The EnerGuide Housing Glossary – Terms
Welcome to The EnerGuide Housing Glossary:
Your free online encyclopedia that explains, educates and clarifies everything you always wanted to know about home energy efficiency and energy performance. Just click on the alphabetized glossary below to find helpful terms and definitions. You can also visit Keeping The Heat In to learn more about building science and home retrofit projects such as insulation and air sealing improvements.
The EnerGuide Housing Glossary is created and maintained by the experts at Natural Resources Canada's (NRCan) Office of Energy Efficiency.
A - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter A
- Above grade area
- Acoustical Sealant
- AHRI Certificate Of Product Rating
[AHRI Certified Reference Number] - Air and Vapour Barrier
- Air Barrier
- Air Changes per Hour (ACH) @ 50 PA
- Air Leakage
- Air Seal
- Air Sealed
- Air Sealing
- Air-Source Heat Pump
- Airtightness
- Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE)
- Association des Professionnels du Chauffage (APC)
- Attic
- Attic Hatch
B - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter B
- Bagged System of insulation
- Baseboards
- Basement Header – see “Header”
- Basement header space – see “Header space”
- Basement Slab
- Batt Insulation/Batt/Batts/R-12 Batt
- Below Grade Area
- Blanket Type Insulation
- Blower Door Test
- Boiler System [Hydronic System]
- Bottom or Top Plate
- Box beam – see “Header”
- Building Envelope
- Building Paper
C - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter C
- Canadian Geoexchange Coalition (CGC)
- Canadian Solar Industries Association (CANSIA)
- Canadian Standards Association (CSA)
- Canadian Wind Energy Association (CANWEA)
- Cathedral Ceiling
- Caulking
- Ceilings
- Chimneys
- Coefficient Of Performance (COP)
- Combination Systems
- Condensation
- Condensing Gas Furnace / Condensing gas-fired furnace
- Condensing tank-type hot water heater
- Cooling
- Cooling Load
- Crawl Space Insulation
- Crawlspace
D - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter D
E - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter E
- Earth-Energy System
- Edge Spacer
- Effective RSI
- Electric baseboard heater
- Electric Furnace
- Energy Advisor
- Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER)
- Energy Factor (EF)
- Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV)
- ENERGY STAR
- ENERGY STAR for New Homes
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Equivalent Leakage Area (ELA)
- Exposed Floors [Open Foundation / Floors Over Unheated Space]
- Exterior Pipe Penetration
- Exterior-Grade Caulking
- Extruded Polystyrene
F - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter F
G - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter G
H - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter H
- Hardware
- Header
- Header joist – see “Header”
- Header space
- Health and Safety Considerations
- Heat Loss
- Heat Loss / Heat Gain Calculation
- Heat Pump Hot Water Heater
- Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV)
- Heated Crawl Space
- Heated Floor Area
- Heating Degree Day (HDD)
- Heating Seasonal Performance Factor (HSPF)
- Heating System
- Heating, Refrigeration And Air Conditioning Institute Of Canada (HRAI)
- High-Efficiency Motors
- Home Ventilating Institute (HVI)
- Humidifier
- Humidistat
- Humidity
- Hygrometer
I - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter I
J - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter J
K - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter K
L - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter L
M - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter M
N - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter N
O - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter O
P - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter P
Q - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter Q
No terms
R - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter R
S - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter S
- Sealant
- Sealed Combustion
- Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER)
- Service Organization
- Set-Back Thermostat / Programmable thermostat
- Sheathing
- Sill
- Sill plate
- Soffit
- Solar Array
- Solar Domestic Hot Water System
- Solar photovoltaic (PV) system
- Solar Thermal
- Solid Fuel-Fired Furnace System
- Space Cooling [Air Conditioning / Cooling / Cooling system]
- Space Heating
- Spray Foam Insulation/Spray Foam/Spray-On/Closed- or Open-Cell Polyurethane Foam
- Stack effect
- Standby losses
- Strapping
- Stud
- Supplemental Heating System
T - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter T
U - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter U
V - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter V
W - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter W
X - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter X
No terms
Y - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter Y
No terms
Z - EnerGuide Housing Glossary starting with the letter Z
No terms
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