Durability: Select products that are long lasting and require little maintenance.

Embodied energy: Consider how much energy was required to extract, process, package, transport, install, and recycle or dispose of materials that make up your home. Up to 70 percent of the total energy invested in a building’s construction is embodied in the materials themselves.

Energy smart: Meeting your energy needs cost effectively and with the least impact on the environment.

Envelope: The skin of a building—including the windows, doors, walls, foundation, basement slab, ceilings, roof, and insulation—that separates the interior of a building from the outdoor environment.

Environmental impact: Avoid materials that pollute the environmental quality inside your home and damage the outdoor environment and atmosphere.

Footprint: Land area taken up by a building.

Fossil fuels: Carbon-rich deposits in the earth, such as petroleum (oil), coal, or natural gas, derived from the remains of ancient plants and animals and used for fuel.

Geothermal energy: Heat that comes from the Earth's interior.

Off-gassing: The release of gas into the air from products treated with chemicals during their manufacture.

Off-the-Grid: A term used to describe a system that runs on renewable energy sources independent of a conventional public utility grid.

Photovoltaic cell: A device that converts sunlight into electricity.