CEA Lesson 3-1 Part 1 Key Terms

CEA Key Terms

Ballast

A heavy material installed over a roof membrane to prevent wind uplift and shield the membrane from sunlight.

Beam

A structural member, usually horizontal, that carries a load that is applied transverse to its length.

Brownfield

Real property of which the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.

Building Code

Legal requirements designed to protect the public by providing guidelines for structural, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical areas of a structure.

Built-up Roof (BUR)

A roof membrane laminated from layers of asphalt-saturated felt or other fabric, bonded together with bitumen or pitch.

Cast-in-Place Concrete

Concrete that is poured in its final location.

Column

An upright structural member acting primarily in compression.

Concrete Masonry Unit (CMU)

A block of hardened concrete, with or without hollow cores, designed to be laid in the same manner as brick and stone.

Construction Type

Five broad categories of construction found in the International Building Code that are based on the fire-resistive capabilities of the materials used.

Curtain Wall

An exterior building wall that is supported entirely by the frame of the building, rather than being self-supporting or load bearing.

Decking

A material used to span across beams or joists to create a floor or roof surface.

Egress

Exits or a way out.

Elevated Floor

A floor that is above the level of the ground.

EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer)

A synthetic rubber material used in roofing membranes.

Exit

That portion of the means-of-egress system between the exit access and the exit discharge or the public way.

Exit Access

That portion of the means-of-egress system that leads from any occupied portion in a building or structure to an exit.

Exit Discharge

That portion of the means-of-egress system between the termination of the exit and a public way.

Fenestration

All areas (including the frames) in the building envelope that let in light, including windows, plastic panels, clerestories, skylights, glass doors that are more than one-half glass, and glass block walls. A skylight is a "term" surface having a slope of less than 60 degrees from the horizontal plane. Other "term", even if mounted on the roof of a building, is considered vertical "term".

Hybrid

Something that is the product of mixing two or more different things.

Ingress

Entrances or a means to enter.

Light Gauge Steel

Thin sheet metal folded into a stiff shape and used as a structural member.

Load

Forces or other actions that result from the weight of building materials, occupants and their possessions, and environmental effects.

Load Bearing Wall

A structural wall that carries loads other than its own weight.