Certified Healthy
This label from UL indicates that a product meets strict limits for chemical emissions.
What is GREENGUARD?
True or False: Indoor air can be more polluted than outdoor air due to chemicals in building products.
What is True?
These rooftop panels convert sunlight into electricity.
What are solar panels?
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and ______ Design.
What is Environmental?
Separating materials like wood, metal, and concrete on job sites is called this.
What is construction waste sorting?
The Declare label, often used in Living Building Challenge projects, is sometimes referred to as this kind of document.
What is a "nutrition label" for building products?
These airborne chemicals contribute to poor indoor air quality and are commonly off-gassed by paints and adhesives.
What are VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds)?
This type of bulb uses up to 80% less energy than traditional incandescent ones.
What is an LED bulb?
LEED certification includes four levels: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum, with Platinum being the lowest level.
What is False? (Platinum is the highest level of LEED certification.)
Using building elements from demolition sites in new projects is called this type of reuse.
What is salvaging or reclaimed materials?
HPDs are used to disclose product contents and health information. What does HPD stand for?
What is Health Product Declaration?
This known human carcinogen is often released from particleboard, plywood, and MDF.
What is formaldehyde?
Operational carbon refers to emissions from this ongoing building activity.
What is running or operating the building (e.g., heating, cooling, lighting)?
WELL certification focuses primarily on the health and ______ of building occupants.
What is wellness?
This term describes carbon emissions embedded in materials and construction processes, which can be reduced by choosing low-carbon alternatives.
What is embodied carbon?
This certification from California sets strict emission limits for VOCs from building materials.
What is the CDPH Standard Method
Exposure to this “forever chemical,” often used in stain- and water-resistant treatments, has been linked to immune and hormonal effects.
What are PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances)?
This system uses the temperature of the ground to regulate the heating and cooling of buildings, reducing energy use.
What is a geothermal heating and cooling system?
This certification focuses on creating “living buildings” that produce more energy than they consume, plus other ambitious environmental goals.
What is Living Building Challenge?
This method of reducing waste in the construction process involves designing buildings that are flexible and can be easily adapted or reused, extending their life cycle.
What is design for disassembly?
This program verifies that products meet standards for chemical safety and sustainable practices across five categories, including material health and circularity.
What is Cradle to Cradle Certified?
Paints that meet Green Seal or GREENGUARD standards are tested for what kind of impact?
What is indoor air quality or human health impact?
This term describes the total energy used by a building over a year being equal to the amount of renewable energy created.
What is net-zero energy?
This building standard, which originated in Germany, focuses on minimizing energy consumption through high-performance insulation, airtightness, and heat recovery ventilation, aiming for ultra-low energy buildings.
What is Passive House?
This sustainability strategy considers a building's full environmental impact from material sourcing to demolition.
What is life cycle assessment (LCA)?