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ISO 14000 Standards
The ISO 14000 Standards are a set of environmental standards designed by the International Organization for Standardization to ensure that businesses are environmentally responsible.
Kyoto Protocol
In December 1997, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was held in Kyoto, Japan and was attended by delegates from 160 countries. A legally binding agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, was adopted by the countries in attendance, under which the industrialized nations agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5.2 percent below 1990 emissions levels by 2010.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.
Landfill
Land waste disposal site in which waste is generally spread in thin layers, compacted, and covered with a fresh layer of soil each day.
Mobius Loop
The Mobius Loop recycle symbol has no specific meaning but is generally understood to signify the interlocking steps of recycling: reuse, reduce, recycle.
Ozone Layer
In the upper atmosphere about 15 miles above sea level, it forms a protective layer which shields the earth from excessive ultraviolet radiation and occurs naturally.
Photovoltaic Panels
Solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity. Power is produced when sunlight strikes the semiconductor material and creates an electrical current.
Recycling
The process of collecting, sorting, and reprocessing old material into usable raw materials.
Recyclable Products
Materials that can be collected, separated or removed from the solid waste stream for use in the manufacturing of another product.
Reforestation
Replanting of forests on lands that have recently been harvested.
Renewable Energy Resources
Energy sources that can keep producing energy indefinitely without being used up. To be considered renewable energy, a resource must rely on naturally existing energy flows such as sunshine, wind and water flowing. The energy source, or “fuel”, must be replaced by natural processes at a rate that is equal to, or faster than, the rate at which the energy source is consumed.
Solar Energy
Energy from the sun.
Solar Panels
A system that actively concentrates thermal energy from the sun by means of solar collector panels. The panels typically consist of fat, sun-oriented boxes with transparent covers, containing water tubes of air baffles under a blackened heat absorbent panel. The energy is usually used for space heating, for water heating, and for heating swimming pools.
Sustainability
Meeting the needs of the present without depleting resources or harming natural cycles for future generations.
Sustainable Development
Development that utilizes tools, supplies and strategies that protect and enhance the earth’s natural resources and diverse ecosystems so as to meet the social and economic needs of the present without compromising the ability to meet the needs of the future.
Wind Power
Energy generated from large propellers that when spun by the wind, drive turbines that power generators and create electricity.
Wind Turbine
A machine that captures the energy of the wind and transfers the motion to an electric generator shaft for the creation of electricity.
Zero Waste
A production system aiming to eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials by conserving or recovering all resources.
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