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- General Terms
- Watt (W) - a unit of electrical power.
- Kilowatt (Kw) - 1,000 watts.
- Kilowatt Hour (Kwh) - a measure of electrical consumption. It is found by multiplying the load (Kw) by the time of operation (Hours).
- Hundred cubic feet (Ccf) - used as a unit of measurement for natural gas consumption.
- Thousand cubic feet (Mcf) - used as a unit of measurement for larger amounts of natural gas consumption.
- British Thermal Unit (Btu) - the amount of energy needed to raise (or lower) one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.
- Simple Payback - the amount of time (usually expressed in years) it takes for the savings from an energy conservation measure to offset the implementation cost of the measure. It is found by dividing the cost by the annual savings.
- Energy Use Index (EUI) – It is a building’s annual electricity and natural gas consumption converted into BTUs and then divided by the building’s square footage. The EUI is used to compare the energy efficiency of buildings that are various sizes and uses. An office building with an EUI of less than 100,000 would be considered energy efficient.
- Lighting
- Lamp - the term used in the lighting industry to describe a bulb.
- High Intensity Discharge (HID) - name for a group of lights consisting of mercury vapor, metal halide and low pressure sodium. Characterized by high efficiency, low color rendition and long strike and re-strike times.
- Efficacy - the term used to describe the efficiency of a lamp. Expressed in lumens per watt. An incandescent lamp has an efficacy of 15, a compact fluorescent has an efficacy of 60 and a HID has an efficacy of greater than 70.
- HVAC
- Infiltration - the unwanted introduction of outside air into a space. Issues with infiltration include increased energy usage, reduced time between filter changes and possibly supporting mold growth.
- Ventilation - the required introduction of outside air into a space. This is done to flush out odors and chemicals within a space. Usually provided through the building's heating and cooling system or as a separate system.
- Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) - a measure of the efficiency of an air conditioning system in Btu's per watt. Current minimum requirements are for cooling systems to have a SEER of 13. However, units with SEER ratings of 14 or 16 are almost always cost effective.
- Package Unit - an air conditioning system (usually with heat also) that has all of the major components in one enclosure.
- Split System - an air conditioning system (usually with heat also) that has the major components in two enclosures. Refrigerant lines are then used to connect the two units.
- Ground Source Heat Pump - a heat pump system that uses the earth as the heat sink / heat source instead of air. SEER ratings of these units can reach into the 30's.
- Temperature Setback - the process of lowering or raising the space temperature set point during unoccupied periods. The results of this can be significant energy savings.
- Ton - 12,000 Btu's.
