Roseville Minnesota - Green Remodeling Plan Book

KEY TERMS GLOSSARY

Here you'll find definitions and explanations for many key terms used throughout the Plan Book. If you have a resource suggestion or better definition to share, please email us.

Air Barrier

"An air barrier is any material or assembly of materials that stops the flow of air. To stop the flow of air, an air barrier must be free of holes and punctures. Otherwise, a pressure differential will drive significant quantities of air (and potentially water vapor) through the hole in a short period of time. Therefore, particular attention must be paid to preserving the continuity of an air barrier by reducing or eliminating even small punctures." According to the Minnesota Sustainable Housing Initiative. A In your home, the drywall, vapor barrier, building wrap, sheathing, cladding, widows, flashing, and other details work together to form an air barrier. Learn more about air barriers from Wikipedia.

Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE)

The annual fuel utilization efficiency is a percentage used to describe the heating efficiency of different furnaces by measuring heat output in relation to energy consumed. Learn more about AFUE from Wikipedia.

ASTM

ASTM International is an organization that develops standards and testing methods for products. ASTM standards are used globally, "to improve product quality, enhance safety, facilitate market access and trade, and build consumer confidence." www.astm.org

Attic Card

Any professionally installed insulation is required to be accompanied by a receipt. Attic insulation receives an “attic card” to record the type of insulation installed, manufacturer, installer, R-value, area insulated, and quantity installed.

Backdrafting

Backdrafting occurs when low pressure from running fans causes exterior air to be pulled down chimneys and exhaust vents. It can lead the accumulation of hazardous carbon monoxide in a home. Learn more about backdrafting from Wikipedia.

Building Wrap

Also known as house-wrap, building felt,or building paper, this is a layer of material applied over sheathing, on the exterior side of the house. As part of the drainage plane, building wrap provides a surface for water to drain down. It acts as an air barrier, not a vapor barrier. This means it allows moisture vapor to pass through; this allows any moisture that may enter the wall cavity to dry. Learn more about housewrap from Wikipedia.

Capillary Action

A capillary break stops capillary action. Capillary action is the attractive force created by surface tension in water, creating movement within the confined spaces of a porous material or between two adjoining hydrophilic materials. You can see this where water is higher on the edges of a glass than in the middle. In a wall or foundation, a capillary break is a layer of a hydrophobic material or non porous material (such as glass, plastic, or metal) or gap between parallel layers of material (often less than 1/16" or 1.5 mm) sufficient to stop capillary action.

Certified Installers

Many manufacturers establish certification programs and require that trained professionals install their products to ensure warranty compliance. Contact the manufacturer directly or research their website to locate qualified installers.

Diffusion

Diffusion is the process by which moisture vapor moves through a material because of pressure or temperature difference. Diffusion moves moisture vapor from areas of high to low pressure or from warm to cold in a wall assembly. This is why we design our wall systems to promote outward drying.

Draft Hood testing

"Hold a smoking object (such as an incense stick) near the hood while the furnace burner is on and watching to see if the smoke is drawn into the hood (figure 4). If it is blown away from the hood, combustion gases are not going up the flue, as they should. To be sure of the test results the draft hood test should be made twice. A third test should be done on homes with a wood stove or fireplace. The tests should all be performed on a mild day with very little or no wind. It is important to remember that the draft hood test is only a "snap-shot" of what is happening in your home. A change in wind speed or direction, or an open window, might change the result. The test should be performed couple of times over the heating season."

Dual-Flush Toilets

Dual Flush toilets have two flush-volume settings, usually controlled with two buttons or an up/down lever to flush liquid or solid waste. Learn more about dual flush toilets from Wikipedia.

Embodied Energy

"Embodied energy refers to the total amount of energy associated with the creation of a material or product up to its point of use, including energy consumed in raw material extraction, manufacture, transportation, and installation," according to the Minnesota Sustainable Housing Initiative. Learn more about embodied energy from Wikipedia.

Flashing

Flashing is a thin, continuous sheet of metal, plastic, rubber, or waterproof paper used to prevent the passage of water through a joint in a wall, roof, or chimney. (from Fundamentals of Building Construction, 4th ed. Edward Allen and Joseph Iano, 2004). Learn more about flashing from Wikipedia.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

This non-government organization takes on the responsibility of monitoring sustainable forestry practices worldwide. An FSC certified product has a chain of custody and verifies the origin of the wood product and its responsible harvest. www.fsc.org

Global Warming Potential (GWP)

GWP “is a relative measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere. It compares the amount of heat trapped by a certain mass of the gas in question to the amount heat trapped by a similar mass of carbon dioxide. A GWP is calculated over a specific time interval, commonly 20, 100 or 500 years. GWP is expressed as a factor of carbon dioxide (whose GWP is standardized to 1),” according to wikipedia. Learn about GWP of specific greenhouse gasses from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Greywater

“Greywater is any water that has been used in the home, except water from toilets. Dish, shower, sink and laundry water comprise 50-80% of residential "waste" water. Greywater systems collect and hold water for use in landscape irrigation and for flushing of toilets,” according to the Minnesota Sustainable Housing Initiative. Learn more about greywater from Wikipedia.

HRV

A heat recovery ventilator, or HRV, also called an air-to-air heat exchanger, can be installed to increase ventilation which will help reduce the radon levels in your home. An HRV will increase ventilation by introducing outdoor air while using the heated or cooled air being exhausted to warm or cool the incoming air. HRVs can be designed to ventilate all or part of your home, although they are more effective in reducing radon levels when used to ventilate only the basement. If properly balanced and maintained, they ensure a constant degree of ventilation throughout the year. HRVs also can improve air quality in homes that have other indoor pollutants. There could be significant increase in the heating and cooling costs with an HRV, but not as great as ventilation without heat recovery (see the "Installation and Operating Cost Table").

Locally Sourced Materials

Locally sourced materials are products that are harvested and manufactured close to your home; this is important for both environmental and economic reasons. Less energy spent on transportation saves money and releases fewer fuel emissions. Supporting local business provides jobs and invests money spent local economies.

Off-gassing

Off-gassing is the leaching of toxic chemicals into our environment. Off-gassing negatively contributes to air quality and can cause adverse health effects.

Phantom Loads

Phantom loads are electricity used by our appliances when they are turned off. They are caused by internal clocks, glowing lights, and remote control sensors. Phantom loads can account for 75% of home electronic energy use. Learn more about phantom loads from Wikipedia.

Rapidly Renewable Resources

Rapidly Renewable resources are those which can be naturally grown and harvested in a period of ten years or less. Learn more about rapidly renewable resources and third-party certification from GreenCircle Certified.

Recycled Content

Using products that contain recycled content reduce our dependency on depleting natural resource supplies. Post consumer recycled content means that "an end product that has completed its life cycle as a consumer item and would otherwise have been disposed of as a solid waste." Preconsumer recycled content is the use of waste generated as a by-product or as excess material scrap of a manufacturing process. Learn about pre-consumer recycling and post-consumer recycling from Wikipedia.

R-Value

R-value is the term of measurement used to describe the resistance of a material to heat flow. The higher the R-value, the less it transmits heat! Learn more about R-Value from Wikipedia.

Sheathing

On your home, sheathing is the layer of material attached to the exterior of your studs. Sheathing helps to both strengthen your framing and protect your home. Sheathing is often a wood product like plywood or OSB board; it can also be a gypsum or cement board product.

Subfloor

Subfloor is the base layer on which the finish flooring product is applied. It is usually made of wood or composite wood. Subfloors should always be clean, dry, and stable before installing any finish floor product.

Thermal Break

A thermal break is an element that slows conduction. In a window assembly, it is often a piece of plastic or rubber used to disrupt thermal energy transfer through the frame.

Thermal Bridging

"Thermal bridging refers to an area of the building with a lower R-value than surrounding areas that conducts heat across the building envelope. A steel stud or uninsulated window frame can act as a thermal bridge, undermining the overall thermal efficiency of the building," according to the Minnesota Sustainable Housing Initiative. Learn more about thermal bridging from Wikipedia.

Vapor Permeable

Vapor permeable means that moisture vapor is allowed to pass through the material rather than be impeded or trapped by it. Measured in perms, the rate at which water molecules diffuse through a material, vapor permeable materials have a permeance of greater than 10 perms.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)

VOCs are pollutant gasses that can be released from building materials over the entire lifetime of the product including during application, storage, and removal. VOCs are found in paints & coatings, adhesives, furniture, composite wood products, carpet, flooring, and other products. Exposure to VOCs can irritate eyes, nose, throat, and skin, cause allergies, or aggravate asthma. Respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, and organ and central nervous system damage are side effects of excessive exposure to VOCs. Learn more about VOCs from Wikipedia.

Whole Building Approach

Buildings – including single family homes – are a combination of systems that function together. Ventilation, water management, heating and cooling, insulation, and structural systems all work together, and even minor changes to one may affect how another functions. Adding livable space in a basement or addition, installing air sealing and insulation, or making other updates may result in problems or in improvements in how other systems perform. A whole building approach takes these interactions into consideration.

Window to Floor ratio

Window to floor ratio describes the area of windows in a room relative to room size, as a percentage. To calculate, use the following formulas:
Area = Length · Width
WA= Sum of all window areas
FA= floor area
(WA / FA) · 100 = Window to floor ratio%