Green Building Glossary

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. Sets widely adopted standards for building energy efficiency, ventilation, and indoor air quality.

A design approach that incorporates natural elements such as plants, water features, natural light, and organic materials to enhance occupant well-being and connection to nature.

Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method. The world's first green building rating system, established in the UK in 1990, evaluating sustainability across multiple categories.

The physical separator between the conditioned interior and unconditioned exterior of a building, including walls, roof, foundation, windows, and doors.

A systematic quality assurance process that verifies building systems are designed, installed, calibrated, and operating according to the owner's project requirements.

An engineered wood product made from layers of lumber boards glued at perpendicular angles, used as a structural material with lower embodied carbon than steel or concrete.

The controlled admission of natural light into a building to reduce electric lighting needs and improve visual comfort for occupants.

The sum of all greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the mining, harvesting, processing, manufacturing, transportation, and installation of building materials.

A building performance metric calculated by dividing total annual energy consumption by gross floor area, expressed in kBtu per square foot per year or kWh per square meter per year.

A roof system that supports vegetation and growing medium over a waterproof membrane, providing stormwater management, insulation, and urban heat island mitigation.

Wastewater generated from domestic activities such as handwashing, bathing, and laundry that can be treated and reused for non-potable purposes.

A mechanical system that exchanges heat between outgoing exhaust air and incoming fresh air, maintaining ventilation while recovering 70 to 90 percent of thermal energy.

Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning. The building systems responsible for maintaining thermal comfort and indoor air quality.

The overall quality of a building's interior environment as it relates to occupant health and well-being, encompassing air quality, thermal comfort, lighting, and acoustics.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. A globally recognized green building certification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

A methodology for quantifying the environmental impacts of a product or building across all stages of its existence, from raw material extraction to end-of-life.

The most stringent green building certification program, requiring net-positive energy, net-positive water, and compliance with a materials red list of banned toxic substances.

A building performance target where the total amount of energy used annually equals the amount of renewable energy produced on-site.

A voluntary building energy standard requiring ultra-low space heating and cooling demand, achieved through superinsulation, airtightness, and heat recovery ventilation.

Technology that converts sunlight directly into electricity using semiconductor materials, typically installed on building rooftops or facades as part of on-site renewable energy systems.

A measure of a material's resistance to heat flow. Higher R-values indicate better insulating performance.

Strategies to control the quantity and quality of rainwater runoff from a site, including permeable paving, bioswales, rain gardens, and green roofs.

An area or component of the building envelope that has significantly higher thermal conductivity than surrounding materials, creating a pathway for heat loss.

The phenomenon where urban areas experience higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas due to concentrated impervious surfaces and reduced vegetation.

A category of organic chemicals that evaporate at room temperature from building materials, paints, and furnishings, potentially causing indoor air quality problems and health effects.