Green Glossary

Durability: The ability of a building or any of its components to perform its required function in its service environment over the period of time without unforeseen cost for maintenance or repair (Source: LEED for Homes Rating System)

EPP: Environmentally Preferred Products are products and services that have a reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared to other products and services that serve the same purpose.

Green Building: Incorporates environmental consideration into every phase of the home building process.
LEED Green Building Rating System: LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a Green Building rating system used to measure the overall environmental performance of a home. There are four levels of certification (Certified, Silver, Gold, Platinum)

Life Cycle Analysis (LCA): An LCA of a building product covers its environmental impacts “cradle-to-grave” through six basic steps: Raw Material Acquisition, Product Manufacturing Process, Home Building Process, Home Maintenance and Operation, Home Demolition, Product Reuse, Recycling or Disposal

Post-Consumer Recycled Content: Material used and then recycled by consumers

Pre-Consumer Recycled Content: Material diverted from the waste stream during the manufacturing process. Also known as postindustrial content. It must be waste generated from one commercial process that has been discarded and then collected and reprocessed in another process. (Source: ISO 14021 Clause 7.8.4.1)

Reclaimed Material: Building components that have been recovered from a site and reused in their original state (i.e., not recycled) (Source: LEED for Homes Rating System)

Recycling: The collection, reprocessing, marketing and use of materials that were diverted or recovered from the solid waste stream (Source: LEED for Homes Rating System)