An interior court to which rooms open.

The space-conditioning load of a building.

A fan mounted on an attic wall used to exhaust warm attic air to the outside.

A device that converts the mechanical energy of rotation into electricity based on electromagnetic induction. An electric voltage (electromotive force) is induced in a conducting loop (or coil) when there is a change in the number of magnetic field lines ...

The cost of producing electricity up to the point of the powerplant busbar.

An interior wall made of water filled containers for absorbing and storing solar energy.

A hard, dense type of coal, that is hard to break, clean to handle, difficult to ignite, and that burns with an intense flame and with the virtual absence of smoke because it contains a high percentage of fixed carbon and a low percentage of volatile matt ...

The presence of contaminants in the air in concentrations that prevent the normal dispersive ability of the air, and that interfere with biological processes and human economics.

The amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of a given mass of a substance by one degree Celsius. The heat required to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by 1 degree Celsius is 4186 Joules.

The ratio of light reflected by a surface to the light falling on it.

The process of decomposing biomass with anaerobic bacteria to produce biogas.

The process of removing a power plant, apparatus, equipment, building, or facility from operation.

This is the voltage-ampere requirement of a device designed to convert electric energy to a non-electrical form.

The conversion of biomass into a gas, by biogasification (see above) or thermal gasification, in which hydrogen is produced from high-temperature gasifying and low-temperature pyrolysis of biomass.

A category of electric power producer established under the Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA) of 1978, that includes small-power producers (SPP) who use renewable sources of energy such as biomass, geothermal, hydroelectricity, solar (thermal a ...

The grilled opening into a room by which the amount of warm air from a furnace can be directed or controlled; may include a damper.

A unit for measuring the extent that the outdoor daily average temperature (the mean of the maximum and minimum daily dry-bulb temperatures) falls below (in the case of heating, see Heating Degree Day), or falls above (in the case of cooling, see Cooling ...

A building architectural element (vestibule) with two airtight doors that reduces the amount of air infiltration and exfiltration when the exterior most door is opened.

A material that retards the movement of water vapor through a building element (walls, ceilings) and prevents insulation and structural wood from becoming damp and metals from corroding. Often applied to insulation batts or separately in the form of treat ...

The use of direct, diffuse, or reflected sunlight to provide supplemental lighting for building interiors.