Air Quality Testing: Third party testing programs for low emitting products and materials. Testing certifies that chemical and particle emissions meet acceptable Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) pollutant guidelines and standards. Scientific Certification Systems’ (SCS) Indoor Advantage program is an example of this.

Abatement: Reducing the degree or intensity of, or eliminating, pollution.

Air Quality Standards: The level of pollutants prescribed by regulations that are not to be exceeded during a given time in a defined area.

Biodegradable: A material that is capable of decomposing in nature within a relatively short period of time.

Biomass: Living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production. Most commonly, biomass refers to plant matter grown for use as bio-fuel, but it also includes plant or animal matter used for production of fibers, chemicals or heat. Biomass may also include biodegradable wastes that can be burnt as fuel. It excludes organic material which has been transformed by geological processes into substances such as coal or petroleum.

Carbon Footprint: The total amount of greenhouse gas emissions released into the environment. There are many recognized methods to calculate a carbon footprint. Kimball Office has chosen the World Resources Institute (WRI) Greenhouse Gas Protocol as the guideline to calculate our corporate carbon footprint.

Chain of Custody: Chain-of-Custody (COC) is the documentation of the path taken by raw materials harvested from an FSC-certified source through processing, manufacturing, distribution until it is a final product ready for sale to the end consumer.

Compost: The relatively stable humus material that is produced from a composting process in which bacteria in soil mixed with garbage and degradable trash break down the mixture into organic fertilizer.

Cradle-to-Cradle: A design protocol that advocates the elimination of waste by recycling a material or product into a new or similar product at the end of its intended life, rather than disposing of it. At the end of their useful life, all materials become either a biological or technical nutrient.

Cradle-to-Grave: A manufacturing model, dating to the onset of the Industrial Revolution, which describes the process of disposing of a material or product via landfill, incineration, etc., at the end of its presumed useful life.

CO2: Carbon Dioxide, a chemical compound composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. Carbon dioxide absorbs many of the sun’s infrared wavelengths.

CO2e: CO2 equivalent- the quantity of a given greenhouse gas (GHG) multiplied by its global warming potential. Carbon dioxide equivalents are computed by multiplying the weight of the gas being measured (for example, methane) by its estimated global warming potential (which is 21 for methane). This is the standard unit for comparing the degree of harm that can be caused by emissions of different GHGs.

Day Lighting (and views): Provide the occupants with a connection between indoor spaces and the outdoors through the introduction of daylight and views into the regularly occupied areas of the tenant space.

Design for the Environment (DfE): A design concept that focuses on reducing environmental and human health impacts through thoughtful design strategies and careful material selection.

Ecosystem: The interacting system of a biological community and its non-living environmental surroundings.

Embodied Energy: The energy required to manufacture a product as well as the molecular energy that exists in its material content.

Emission: The release of any gas, particle, or vapor into the environment from a commercial, industrial, or residential source including smokestacks, chimneys, and motor vehicles.

Energy Recovery: Obtaining energy from waste through a variety of processes (e.g. combustion). Kimball Office uses wood scrap as a source of energy in many of its manufacturing facilities.

Environmental Aspect: An element of a manufacturer's activities, products, or services that can interact positively or negatively with the environment used in the ISO 14001 EMS protocol.

Environmental Audit: An independent assessment of the current status of a party's compliance with applicable environmental requirements or compliance policies, practices, and controls.

Environmental Impact: Any change to the environment, good or bad, that wholly or partially results from industrial/manufacturing activities, products or services.

Environmental Impact Statement: A document required of federal agencies by the National Environmental Policy Act for major projects or legislative proposals significantly affecting the environment. A tool for decision making, it describes the positive and negative effects of the undertaking and cites alternative actions.

Environmental Management System (EMS): A series of activities designed to monitor and manage the environmental impacts of manufacturing activities. (See ISO 14001)

EPA: The acronym for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Governments organization charged with setting and enforcing environmental regulations nationwide.

Fluorocarbon: A non-flammable, heat-stable hydrocarbon liquid or gas. Traditionally used as propellants, notably in spray cans, fluorocarbons are classified as ozone-depleting substances.

FSC: Forrest Stewardship Council, the certification body for sustainable forests offering chain of custody documentation required by LEED.

GHG – Greenhouse Gas: gaseous components of the atmosphere that contribute to the “greenhouse effect” i.e. absorbs infrared radiation in the atmosphere.

Greenhouse Effect: Atmospheric heating caused by solar radiation being readily transmitted into and through the earth’s atmosphere that is less readily reflected and transmitted outward, due to absorption by certain gases in the atmosphere.

GREENGUARD®: An independent, third-party testing program for low-emitting products. GREENGUARD Certification is a voluntary program available to all manufacturers and their suppliers. Source: www.greenguard.org. To qualify for certification, products and materials are tested to ensure that their chemical and particle emissions meet acceptable indoor air quality (IAQ) pollutant guidelines and standards.

Green Energy: Refers to the use of environmentally friendly power and energy that comes from renewable and non-polluting energy sources. Primary green energy sources include solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, and biomass (wood and animal waste, landfill mass).

Indoor Advantage: An independent, third-party testing program for low-emitting products. Indoor Advantage Certification is a voluntary program available to all manufacturers and their suppliers. Source: www.scscertified.com To qualify for certification, products and materials are tested to ensure that their chemical and particle emissions meet acceptable indoor air quality (IAQ) pollutant guidelines and standards.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ): a term referring to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants.

Industrial Waste: Unwanted materials from an industrial operation; may be liquid, sludge, solid, or hazardous waste.

ISO 14001: An internationally accepted specification for an Environmental Management System (EMS). It specifies requirements for establishing an environmental policy, determining environmental aspects and impacts of products/activities/services, planning environmental objectives and measurable targets, implementation and operation of programs to meet objectives and targets, checking and corrective action, and management review.

LEED®: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design; a certification program administered by the U.S. Green Building Council to recognize leadership in environmental design for commercial and residential construction and renovation. Source: www.usgbc.org.

LEED AP: LEED Professional Accreditation distinguishes building professionals with the knowledge and skills to successfully steward the LEED certification process. LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED AP’s) have demonstrated a thorough understanding of green building practices and principles and the LEED Rating System.

Level: An open, consensus based multi-attribute, sustainability standard and third-party certification program for the furniture industry developed by the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association. The level brand identifies that a product has been vetted by an independent third party certifier and its numeric marking 1, 2, or 3 indicates what threshold of certification it has achieved.

LCA - Life Cycle Assessment: The process of analyzing a product's entire life, from raw materials extraction through manufacturing, delivery, use, and disposal or reuse. Source: www.usgbc.org.

Low Emitting Materials: Materials that can reduce the quantity of indoor air contaminants that are odorous, potentially irritating and/or harmful to the comfort and well-being of installers and occupants.

MBDC: McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry; environmental consultants that developed the Cradle-to-Cradle protocol to assess human and ecological impacts of chemicals and materials. Source: www.mbdc.com.

Post Consumer Recycled (PCR) Content: Material that has been recovered after its use as a consumer product. Examples include fleece clothing made from pop bottles and reclaimed carpet tiles used for new tile backing.

Rapidly Renewable Materials: Are plant or other biobased materials  hat regenerate quicker than the demand for the products and can grow to maturity with 10 years.

Recycled Content: Refers to the percentage of recycled materials in a product, generally determined by weight.

Regulation vs. Law: A Federal agency imposes a regulation; Congress enacts a law.

SCS - Scientific Certification Systems: An independent organization focused on independent certification and verification of environmental, sustainability, stewardship, food quality, food safety and food purity claims.

SFI-Sustainable Forest Initiative: An organization whose participants practice sustainable forestry on all the lands they manage. They also influence millions of additional acres through the training of loggers and foresters in best management practices and landowner outreach programs. This unique commitment to sustainable forestry recognizes that all forest landowners, not just SFI program participants, play a critical role in ensuring the long-term health and sustainability of our forests.

Sustainability: "Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." (World Commission on Environment and Development)

Toxic: Any material or waste product that can produce injury and/or loss of life if inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin.

Tropical Forest Foundation (TFF): A non-profit, educational institution dedicated to the conservation of tropical forests through sustainable forestry. TFF has become widely recognized for establishing demonstration models and training schools to show the advantages and teach the principles of sustainable forest management and reduced-impact logging.

USGBC: U.S. Green Building Council; the nation’s foremost coalition of leaders from across the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible and profitable, and healthy places to live and work. The USGBC administers the LEED® Green Building Rating System™. Source: www.usgbc.org.

VOC: Volatile Organic Compounds; encompass a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times) than outdoors because they are found in materials commonly used indoors such as paints, cleaning supplies, building materials and office equipment including copiers, printers, correction fluids and permanent markers. Source: www.epa.gov.

Waste-to-Energy: The practice of incinerating waste products to generate steam, heat, or electricity.

Wind Turbine: A mechanical device consisting primarily of rotor blades mounted on a tower in order to "capture" prevailing winds to generate electrical power. The growing interest in wind energy in recent years is largely due to the efforts of some industries and industrialized nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.