Goals of the Building Operator

Vocabulary practice cards covering building operator goals, green building certifications, sustainability trends, and ASHRAE environmental standards.

Goals of a Building Operator

To ensure building sustainability, achieve an acceptable environment for occupants, ensure safety and security, maintain reliable systems, and protect the owner's assets.

Sustainability

The ability to meet present needs without compromising the ability to meet future needs, involving the optimization and conservation of resources like energy and water.

Green Buildings

Structures that create healthier indoor environments through better air quality, less harmful products, and natural daylight while reducing waste and energy/water consumption.

BOMA BEST®

The Building Owners and Managers Association’s Building Environmental Standards; a Canadian sustainability certification program based on the Green Globes™ platform.

LEED®

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design; a third-party certification program and international benchmark for high-performance green building design, construction, and operation.

ISO 50001

An international standard providing management strategies to increase energy efficiency, reduce costs, and improve energy performance for public and private organizations.

Green Key Eco-Rating Program

A graduated rating system ($1-5$ green keys) that recognizes hotels, motels, and resorts committed to improving environmental and fiscal performance.

TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) Zero Waste

A whole systems approach aimed at changing how materials flow through society to divert all solid waste from landfills, incineration (waste-to-energy), and the environment.

Building EQ

An ASHRAE certification involving energy auditing and analysis to benchmark a building’s energy performance and identify efficiency measures.

Zero Carbon

A sustainability goal that shifts focus from simple energy efficiency to high-efficiency systems relying on low-carbon, renewable energy sources to maximize carbon reductions.

A Roadmap for Retrofits in Canada

A $2017$ CaGBC report finding that recommissioning, deep retrofits, on-site renewables, and fuel-switching could reduce emissions by $51$ percent below $2005$ levels.

Full-cost Accounting

An approach that incorporates the cost of carbon into the evaluation of owning, constructing, and operating a building, rather than focusing exclusively on capital costs.

The Comfort Zone

The ranges of temperature, ventilation, and humidity conditions that are found acceptable to at least $80$ percent of building occupants.

Thermal Comfort Variables

The six factors determining comfort in mechanically ventilated buildings: air temperature, air velocity, relative humidity, radiant temperature, clothing insulation, and activity level.

Winter Comfort Ranges

Acceptable thermal conditions defined as $72-75^\text{o}F$ ($22.2-23.8^\text{o}C$) with $35-40$ percent relative humidity.

Summer Comfort Ranges

Acceptable thermal conditions defined as $75-78^\text{o}F$ ($23.8-25.5^\text{o}C$) with $50-55$ percent relative humidity.

ASHRAE Standard 55

The standard titled 'Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy' which provides guidelines related to temperature, humidity, and air movement.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

Air in which there are no known contaminants at harmful concentrations and with which a substantial majority (usually $80$ percent) of people do not express dissatisfaction.

ASHRAE Standard 62

The guideline titled 'Ventilation for Acceptable Air Quality' which specifies minimum ventilation rates and maximum permissible concentrations of contaminants.

Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)

A measure of occupant satisfaction that includes air quality as well as lighting, dampness, space arrangement, acoustic conditions, and access to daylight.