A series of building rating products developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to provide a standard for what constitutes a green building or high performance building. The various LEED products are used as design guidelines & third-party certification tools, aiming ot improve occupant well-being, environmental performance & economic returns of buildings used to establish & innovative practices, standards & technologies. The collection of LEED products include LEED New Construction (NC) for newly constructed buildings, LEED Commercial Interiors (CI) for tenant build outs, LEED Existing Buildings (EB) for existing building operations & for re-certification of already certified buildings, & LEED Core & Shell (CS). An effort is also underway to develop LEED for Homes.
Locavore
Locavore: a concept of local investment and local economies to increase local production.
Limnology
Limnology: the scientific study of bodies of fresh water for their biological and physical and geological properties
Lentic
Lentic: of or relating to or living in still waters (as lakes or ponds)
Lacustrine
Lacustrine: of or relating to or living near lakes.
It’s the Law Stupid
It’s the Law Stupid: Many companies will advertise or brand their environmental achievements as voluntary or proactive. In reality, they have been forced to comply by mandated environmental regulations.
Intolerant
Intolerant: unwilling to tolerate difference of opinion.
Intertidal
Intertidal: of or relating to the littoral area above the low-tide mark.
Interstitial
Interstitial: of or relating to interstices.
Industrial Ecology
Industrial Ecology: An approach to the design of industrial products & processes that evaluates such activities through the dual perspective of product competitiveness & environmental interactions.
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ): Acceptable IAQ is air in which there are no known contaminants at harmful concentrations as determined by cognizant authorities & with which a substantial majority (80 percent or more) of the people exposed do not express dissatisfaction.
Indicator
Indicator: a number or ratio (a value on a scale of measurement) derived from a series of observed facts; can reveal relative changes as a function of time, a signal for attracting attention, (chemistry) a substance that changes color to indicate the presence of some ion or substance; can be used to indicate the completion of a chemical reaction or (in medicine) to test for a particular reaction.
Hydric
Hydric: having or characterized by excessive moisture.
Hemp
Hemp: is the common name for plants of the entire genus Cannabis, although the term is often used to refer only to Cannabis strains cultivated for industrial (non-drug) use. Industrial hemp is produced in many countries around the world. Major producers include Canada, France, and China. While more hemp is exported to the United States than to any other country, the United States Government does not consistently distinguish between marijuana and the non-psychoactive Cannabis used for industrial and commercial purposes.
Heath
Heath: a low evergreen shrub of the family Ericaceae; has small bell-shaped pink or purple flowers, a tract of level wasteland; uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation.
Halophile
Halophile: archaebacteria requiring a salt-rich environment for growth and survival.
Guild
Guild: a formal association of people with similar interests.
Green Tag
Green Tag: A green tag or Renewable Energy Certificate (REC), represents the environmental attributes created when electricity is generated using renewable sources instead of fossil fuels such as coal, oil & natural gas. REC’s can be sold separately form their associated electricity & enable customers to "green" the electricity they consume from their retail power supplier(s).
Green Revolution
Green Revolution: the introduction of pesticides and high-yield grains and better management during the 1960s and 1970s which greatly increased agricultural productivity.
Green House Effect
Green House Effect: is a process of heating of the surface of a moon or planet due to a change in atmosphere that absorbs and/or emits infrared radiation.