Green Building Glossary
The following is a general list of terms associated with green building. This list includes terms that may be used elsewhere in this site, and is provided to help better understand green strategies that may be implemented.
Agricultural Fibers: Natural fibers, such as cotton, often used as insulation materials.
Air Quality Standards: Amount of pollutants approved by predetermined guidelines that are not to be surpassed during a given time in a specific area.
Biodegradable: A material that is capable of decomposing naturally within a short amount of time.
Brownfields: Idle facilities where expansion or redevelopment is made difficult by environmental contamination.
Cellulose Insulation: Insulation is made from recycled newspaper with borates to provide fire protection.
Certified Forest Product: A product certified as sustainable/suitable for use in a green building. These products are from a managed forest that has passed guidelines for responsible harvesting and environmental conservation.
Chain-of-custody Certification: A product that has met certain requirements throughout its life, beginning from its extraction and production all the way to its distribution and sale.
Chlorofluorocarbons: Chemicals used in refrigeration, air conditioning, insulation, or as solvents and aerosol propellants. CFC's are not eliminated in the lower atmosphere, and therefore they float into the upper atmosphere where their components destroy the ozone layer.
Clean Energy: Energy created from renewable sources with low environmental impact.
Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs): These lamps use much less energy than standard Incandescent light bulbs.
Cradle-to-Cradle: A procedure that advocates the recycling of waste materials into new products rather than permanently disposing of them.
Daylighting: Using natural light in many different ways in a building. By using various design methods, this light decreases reliance on electricity by using windows and skylights.
Domestic Hardwood: Deciduous trees whose wood is sourced in the U.S. and ideally where the growth of new trees exceeds the removal rate.
Earth Sheltered Design: A home designed to be built partially or completely below ground, either by digging into existing ground or by covering over parts of the house. This design utilizes the constant temperature of the soil to improve energy efficiency and reduces environmental impact.
Embodied Energy: The energy that is necessary to make a product. It is also the molecular energy already existing in a product's content.
Energy Audit: An assessment of a building's energy usage.
Energy Efficiency: Products or systems designed to use less energy for the same or higher performance. It can also save money on utilities by being less reliable on fossil fuels and depending more on renewable resources.
Energy Modeling: A computer model used to analyze a building's energy systems in order to project its possible consumption rate.
Energy Recovery Ventilator: A device that draws stale air away from a building and transfers the heat or coolness of that air to the outside air being pulled into the house, which also decreases energy costs along with reducing indoor pollutants.
Fly Ash: An ash residue created from combustion processes. Some electrical plants create a non-toxic fly ash that can be a substitute for Portland Cement.
Formaldehyde: Colorless, pungent, toxic (the cause of many cancers or respiratory ailments) material often used as a component in glues for wood products.
Geothermal: A technology that utilizes the constant temperature of the earth to heat or cool buildings.
Green Building: A building constructed to incorporate design techniques and materials, which then minimize its environmental impacts.
Greenhouse Gas: Any gas contributing to the greenhouse effect (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) by staying in the atmosphere and intensifying the sun's heat as it radiates to the earth.
Greywater: Wastewater that doesn't contain biological contaminates and can then be reused for irrigation after filtration.
Ground Source Energy: A little below the surface, the earth keeps a constant temperature close to the human comfort level, and this type of heating can be used efficiently for geothermal heating systems.
Indigenous (Local) Materials: Building with materials that are produced in an area near to where the construction is taking place. This reduces building costs and helps to boost local economies.
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ): The amount of indoor pollution sources (paint, carpet, wood treatments, mold, etc) which can release different harmful gases and can cause health hazards if the air isn't properly ventilated.
Integrated Design: The integration of a building's systems to maximize environmental and financial functioning by considering energy systems, building materials, design methods, site preservation, and indoor air quality so that a structure can run at its maximum efficiency.
Integrated Pest Management: A cost-effective way to prevent pests by using less invasive techniques to both animal and occupant alike.
Life Cycle Assessment: Analyzing a product's entire life from raw materials through manufacture, use, and disposal.
Low-E Windows: Low emissive windows that reflect heat, not light, thereby keeping spaces warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
Low-flow toilet: A toilet that uses less water than a traditional unit, therefore lowering costs by using water more efficiently.
Outgas: Emission of fumes into the air; these emissions are often caused by building materials that contain certain chemicals.
Passive Solar Design: Using design methods to capitalize on heat and light from the sun, thereby reducing the need for electric systems.
Passive Cooling/Heating: A building structure designed to increase ventilation and retention of heating/cooling within its building components.
Pervious Paving: Material that allows water to penetrate to the soil below, thereby decreasing the amount of water runoff.
Radon: A radioactive gas that occurs naturally, but when trapped in buildings can cause health problems such as lung cancer.
Recycled Content: Percentage of recycled materials in a product.
Renewable Energy: Energy resulting from natural sources; they can then replenish themselves over short periods of time (sun, wind, moving water, organic plant, biomass, geothermal heat).
Site Preservation: Minimizing the disruption of a building on its surrounding environment (reusing existing structures on a site, rather than building upon unused land; or avoiding building on top of environmentally fragile land that could interfere with natural ecosystems).
Smart House: Electronic controls and sensors that regulate heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, and appliance operation for energy conservation purposes.
Solar Water Heater: Heat from the sun that is absorbed and then transferred by pumps to a storage unit, which is then transported to the hot water of a home through a heat exchanger.
Solar Photovoltaics (PV): These convert sunlight directly into electricity by using materials made from semiconductor materials. This material does not create any pollution, noise, or other environmental impact.
Thermal Bridge: A conductive element, such as a metal channel, that bypasses a less conductive element, such as insulation.
Thermal Envelope: The shell of a structure that creates a barrier from the elements.
Tight Construction: The elimination of gaps and holes in a building's exterior through proper air sealing and ventilation. It reduces waste and makes a home more energy efficient.
Urban Heat Islands: Dark-colored surfaces absorb heat from the sun more than light-colored surfaces. In urban areas, a combination of dark surfaces and a lack of shade intensify this effect. One solution is the use of lighter-colored materials in building construction. The use of well-placed vegetation to increase shade or green roof systems can also minimize these effects and increase
energy efficiency.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Materials that evaporate from organic products and can cause acute and chronic illnesses.
Water Efficiency: Products, such as low-flow water fixtures, that use less water than traditional products, while still sustaining the same performance.
Wind Turbine: A mechanical system that uses wind to generate electrical power. Surplus electricity is then stored in a battery storage system for future use, or power is restored back into the utility, thereby lowering usage rates.
Xeriscape: Landscaping design that requires low water use and less maintenance by using efficient irrigation, soil improvement, and proper plant selection.
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