Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Elementa > Glossary > Flashcards

Glossary Flashcards

1
Q

Retrofit

A

modifying or repairing a building after its been manufactured to achieve higher thermal performance and energy efficiency

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

EnerPHit

A

Admission that a retrofit wont meet levels of energy efficiency as passivhouse standard of 85-90%. Sets a required performance lower than passivhouse.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

KGCO2e

A

GHG emissions expressed in CO2e responsible for global warming. It is a metric measure that is used to compare emissions from various greenhouse gases on the basis of their GWP by converting amounts of other gases to the equivalent amount of CO2. methane = 25 nitrous oxide = 298 (1 kg of methane = 25kgco2e) (IPCC 2007)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

GHG

A

A greenhouse gas, therefore, is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of infrared radiation emitted by the earths surface, thus causing the so-called greenhouse effect on Earth

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

GWP

A

GWP indicates the amount of warming a gas of a given unit mass causes over a given period of time relative to that of carbon dioxide, which is normally 100 years

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Embodied Carbon

A

Emissions associated with materials and construction processes throughout the whole life cycle of an asset.

It includes any CO₂ created during the raw material extraction, transport to manufacturer, manufacturing the transport of those materials to the job site, and the construction practices used.

Put simply, embodied carbon is the carbon footprint of a building or infrastructure project before it becomes operational. It also refers to the CO₂ produced maintaining the building and eventually demolishing it, transporting the waste, and recycling it.

contributes to approximately 11% of global CO2

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Embodied Carbon stages

A

(A,B1-B5,C)
A1- Material Extraction
A2 - Transport to factory
A3 - Manufacturing
A4 - Transport to site
A5 - Construction
B1 - Use
B2 - Maintenance
B3 - Repair
B4 - Replacement
B5 - Refurbishment
C1 - Deconstruction
C2 - Transport
C3 - Waste Processing
C4 - Disposal
D - Reuse, Recovery, Recycling

not included B6,B7 - Operational.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Whole Life Carbon

A

Sum of Embodied and Operational

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Design principles for structure

A

Weight - the leaner the better

Grid - large grid spans will mean deeper beams and lower ceiling height increasing EC

Slab - slabs biggest impact for low-mid ride buildings. many variations of slabs which tend to rely on concrete

Column & Beam - higher ceilings = heavier beams (more EC), columns usually a hotspot

Foundation - lighter the building, smaller the foundation. typically 2nd or 3rd most impactful

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Design principles for facades and interiors

A

Envelope - insulation
Facade - reduce metal use, high quality windows, limited shelf angles
Interiors -
space for maintenance,
reduce quantity of metal studs and frames,
use of recycled or up cycled furniture, Replace HFC blowing agents (foam up to form insulation) with HFO blowing agents. HFO is used as a blowing agent to form polyurethane foam (very low GWP)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Design principles for MEP

A

Passivehouse - Optimise MEP equipment e.g natural ventilation and shading devices to reduce over reliance on building service equipment

Refrigerant - Reduce the charge of refrigerant needed, e.g Hybrid VRF (part water/part refrigerant instead of standard VRF
Use low GWP refrigerant (<150),
ensure low leakage rates during system use,
refrigerant recovery at end of life

Optimisation
Use efficient equipment while specifying lowest weight possible
Minimise length of pipes and ducts

Specification
Specify robust equipment which wont be replaced often
ensure equipment are easily accessible for maintenance purposes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Circular Economy

A

materials can be retained in use at their highest value for as long as possible and are then reused or recycled, leaving a minimum residual waste

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Carbon assessment

A

an LCA that only looks at one environmental impact indicator: Global warming potential (GWP), measured in CO2e

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

EPD

A

Independently verified and registered document that communicates transparent and comparable information about the life cycle environmental impact of a product

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

EN15804 + A2

A

Defines how companies should go about creating EPDs. Makes sure EPDs in construction sector are transparent and comparable.
- Accounts for end of life recycling (D)
- Includes more life stages
- biogenic carbon reporting
- reporting on additional environmental impact indicators
- detailed descriptions of functional units

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

ISO 14025

A

Sets out overarching procedures and requirements for producing EPDs

17
Q

Refrigerants

A

A chemical used in a cooling mechanism, used in the refrigeration cycle of air conditioning systems and heat pumps where in most cases they undergo a repeated phase transition liquid to gas and back again. They all work by passing a refrigerant between main components of the compressor, condensor, expansion device and evaporator to remove unwanted heat from one location (office to air). a refrigerant means that a fluid can easily boil into a vapour and also condensed from a vapour back into liquid again and again without fail.

18
Q

Heat production options

A

Traditional district heating - development boilers & CHP, wider area heat network, hybrid systems
low grade district heating - centralized heat pumps or fuel cell
ambient loop - decentralized heat network - local heat pumps in apartment
local heat source - heat pump, boiler

19
Q

Cladding

A

Non structural external layer mainly for appearance not so much for insulation but used to protect from the elements. generally requires attachment to battens/backing wall (CLT)
recycled polystyrene
Timber
Stone
Vinyl
Glass
Brick
Cement Fiber Board
Metal
External Foam

20
Q

Galvanizing process

A

Coating steel with zinc

21
Q

Biogenic carbon

A

carbon stored in biological materials such as plants or soil. Refers to the carbon removals associated with carbon sequestration into biomass. bio-based products can contribute to reduce levels of co2. Biogenic must be reported separately if reporting only in upfront carbon but included in total if reporting EC or WLC

22
Q

Wall rendering

A

covering exterior wall surface either with a sand and cement, lime based, or synthetic resin based render to give the house protection against weather

23
Q

Facade

A

The principal front of a building that faces onto a street
high rise buildings often have curtain walls (non load bearing to keep weather out) /precast concrete walls which are suspended from concrete floor slabs.

24
Q

Rooftop Units

A

most common HVAC system for commercial buildings. uses refrigerants - warm air from building passes over evaporator coil and refrigerant extracts heat from the air by absorption

25
Q

VRF - Variable Refrigerant flow

A

a core HVAC indoor or outdoor system, allows single compressor to serve multiple indoor units

26
Q

AHU - Air handling units

A

Composition of elements mounted in large accessible box-shaped units called modules which house the appropriate ventilation requirements for purifying, air conditioning or renewing the indoor air in a building.

27
Q

Walls

A

Load bearing wall - carries load imposed on it from beams and slab. precast concrete wall, retaining wall, masonry wall
Non load bearing wall or interior walls don’t support structure just used to seperate rooms from outside
Cavity walls - cavity between two walls, prevent rain penetrating internal surface
Partition wall - interior non-load bearing wall divides large space into smaller spaces
Masonry wall: brick

28
Q

Shell and core

A

Shell is structural element that divides inner space of structure from the structure’s outside. Core -

29
Q

LCA

A

A science based method of assessing the potential environmental impacts associated with a product throughout its life cycle.

30
Q

Performing Building LCAs

A

Defining goal and scope definition
System boundaries - life cycle stages and building area (GIFA) - Service life of building
Life cycle inventory
Life cycle analysis

31
Q

Standards

A

ISO 14040/4 - Fundamental for LCA -Goal and scope, LCI, LCIA, Results and limitations
EN15978 - European standard specifies calc method based on LCA to assess env performance of a building
EN15804 - Standard for making 3 different types of EPDs, cradle to gate,grave,gate with options
GLA - How to calc WLC emissions in line with London plan 2021

32
Q

Damp proof membrane

A

Ideal for applications like flooring. For walls, need to make sure the membrane is breathable

33
Q

Operational Carbon

A

Greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy and water use during a building lifetime

34
Q

Upfront Carbon

A

Cradle to practical completion (A1-A5) - excluding biogenic carbon

35
Q

Carbon Sequestration

A

Process by which co2 is removed from the atmosphere and stored within a material e.g stored as biogenic carbon in ‘biomass’ by plants/trees through photosynthesis and other processes

36
Q

Biomass

A

material of biological origin excluding material embedded in geological/fossilized formations

37
Q

Carbon Offsets

A

Emissions reductions or removals achieved by one entity and can be used to compensate from another entity
- offsets must be verified and retired in line with GHG protocol
- carbon emissions must be minimized before offsetting
- offsets should be purchased in advance
- exported renewable energy generated cannot be used to account for EC

38
Q

Types of EPDs

A

Generic EPDs - averages between number of manufactures for same product
Manufacturer specific EPDs - range of specific products from same manufacturer
Product specific EPDs - product specific from manufacturer

Elementa (6 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions