The term ‘sustainable’ and the term ‘green’ are often used interchangeably. Other terms are also used including ‘regenerative’ and ‘high performance.’ All of these terms are currently understood and accepted to imply sustainable design and building principles.

Outgas or Offgas: the process of the vaporizing (or evaporation) of VOCs released from a material.

The following are terms related to the resulting affects that offgassing toxic VOCs or other pollutants have been known to have on building occupants:

Building Related Illness, (BRI) refers to a situation of an identifiably and diagnosable illness brought on by exposure to building air (often a bacterial or particulate exposure resulting in illnesses such as asthma or Legionnaire’s Disease) and directly attributed to contaminants in it.

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS), a term first used in the 1970s, is used to describe a situation in which reported health related symptoms among a building’s occupants can be associated with their presence in that building. Generally, no specific illness or cause is identified. Typically, though not always, the structure is an office building.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and Environmental Illness (EI) are terms used to describe a health condition where an individual is sensitive to a number of chemicals in indoor air, usually at very low concentrations. "Clusters" of health problems are when several occupants experience rare or serious health problems (such as MCS, cancer, or miscarriages) over a short period of time.

Common complaints include, but certainly are not limited to:
eye and upper respiratory irritation
nasal congestion
headaches
dizziness
flu-like symptoms
neurological problems (such as feeling woozy)
organic brain syndrome (fuzzy thinking, faltering memory)

Many other terms are used in the sustainable building industry. You can take our beginning course, or any other course to learn more — and earn continuing education credits!