Green Tech Buyer

Green Technologies

W

Walk-off Mat

Design strategy for reducing the amount of contaminants introduced into an interior space by providing grating or other material to remove contaminants from shoes. A significant portion of contaminants in a building are brought in this way, impacting indoor environmental quality.

Wastewater

The spent or used water from a home, community, farm, or industry that contains dissolved or suspended matter.

Water-Source Heat Pump

Heat pump that uses wells or heat exchangers to transfer heat from water to the inside of a building. Most such units use ground water.

Waterless Urinal

Urinals that use no water, but instead replaces the water flush with a specially designed trap that contains a layer of buoyant liquid that floats above the urine layer, blocking sewer gas and urine odors from the room.

Watts per Square Foot

A shorthand measure of the energy use of a building, often applied to indoor lighting. Energy codes often limit the watts per square foot based on building type and function.

Weatherization

The process of reducing the leaks of heat from or into a building. It may involve caulking, weatherstripping, adding insulation, and other similar improvements to the building shell.

Wind Power

Systems that convert air movement into mechanical or electrical energy. Driven by the wind, turbine blades turn a generator or power a mechanical pump.

Wind Turbine

A device that converts the kinetic energy of the wind into mechanical energy that can be used to drive equipment such as pumps. The addition of a generator allows the wind’s kinetic energy to be converted into electricity. There are two types of wind turbines, namely: horizontal axis turbines - blades rotate about a horizontal axis; and vertical axis turbines - blades rotate about a vertical axis.