finishes from
premature deterioration.
• Microclimate is a critical design issue for both architecture and landscape
architecture disciplines and a shared sensibility encourages sffective transdisciplinary
and crossdisciplinary collaboration.
WHEN TO USE A MICROCLIMATIC
STRATEGY?