Green Building Glossary

Here's our compilation of some green building terms. We'll continue to build upon these basics, so check back frequently for new additions. We welcome your input.

Appropriate Technology: Technology that creates minimal environmental impact while serving basic human needs. Uses the simplest level of technology that can effectively achieve the intended purpose in a particular location.

Building Science: Study of how all systems of a structure function together to optimize building performance and prevent building failure. This includes the detailed analysis of building materials and building envelope systems.

Coir: Made from fibers found between the husk and the outer shell of a coconut, it is spun into yarn and woven into a variety of floor and wall coverings. Is durable, not damaged by moisture and resists insects, bacterial growth and rot. Is biodegradable and a renewable resource.

Embodied Energy: The sum total of the energy necessary - from raw material extraction, transport, manufacturing, assembly, installation plus the capital, environmental and other costs - used to produce a service or product from its beginning through its disassembly, deconstruction and/or decompostion.

Green Building: Construction that increases the efficiency with which buildings use resources — energy, water, and materials — while reducing building impacts on human health and the environment. May be accomplished by applying these requirements to siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal — encompassing the entire building life cycle.

Indoor Air Quality: Refers to the content of interior air that could affect health and comfort of building occupants. IAQ may be compromised by microbial contaminants (mold, bacteria), chemicals (outgassing from building materials and finishes, carbon monoxide, radon), allergens, or humidity levels that are too high or too low.

Jute: Similar in texture to wool. Because of its softness, it shouldn't be used in high traffic areas. Spun from soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. Is biodegradable and a renewable resource.

LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a green building rating system that promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability. It recognizes performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Assesses the environmental performance of a product or building over its life cycle. Green Seal is a well known non-profit organization that utilizes life-cycle analysis to evaluate and certify products and services that have a lesser impact on the environment and human health.

Natural Building: Uses a range of techniques, building systems and materials that place major emphasis on sustainability. Focus is on durability and the use of locally available, minimally-processed, renewable, recycled or salvaged resources, as well as those which produce healthy living environments and maintain indoor air quality. Natural building tends to rely on human labor, more than technology.

Net metering: An electricity policy for consumers who own small, renewable energy facilities, such as wind or solar power or use vehicle-to-grid systems. Net refers to what remains after deductions -- the deduction of any energy outflows from metered energy inflows. The customer receives retail credit for the excess electricity generated

Off-the-Grid: Refers to living in a self-sufficient manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. Usually involves a system of generating power that doesn't require connection to utility electricity grids.

Passive Solar: Means of using sunlight for energy without active mechanical systems. Converts sunlight into usable heat (water, air, thermal mass), causes air-movement for ventilating, stores heat for future use without the assistance of other energy sources. Passive solar systems have little to no operating costs, often have low maintenance costs and emit no greenhouse gases in operation. Requires careful site planning, selection of building materials and building features. Energy conservation reduces the needed size of any renewable or conventional energy system, and greatly enhances the economics, so it must be performed first.

Permaculture: Design system and philosophy that uses land in a way that integrates human dwellings and activities with local natural ecologies. Loosely formed network of training in alternative cultural ideas and permaculture gardening.

Renewable Resources: Natural resources qualify as renewable resources if they are replenished by natural processes at a rate comparable or faster than their rate of consumption by users (solar radiation, ocean tides, wind). Renewable resources may also include commodities such as wood, bamboo and crop waste.

Seagrass: Grow in marine, fully saline environments. Much softer than Coir or Sisal, Seagrass is also less durable and incompatible with moisture. Smooth in texture with a soft, neutral color. Is biodegradable and a renewable resource.

Sick Building Syndrome: Often caused by flaws in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Contaminants produced by outgassing of some types of building materials, volatile organic compounds, molds, improper exhausting of light industrial and cleaning chemicals have also been attributed to SBS.

Sisal: Made from the central stalk of a type of Agave cactus. Produces a hard fiber that is mechanically spun into yarn and woven into rugs and wallcoverings. As durable as Coir, but with more sheen and a smoother texture. Is biodegradable and a renewable resource. Has no natural resistance to insects, bacteria and moisture. Should be used indoors only.

Sustainable Development: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability to meet the needs of the future. Encompasses three parts: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social-political sustainability.

Wool: Superior durability with a natural resistance to soiling. Naturally flame resistant, sound absorbing, biodegradeable and a renewable resource.

Zero-Energy Homes: Homes that aren't connected to the utility grids because they are designed to produce as much energy as they consume. Most zero-energy definitions don't include the emissions generated in the construction of the building and the embodied energy of the structure.