PA practice Exam error #27

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lyfian0924

August 22, 2025 21:24

Hi,

I believe there is a typo in the NCARB PA practice exam. The question #27 explanation said: "Orienting the buildings to the east, west, and south would maximize shading of the courtyard throughout the entire day." But it should be orienting the building to the north will maximize the shading of the courtyard throughout the entire day. 

Please correct it, it's so confusing now. 

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  JCorrington August 26, 2025 15:43

  Hard to say without the question in front of me. But I think in this case "orienting" doesn't mean "facing this way" it means placed on the site relative to the courtyard. So oriented to the east west & south creates shade for a courtyard throughout the day.

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  lyfian0924 August 31, 2025 02:10

  Hi, thanks for the reply! Please find the attached image for the questions. 

  

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  JCorrington September 09, 2025 15:59

  I can see how it would be confusing, however the actual question, which direction should the open end face, is straightforward. The open end would not open itself to wind because the site is warm and dry. Wind doesn't cool when it's dry. That should be your takeaway.

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  Norbanger33 November 03, 2025 01:51

  From what i had read is that Southern winds are warm winds that do not lend themselves to be good sources of cooling. thus the the opeing of courtyard to all directions except South Facing.

   

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  Shruthih October 05, 2026 16:45

  Actually, it depends on which hemisphere it is located in. So your answer will be right if it is located in the Southern Hemisphere - in that case your southern winds will be cooler and your Sun will be in the North , therefore South would be the right answer. But since NCARB is related to the United States and based on the correct answer, we should be considering Northern Hemisphere in this case unless specifically mentioned. 

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  mermann October 06, 2026 07:46

  1. Don’t confuse shading the building (north facing exposure) with shading the courtyard (shading from building masses to the east south and west where the sun lives)

  2. The issue is not whether the winds are warm, but rather the benefits of air movement in passive cooling, which are important in humid but not arid climates. For cooling, we need sweat to evaporate from our skin. When the air is saturated with humidity, it is like a full sponge and won’t take any more moisture from our skin. We need air movement there to promote evaporation for the same reason we aim a fan at water spilled on the carpet to dry the floor….but in DRY climates the arid air is “thirsty” so air movement is not necessary to effectively promote the evaporation of sweat.

  -Michael Ermann, Amber Book creator

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