Glossary Flashcards
Agrifiber building products
are manufactured from agricultural fiber. Examples include particleboard, medium-density fiberboard, plywood, oriented strand board, wheatboard, and strawboard.
Air economizer
is a system found in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning air-handling systems that takes advantage of favorable weather conditions to reduce mechanical cooling by introducing cooler outdoor air into the building.
Albedo, or solar reflectance,
is a measure of the ability of a surface material to reflect sunlight on a scale of 0 to 1. Solar reflectance is also called albedo. Black paint has a solar reflectance of 0; white paint (titanium dioxide) has a solar reflectance of 1.
Baseline building energy performance
is the annual energy cost for a building design intended for use as a baseline for rating above standard design, as defined in a given version of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA 90.1, Appendix G.
Biobased product
is a commercial or industrial product using at least 50 percent (by weight) biologically generated substances, including but not limited to cellulosic materials (e.g., wood, straw, and natural fibers) and products derived from crops (e.g., soy-based and corn-based).
Biobased product content
is that portion of a material or product derived from plants and other renewable agricultural, marine, and forestry resources.
Biodiversity
is the variety of life in all forms, levels, and combinations, including ecosystem diversity, species diversity, and genetic diversity.
Biomass
is plant material from trees, grasses, or crops that can be converted to heat energy to produce electricity.
Biomimicry
is an emerging design discipline that looks to nature for sustainable design solutions. It sometimes is called biomimetic design.
Biomimetic design
is an emerging design discipline that looks to nature for sustainable design solutions.
Blackwater
is wastewater from toilets and urinals. Wastewater from kitchen sinks (especially when a garbage disposal is installed), showers, or bathtubs is also considered blackwater under some state or local codes.
Brownfield
is a property whose use may be complicated by the presence or possible presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.
Building automation system (BAS)
is a commonly accepted name for the sensors, controls, and computers that control building energy systems such as lighting, heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems with the objective of minimizing energy consumption.
Building information modeling (BIM)
is the process of generating and managing building data during its life cycle. It also refers to software that generates a three-dimensional building representation and with the ability to accommodate plugins that can potentially perform energy modeling, daylight studies, and life-cycle assessment of building systems.
Building products
are building elements and assemblies.
Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM)
is the primary building assessment system in the United Kingdom.
Candela
is a measure of luminous intensity. One candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 × 1012 Hz and has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian. See also Lumen.
Carbon accounting
is the process of measuring the amount of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) an entity, activity, or facility is releasing into the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e)
is a measure used to compare the impact of various greenhouse gases based on their global warming potential (GWP). CO2e approximates the time-integrated warming effect of a unit of a given greenhouse gas relative to that of carbon dioxide (CO2). GWP is an index for estimating the relative global warming contribution of atmospheric emissions of a unit mass of a particular greenhouse gas compared to emission of a unit mass of CO2. These GWP values are used based on a 100-year time horizon: 1 for CO2, 23 for methane (CH4), and 294 for nitrous oxide (N2O). See also Global warming potential.
Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) levels
are the concentrations of carbon dioxide. They are indicators of ventilation effectiveness inside buildings. CO2 concentrations greater than 700 parts per million above outdoor CO2 conditions generally indicate inadequate ventilation.
Carbon footprint
is the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) caused by an organization, event, product, or person.
Carbon neutral building
is a building with a carbon footprint less than or equal to zero. The carbon accounting is a transparent process that calculates building operational emissions, reduces those emissions, and offsets residual emissions.
Carbon offset
is a certificate representing the reduction of one metric ton (2,205 lbs.) of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.
Chain of custody (COC)
is a tracking procedure for a product from the point of harvest extraction to its end use, including all successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing, and distribution.
Charrette
is a collaborative session in which a project team creates a solution to a design or project problem. The structure may vary, depending on the complexity of the problem or desired outcome and the individuals working in the group. Charrettes can take place over multiple sessions in which the group divides into subgroups. Each subgroup then presents its work to the full group as material for future dialogue. Charrettes can serve as a way of quickly generating solutions while integrating the aptitudes and interests of a diverse group of people.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
are hydrocarbons formerly used as refrigerants that cause depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer. CFCs were banned from use by international agreements, including the Montreal Protocol of 1987.
Climate zone, US,
is any of the eight principal zones, roughly demarcated by lines of latitude, into which the United States is divided on the basis of climate for the purpose of energy calculations and selecting prescriptive energy conservation measures.
Coefficient of performance (COP)
is a measure of the input power to a system compared to the output power of a system; the higher the COP, the more efficient a system is.
Combined heat and power (CHP)
or cogeneration, generates both electrical power and thermal energy from a single fuel source.
Comfort criteria
are specific design conditions that take into account indoor temperature, humidity, and air speed; and outdoor temperature, outdoor humidity, seasonal clothing, and expected activity.
Commissioning (Cx)
is the process of verifying and documenting that a building and all of its systems and assemblies are planned, designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained to meet the owner’s project requirements.
Commissioning authority (CxA)
is the individual designated to organize, lead, and review the completion of commissioning process activities. The CxA facilitates communication among the owner, designer, and contractor to ensure that complex systems are installed and function in accordance with the owner’s project requirements.
Composite wood
consists of wood or plant particles or fibers bonded by a synthetic resin or binder. Examples include particleboard, medium-density fiberboard, plywood, oriented strand board, wheatboard, and strawboard.
Composting toilets
contain and control the composting of excrement, toilet paper, carbon additive, and, optionally, food wastes. (They sometimes are called biological toilets, dry toilets, and waterless toilets.)
Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE)
is the primary building assessment system used in Japan.
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
is more commonly known as the Superfund Act. Enacted in 1980, CERCLA addresses abandoned or historical waste sites and contamination by taxing the chemical and petroleum industries and providing federal authority to respond to releases of hazardous substances.
Constructed wetland
is an engineered system designed to simulate natural wetland functions to support ecological systems and water purification.
Construction and demolition debris
includes waste and recyclables generated from construction and from the renovation, demolition, or deconstruction of preexisting structures. It does not include land-clearing debris, such as soil, vegetation, and rocks.
Construction indoor air quality (IAQ) management plan
outlines measures to minimize indoor air contamination in a building during construction and describes procedures to flush the building to remove contaminants prior to occupancy.
Cradle-to-cradle
is a framework for designing manufacturing processes powered by renewable energy, in which materials flow in safe, regenerative, closed-loop cycles.
Cradle-to-gate product life cycle
is a partial product life cycle from resource extraction (cradle) to the factory gate before the product is transported to the consumer. This life cycle includes the product stages of raw material supply, transport, and manufacturing. The construction process, use, and end-of-life stages of the product are omitted in this case.
Cradle-to-grave product life cycle
is the full product life cycle from resource extraction (“cradle”) through the disposal stage (“grave”). This life cycle includes the product, construction process, use, and end-of-life stages.
Daylighting
is the controlled entry of natural light into a space, used to reduce or eliminate electric lighting.
Daylight-responsive lighting controls
are photosensors used in conjunction with other switching and dimming devices to control the amount of artificial lighting relative to the amount and quality of natural daylight.
Deconstruction
is the systematic dismantling and removal of a structure or its parts to salvage and harvest the components, for the purpose of reusing and recycling the reclaimed materials for their maximum value; the disassembly of a building with the explicit intent of recovering building materials for reuse in a safe and economical manner.
Demand-controlled ventilation (DCV)
is automatic ventilation control based on measured carbon dioxide levels.
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB), or German Association for Sustainable Building
is both the primary building assessment system used in Germany and the name of the organization that is its proponent.
District cooling
distributes chilled water to multiple buildings primarily for air conditioning. The chilled water usually is provided by a dedicated cooling plant powered by waste heat.
District heating
is the distribution of heat from one or more sources, such as waste heat from a power plant, to multiple buildings.