Many people get confused by the various LEED terms and acronyms. Here is a listing of some of the LEED organizations, stakeholders, and words to know.

Organizations and Agencies that use LEED terms:

AIA American Institute of Architects

ANSI American National Standards Institute

ASHRAE American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-conditioning Engineers, Inc.

ASTM American Society for Testing Materials

AWEA American Wind Energy Association

CEC California Energy Commission

CFR Code Federal Regulation

CIBSE Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers

CIWMB California Integrated Waste Management Board

CRI Carpet and Rug Institute

CRS Center for Resource Solutions

DOE U.S. Department of Energy

EIA Energy Information Administration

EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

FEMA U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency

FSC Forest Stewardship Council

GBCI Green Building Certification Institute

IESNA Illuminating Engineering Society of North America

IMEX Industrial Material Exchange

ISO International Organization for Standardization

NBI New Building Institute

NFRC National Fenestration Rating Council

OSWER U.S. EPA Office of Solid Waste & Emergency Response

SBIC Sustainable Building Industry Council

SCAQMD South Coast Air Quality Management District

SMACNA Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning National Contractors Association

USDA United States Department of Agriculture

USGBC United States Green Building Council

Abbreviations for General & LEED Terms:

A/C Air Conditioning Unit

ACH Air Change per Hour

AFV Alternative-Fueled Vehicle: i.e., hybrid-electric, electric, natural-gas, bio-diesel, and fuel-cell

AHU Air Handling Unit

BIPV Building Integrated Photovoltaics: i.e., integrated roof, spandrels, glazing, or shading devices

BMP Best Management Practice

BOD Basis of Design

CBECS Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey

CFCs Chlorofluorocarbons: ozone-depleting constituent of the most widely used HVAC refrigerants

CFM Cubic Feet per Minute

CFS Cubic Feet per Second

CxA Commissioning Agent

CDVR Corrected Design Ventilation Rate: design ventilation rate divided by the air-change effectiveness

DEC Design Energy Cost

ECB Energy Cost Budget: a method of demonstrating compliance with ASHRAE 90.1

ECMs Energy Conservation Measures, as in those tracked in support of measurement and verification

EER Energy Efficiency Rating

EMP LEED Energy Modeling Protocol to assist in documenting efficiency measures not in ECBEMS-Energy Management System

ETS Environmental Tobacco Smoke, includes that transported between spaces by ventilation systems

FTE Full Time Equivalent

GPF Gallons per Flush

GPM Gallons per Minute

GS Green Seal

GWP Global Warming Potential: rating of a gaseous substance’s contribution to greenhouse effects

HCFCs Hydrochlorofluorocarbons: alternative refrigerant type that has reduced ozone-depleting effects

HFCs Hydrofluorocarbons: alternative refrigerant with no ozone-depleting effect but some tradeoffs

HVAC Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning

HVAC&R Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigerants

IAQ Indoor Air Quality with respect to human occupancy of a building

IEQ Indoor Environmental Quality: encompasses IAQ, thermal comfort, daylighting, views, etc.

IPLV Integrated Part Load Value: chiller efficiency including part-load operation for a given duty cycle

LAV Lavatory

LCA Life-Cycle Assessment: a full accounting of a material’s “cradle-to-grave” environmental impacts

LCC Life-Cycle Cost

LCGWP Life-Cycle Global Warming Potential

LCODP Life-Cycle Ozone Depletion Potential

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

LPD Lighting Power Density

Lr Refrigerant Leakage Rate

MEP Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing

MERV Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value: a measure of the effectiveness of air filtration media

Mr End of Life Refrigerant

MSDS Material Safety Data Sheet: provides essential information on composition, hazards, & precautions

NC New Construction

NPDES National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

O&M Operations and Management

ODP Ozone Depleting Potential: rating of a gaseous substance’s ability to destroy stratospheric ozone

OPR Owner Project Requirements

OSA Outside Air

PM Particulate Matter

PMV Predicted Mean Vote

PPM Parts Per Million

RA Return Air

Rc Refrigerant Charge

REC Renewable Energy Certificate

RH Relative Humidity

SA Supply Air

SHGC Solar Heat Gain Coefficient: the fraction of solar radiation admitted through a particular glazing

SRI Solar Reflectance Index

TSS Total Suspended Solids: particles too small or light to be removed from a liquid by gravity settling

TP Total Phosphorous: phosphates, polyphosphates, and orthophosphates in stormwater

TVOC Total Volatile Organic Compounds, see VOCs

VAV Variable Air Volume: ventilation system configuration differentiated from Constant Air Volume

VOCs Volatile Organic Compounds: potentially hazardous substances omitted as a gas from certain solids/liquids.

If you want to learn about these LEED organizations and terms in greater detail, register for a LEED Green Associate Exam Prep class today!