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A "GREEN" GLOSSARY

This glossary serves as an easy reference to some of the more common green words and phrases.

CARB COMPLIANT:  Meets the standards of the California Air Resources Board.

CARBON FOOTPRINT:  A measure of the resources used for each person or organization based on the land required for food, clothes and sustenance.  Although not precise, this is a common metric in environmental and sustainability reports.

CONSERVATION:  The preservation and responsible use of our natural resources to ensure they endure.

CRS:  The Center for Resource Solutions - a national nonprofit working to build a robust renewable energy market by increasing the demand and supply of renewable resources.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:  A measure of the total impact of an activity on the environment.  This includes production, transportation and energy.

EPA:  The US Environmental Protection Agency, which handles most of the responsibility for environmental guidance, direction, monitoring and enforcement in the US.

FORMALDEHYDE:  A cross-linking agent that can have detrimental effects on one's health.

FSC:  The Forest Stewardship Council - an independent, international, environmentally-and-socially-oriented forest certification organization.

GREENGUARD:  Certification Standards for Low Emitting Products.  Performance-based standards set by the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute to define goods with low chemical and practice emissions for use indoors.

GREEN-E RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY CERTIFICATION PROGRAM:  The nation's leading independent certification and verification program for renewable energy products. 

GREEN POWER:  Electricity produced by renewable resources that have little to no impact on the environment and produce no net greenhouse gas emissions in generating the electrcity.

GREEN SEAL CERTIFICATION:  Green Seal is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to safeguarding the environment and transforming the marketplace by promoting the manufacture, purchase and use of environmentally responsible products and services.

LEED:  The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building rating system.  Developed by the US Green Building Council, it is a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.  In regard to new construction, in 2005 2 percent of building starts, or $7.6 billion, were green.  However that number is anticipated to be 10 percent, or $60 billion, by 2010.

NO ADDED FORMALDEHYDE:  Wood, paper and other natural products that are described as being made without the use of formaldehyde.

THE OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXECUTIVE:  Created in 2003 to assist the federal government with the application of sustainable environmental practices.

RECYCLED:  Made at least in part from recovered fibers.

SFI:  The Sustainable Forestry Initiative, a program that encourages participants to practice sustainable forestry on all the lands they manage.

ALPHARETTA:  GA-based Neenah Paper, Inc manufactures and distributes a wide range of and specialty paper grades, as well as producing and selling bleached pulp.

AHFA:  The AHFA unveiled its new green certification program called Sustainable by Design.  The program is an effort to assist the industry in fending off charges of "greenwashing" - when companies claim to be environmentally friendly but do little or nothing to back up the claim.  To receive the AHFA Sustainable by Design label, a company must become certified by EFEC (Enhancing Furniture's Environmental Culture), and complete a punchlist that covers items relating to minimization of environmental footprints, supply chain management and global climate change.

For more information on "Green," please visit the Events section of our Website for information on our annual meeting in
Portland, Maine, October 22nd - 25th.