Glossary of Terms

Active Heat Recovery – Energy efficient buildings are tightly constructed, and are often actively supplied with fresh outdoor air. Active heat recovery refers to a process in which the temperature of the exhaust air is used to pre-heat or pre-cool the outdoor air being brought in, without mixing the two streams. In cooler months, this process compares to the difference between bringing a pot of cold water and a pot of warm water to a boil. The warm water will ultimately require less energy to boil.

Additional Service - Additional Services are services that are not included as Basic Services but are identified as the architect’s responsibility at the time the agreement is executed, and compensated per the agreement.

Embodied Carbon – typically refers to the energy required for raw material extraction, manufacture, and transportation of building products, converted to a CO2 equivalent.

End-of-Life Procedures – Encompasses any action done to a product or material at the end of its functional life in the building. You may already be familiar with typical procedures, such as landfilling or recycling.

Fluid-Applied Barrier Product – A type of product that creates a monolithic barrier on the exterior to protect against water and air intrusion. Typically applied behind the siding and around windows and doors as a liquid, either as a spray or with a roller. Other common barrier products are installed as sheets with multiple seams. Fluid-applied barriers help seal or reduce gaps in the building, due to the lack of seams and their ability to conform to a surface.

FSC Certified Wood – FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council, an independent entity with requirements for responsible forest management, and accountability, by tracking chain-of-custody for all certified lumber.

Locally Sourced – HKP defines a “locally sourced” product as one that is sourced within a 500 mile radius from the building site.

Mass Timber – Refers to a category of structural products made by laminating smaller, individual pieces of lumber together to create a large, solid panel or slab. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is an example of this. According to Architecture 2030, “trees sequester carbon during their life, pulling carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and storing it in their mass. For every kilogram of wood grown, 1.5kg of CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and stores until the tree burns or decomposes, at which point the CO2 is re-released into the atmosphere. Due to this natural carbon sequestration, forests play a significant role in our planet’s ability to regulate warming and carbon emissions.”

Operational Energy – Refers to energy required for heating, cooling, lighting, equipment, or to otherwise operate the building once it is occupied.

Passive House – Passive House provides one of the world's most aggressive energy-reducing building strategies, primarily through active heat recovery, super-insulating, and super-sealing the exterior of the building. A certified Passive House building requires only a fraction of the operational energy that buildings using traditional construction methods do. For more information, see HKP’s Passive House brochure here.

Take Back Programs – If such a program exists, you may be able to send certain products that are not typically accepted for curbside recycling back to the manufacturer at the end of their useful life, for recycling back into their own products. This has the potential to reduce the amount of materials that end up in our landfills, or that are extracted from the environment.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) – compounds that can easily evaporate from building products and negatively impact indoor air quality. Some may have compounding long-term health effects.