Water Efficiency
Untreated household wastewater that has not come into contact with toilet waste. This includes wastewater from bathtubs, showers, bathroom sinks, and washing machines. It does not include wastewater from kitchen sinks or dishwashers.
graywater
A design strategy that uses natural climatic conditions to heat, cool, or light a building.
passive design
A term describing the system boundaries of an environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) that covers all activities from the beginning of its production (i.e., the extraction of raw materials, agricultural activities, and forestry) up to the factory gate.
cradle to gate
The emittance of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from building elements such as flooring, wall-coverings, furniture, paints, adhesives, and sealants.
off-gassing
A LEED rating system credit that can be earned for achieving double the credit requirements or the next incremental percentage threshold.
exemplary performance credit
The designation for a building occupant who spends 40 hours per week in the project building.
full-time equivalent (FTE)
Verification after construction that a structure and its systems and subsystems meet project requirements as intended and designed.
commissioning
The process of designing products, activities, and systems to reduce waste and toxicity to the environment and human health for long-lasting effects.
source reduction
The natural pattern of physiological and behavioral processes that are timed to a near 24-hour period.
circadian rhythms
A LEED rating system credit that achieves significant, measurable environmental performance using a strategy not addressed in the LEED green building rating system.
innovation credit
A water flow constrictor attached to the tip of an indoor water faucet to limit the amount of water that flows out of it.
aerator
Nonrenewable energy produced from the burning of ancient, organic remains such as peat, coal, crude oil, and natural gas.
fossil fuels
A plan included in the construction documents for a project that identifies the amount of construction waste that will be diverted from the landfill and where it will go.
waste management plan
A series of symptoms connected with the phenomenon of building occupants feeling sick when they are in a building and recovering they leave the building.
sick building syndrome (SBS)
A LEED rating system credit that is designed to test new and revised LEED credit language, alternative compliance paths, and new or innovative green building technologies and concepts.
pilot credit
Requires that all toilets use no more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush and all urinals use no more than 1.0 gallon per flush, among oth- er requirements.
EPAct of 1992
A program offered by utilities that allow large energy users to reduce energy loads during peak energy usage times in exchange for reduced rates.
demand response (DR) program
A standardized, internationally recognized, comprehensive tool for providing information on a product’s environmental impact, based on an ISO-compliant life-cycle assessment (LCA) and verified by a third party.
environmental product declaration (EPD)
Organic chemical compounds that are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids that evaporate under normal indoor atmospheric conditions for temperature and pressure and may have short- and long-term adverse health effects.
volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
A LEED rating system credit that attains additional points for other category credits identified by the USGBC regional councils and chapters, as well as the member countries of the LEED International Roundtable, as having additional regional importance for the project’s region.
regional priority credit
A partnership program by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that brings together a variety of stakeholders to provide consumers with easy ways to save water, as both a label for products and an information resource to help people use water more efficiently.
WaterSense®
A standard that sets the minimum requirements for energy-efficient design of most buildings, except low-rise residential buildings, by offering, in detail, the minimum energy-efficient requirements for design and construction of new buildings and their systems, new portions of buildings and their systems, and new systems and equipment in existing buildings, as well as criteria for determining compliance with these requirements.
ASHRAE 90.1-2010
A third-party certification body that certifies wood that is cut from a sustainably managed forest.
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
A rating system that ranges from 1 (low) to 16 (high) for filters made for a mechanical building ventilation system that filters particulates and airborne contaminants out of the air.
minimum efficiency reporting value (MERV)
The intent of this pilot credit is to promote walking, biking, and other non motorized transportation that results in reduced vehicle distance traveled, increased public health, and enhanced community participation.
Pilot Credit - Walkable Project Site