Building Envelope – A physical barrier between exterior and interior environments, used to control air, water, heat and noise entering and exiting a structure.
Building Simulation – Using building characteristics and function, combined with and climate data from a region, to model monthly fuel consumption, annual energy costs, CO2 emissions, and compare & contrast different building designs.
Embodied Carbon – Carbon emissions (or equivalent) that have taken place (or will take place), for the acquisition or manufacturing of materials, as well as the transportation, installation, and demolition (or recycling) of those materials.
Energy Intensity Use- Yearly energy consumption per building floor area.
Energy Modelling– Simulation of a building to predict the energy used and produced.
Global Warming Potential – A measure that compares the ability of different greenhouse gases to absorb radiation in comparison with CO2.
Greenhouse Gases– Gases in the atmosphere that absorbs the sun’s radiation resulting in trapping the heat in the atmosphere.
Hydro Electric Energy – The generation of energy form water flow. Hydro has historically been such common form of energy generation in Canada, that the word “hydro” can be used simply to refer to electricity! Quebec, BC, Newfoundland, and Manitoba all generate most of their electricity from hydroelectric dams.
Insulation – The material that is used in building envelopes that is responsible for resisting the flow of heat, but may also provide a barrier to air, water, or noise.
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) - LCA accounts for materials and energy involved in a product and then measures the associated environmental impacts along all of its life stages.
Natural Gas – Hydrocarbon gases such as methane that are used to produce energy.
Net-Zero Buildings - Buildings where the total energy consumed is less than or equal to the energy produced on a site.
Nuclear Energy – A form of electricity generation that involves chemical chain reactions that generate heat.
Operational Carbon - Carbon emitted during the use of the building.
Operational Carbon - The amount of carbon used during the operations or in-use of a building
Rammed Earth (RE) – Method for construction foundations, floors and walls using earth soils to maintain a low embodied carbon concentration.
Resistance Value (R-value) - Used to measure the insulations ability to prevent transfer between interior and exterior environments. The higher the R-value, the higher the capacity to resist heat flow.
Stabilized rammed earth (SRE) – Rammed earth materials that are modified by adding have 5-10% chemicals to increase the strength and durability of the mixture.
Thermal transmittance (U-value) – the reciprocal of R-value, thermal transmittance measures the capacity of materials to resist heat. The lower the U-value, the higher the insulation.