SITE SUITABILITY ANALYSIS
Where is the best place?
Compare locations using defined project constraints, preferences, and priorities to identify
areas that best align with your project objectives.
THE CHALLENGE
Turn project priorities into a geographic search.
Finding the right location involves more than identifying available land. Terrain, environmental conditions, transportation access, land characteristics, project requirements, and other factors can all influence which locations deserve a closer look. Site Suitability Analysis brings those considerations together in a consistent GIS-based framework for identifying and comparing promising areas.
DEFINE WHAT WORKS
Translate project requirements into
measurable geographic criteria.
REMOVE WHAT DOESN'T
Use defined constraints to exclude
locations that do not meet essential
requirements.
COMPARE WHAT REMAINS
Evaluate eligible areas using project
preferences and priorities to identify
stronger candidates.
That tells the entire suitability story before
you get technical.
MODEL CRITERIA
What goes into a suitability model?
Suitability criteria are developed around the project question, available data, client priorities, and
agreed analytical approach.
PROPERTY
Parcel Size
Land Characteristics
Parcel Configuration
ENVIRONMENTAL
Mapped Wetlands
Protected Lands
Flood Hazards
TERRAIN
Elevation
Slope
Terrain Characteristics
ACCESS
Major Roads
Transportation Networks
Proximity
CONSTRAINTS
Conditions used to exclude locations that do not
meet defined project requirements.
Examples:
Outside selected flood hazards
Minimum site acreage
Defined stream setbacks
Maximum allowable slope
CONSTRAINT = Where can we consider?
LAND USE
Existing Land Use
Land Cover
Compatible Areas
PROPERTY-SPECIFIC
Client Criteria
Defined Setbacks
Other Criteria
Not every criterion works the same way.
PREFERENCES
Conditions used to compare eligible locations
based on how well they align with project priorities.
Examples:
Closer to major roads
Flatter terrain
Preferred land characteristics
Better proximity to infrastructure
PREFERENCE = Which eligible locations are stronger?
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
Clear results—not just a suitability surface.
Suitability results are organized into maps, candidate locations, comparative findings, and supporting documentation designed to make the analysis understandable and useful.
SUITABILITY MAPPING
Professional maps showing the
geographic pattern of suitability
across the study area based on
the defined model.
May include:
Suitability surface
Constraint mapping
Preference layers
Candidate areas
CANDIDATE SITES
Identification of promising
locations that meet defined
requirements and perform
strongly within the suitability
model.
May include:
Candidate polygons
Acreage
Suitability scores
Location statistics
CANDIDATE COMPARISON
A clear comparison of leading
locations using the criteria and
results most relevant to the
project.
May include:
Rankings
Site statistics
Strengths and tradeoffs
Comparative maps
OPTIONAL INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE
Interactive Suitability Application
Explore suitability results, compare candidate locations, review project criteria, and—where appropriate—interact with model preferences through a client-friendly web GIS application.
MODEL DOCUMENTATION
Documentation explaining how the
analysis was constructed and how
the results should be interpreted.
May include:
Data sources
Constraints
Preferences
Weights
Assumptions
Methodology
HOW IT WORKS
From project criteria to candidate sites
Every site search starts with a different set of priorities. We turn those priorities into a structured GIS analysis that helps you compare locations and focus on what matters most.
01 — DEFINE
Establish the project criteria.
Define the study area, project requirements, constraints, preferences, and priorities that will guide the analysis.
Supporting terms:
Study Area
Requirements
Constraints
Preferences
Priorities
02 — MODEL
Build the suitability model.
Prepare the appropriate GIS data, standardize the evaluation criteria, apply agreed priorities, and calculate suitability across the study area.
Supporting terms:
Prepare Data
Standardize
Weight
Calculate
03 — COMPARE
Identify and evaluate candidates.
Identify promising areas and compare candidate locations using suitability results, acreage, site characteristics, and other relevant statistics.
Supporting terms:
Candidates
Scores
Acreage
Site Statistics
04 — DELIVER
Turn the analysis into useful results.
Communicate the findings through clear maps, candidate comparisons, methodology documentation, and optional interactive tools.
Supporting terms:
Maps
Comparisons
Documentation
Web GIS
INTERACTIVE DEMONSTRATION
See site suitability in action.
Explore a demonstration site suitability analysis developed around a hypothetical site-selection question in the Staunton, Virginia area.
THE QUESTION
Where are the three strongest 9–12 acre candidate sites?
The demonstration evaluates potential locations using defined terrain, water, transportation, and land-use criteria.
FIXED CONSTRAINTS
These determine where we can consider.
Slope
Less than 10%
Streams & Rivers
Minimum 100-foot setback
Flood Hazard
Outside selected mapped flood zones
Site Area
Approximately 9–12 acres
PREFERENCES
These determine which eligible locations are stronger.
Major-Road Access
Closer locations are preferred
Land Use
More compatible land-use areas are preferred
Demonstration Project: This example is provided to illustrate the BRMS site suitability workflow and interactive GIS capabilities. Criteria, assumptions, weights, and results are hypothetical and are not intended for real-world development decisions.
SCOPE & LIMITATIONS
Decision support for better-informed site selection.
Site Suitability Analysis is a GIS-based planning and decision-support service. Results reflect the datasets, criteria, weights, assumptions, and analytical methods established for the agreed project scope.
Suitability results identify relative geographic patterns and candidate locations based on defined criteria. They do not establish legal buildability, guarantee property availability, verify field conditions, or replace engineering, surveying, environmental, geotechnical, regulatory, financial, or other project-specific due diligence where required.
The objective is to narrow a broad geographic search into a smaller set of promising locations that deserve deeper evaluation.
LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT LOCATION?
Turn your requirements into a smarter site search.
Tell us what you're looking for, where you're looking, and what matters most to the project. BRMS can help translate those requirements into a focused geographic analysis.