SFP flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Triple bottom line

Sustainability accounting framework that evaluates decisions against three bottom lines - social (people), environmental (planet), and economic (profit) - so facility choices are judged on combined impact rather than financial return alone.

Materiality

A topic is material when it significantly affects the organization's environmental, social, or economic performance and could influence stakeholder decisions; material topics determine what a sustainability report must prioritize.

Sustainability charrette

A facilitated workshop held early in project planning where owner, designers, operators, and community stakeholders agree on sustainability goals and performance targets before design decisions lock in cost and performance.

ISO 14001

International standard for environmental management systems built on Plan-Do-Check-Act; it requires an environmental policy, identification of aspects and impacts, a legal compliance register, objectives, and management review.

Simple payback

Simple payback in years equals initial project cost divided by annual savings; it ignores the time value of money, so it is paired with life-cycle cost or net present value for long-horizon facility investments.

Influence-interest grid

Stakeholder mapping tool: high influence plus high interest receives close engagement; high influence with low interest is kept satisfied; low influence with high interest is kept informed; low with low is monitored.

GRI standards

Global Reporting Initiative standards are a widely used framework for sustainability reporting; universal standards cover reporting principles and disclosures, with topic-specific standards for economic, environmental, and social subjects.

GRESB benchmark

Global ESG benchmark for real estate and infrastructure portfolios that scores funds and assets on management and performance indicators; institutional investors use it to compare sustainability performance across property portfolios.

Green lease clause

Lease provision allocating responsibility between landlord and tenant for energy data sharing, submetering, cost recovery of efficiency improvements, and minimum operating standards, so split incentives do not block upgrades.

CDP disclosure

Formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project: a disclosure system through which companies and cities report climate, water, and forest data to investors and customers using standardized questionnaires and a scoring methodology.

Baseline year

Reference year chosen for tracking energy, water, waste, or emissions performance; it must be representative and documented, and is recalculated when significant organizational or methodological changes occur.

Life-cycle assessment

Method that quantifies environmental impacts of a product or building across raw material extraction, manufacture, transport, use, maintenance, and end of life, using a defined functional unit and system boundary.

Owner's Project Requirements

Written document stating the owner's intended use, performance criteria, and expectations for a building; the commissioning process verifies that installed systems and assemblies satisfy it.

Retro-commissioning

Commissioning applied to an existing building that was never commissioned or has drifted from design; it investigates, tests, and tunes systems and produces a prioritized list of low-cost operational fixes.

IPMVP Option C

Measurement and verification approach using whole-building utility meter data compared against a weather- and occupancy-adjusted baseline to estimate total savings from an entire facility energy management program.

Waste hierarchy

Ordered preference for material management: prevent or reduce generation first, then reuse, then recycle or compost, then recover energy, and dispose in landfill only as a last resort.

ASHRAE 62.1

Ventilation standard for acceptable indoor air quality; it sets minimum outdoor air rates based on occupancy category and floor area and defines the ventilation rate procedure used in design and audits.

ASHRAE 55

Standard defining acceptable thermal comfort conditions from temperature, humidity, air speed, clothing, and metabolic rate, expressed through predicted mean vote and predicted percentage of dissatisfied occupants.

LEED O+M

LEED rating system for existing buildings in operation and maintenance; it awards points for measured energy and water performance, purchasing, waste, indoor environmental quality, and site management.

Functional unit

The quantified performance of a product or system used as the reference basis in a life-cycle assessment, allowing alternative options to be compared on an equivalent, defensible basis.

Environmentally preferable purchasing

Procurement that compares products on recycled content, energy and water use, emissions, durability, and end-of-life take-back, verified through specifications or third-party certifications rather than marketing claims.

WELL Building Standard

Certification focused on occupant health and well-being, with features covering air, water, light, thermal comfort, sound, materials, movement, and community rather than building energy performance.

Energy use intensity

Annual energy consumption divided by conditioned floor area, expressed in kBtu per square foot or kWh per square meter; it normalizes for building size so performance can be compared and trended.

ENERGY STAR score

A one-to-hundred rating from EPA Portfolio Manager comparing a building's weather-normalized source energy use with similar buildings; a score of 75 or higher qualifies for certification.

Air-side economizer

HVAC control that uses cool outdoor air for free cooling when outdoor temperature or enthalpy is below return air conditions, reducing mechanical cooling load during mild weather.

Demand-controlled ventilation

Control strategy that modulates outdoor air intake using carbon dioxide sensors or occupancy counters so ventilation tracks actual occupancy instead of design maximum, saving fan and conditioning energy.

Lighting power density

Installed lighting watts divided by floor area; energy codes cap it, and reducing it with LEDs and controls also lowers cooling load because lighting heat gain decreases.

Integrated pest management

Strategy that monitors pests and sets action thresholds, then applies sanitation, exclusion, and least-hazardous treatments before chemical pesticides, reducing occupant and environmental exposure.

Green cleaning program

Cleaning program using certified low-emission products, dilution control, microfiber tools, entryway matting, and procedure scheduling that protects indoor air quality and cleaning staff health.

Cycles of concentration

Ratio of dissolved solids in cooling tower water to those in makeup water; higher cycles reduce blowdown and water use but raise scaling risk, so conductivity and treatment are monitored together.

Universal waste

Regulated category for commonly generated hazardous items such as fluorescent lamps, batteries, and mercury thermostats, which carry simplified handling and recycling requirements instead of full hazardous waste rules.

Measurement and verification

Documented process using metered data and an adjusted baseline to quantify the savings actually delivered by an energy or water efficiency project, supporting budget justification and performance reporting.