Sustainability Glossary

SUSTAINABILITY: The practice of living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems without corrupting said ecosystems or their resilience.

 

PROJECT TERMS:

Consortium Oversight Committee (COC): Responsible for the policy direction of the project, including making a recommendation for acceptance and/or approval.  Charged with settling partner disputes through accepted conflict resolution methods.  Meets at least quarterly.  For a list of members, see the COC pages on this website.

DOT: US Department of Transportation.  The North Carolina Department of Transportation is referred to as NCDOT.

EPA: US Environmental Protection Agency

HUD: US Department of Housing and Urban Development

Key Partners (in alphabetical order):

• Burlington-Graham Metropolitan Planning Organization
• City of Burlington
• City of Greensboro
• City of High Point
• City of Winston-Salem
• Greensboro Metropolitan Planning Organization
• High Point Metropolitan Planning Organization
• Northwest Piedmont Rural Planning Organization
• Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation
• Piedmont Triad Partnership
• Piedmont Triad Regional Council
• Piedmont Triad Rural Planning Organization
• Winston-Salem Metropolitan Planning Organization

Key Personnel:

• Project Director:  Brent McKinney, Executive Director PART
• Project Manager:  Mark Kirstner, Senior Transportation Planner PART

Project Integration Team (PIT): staffed by representatives from working groups and key personnel.  Charged with providing staffing and allocating resources to implement the Contents of the Plan.  Keeps the project director (PD) and COC informed of the project’s progress and key results.

Sustainability Score Card: See SOCIOECONOMIC definition for Report Card.

Sustainability Tool Box:  a set of user-friendly tools and practical resources devised to embed a triple bottom line (TBL) analysis and to be a guide to implementing locally-based and ecologically sound sustainable principles and policies at the strategic, operational and project management level.

Triple Bottom Line: captures an expanded spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational (and societal) success:  economic, ecological and social.

Working Groups (WGs): provide a significant component of the public engagement and technical assistance towards the development of policies and strategies that address the plans objectives.  Each WG will have defined technical; communication and project assistance task.  WGs will be organic and seek to added members throughout the project.

ECOLOGICAL TERMS:

Aquifer: a geologic formation, usually comprised of saturated sands, gravel, and cavernous and vesicular rock, that carries water in sufficient quantity for drinking and other uses.

Aquifer Recharge Area: the surface area through which precipitation passes to replenish subsurface water bearing strata of permeable rock, gravel, or sand.

Biodiversity: the variability among organisms on Earth and within an ecosystem.  Maintaining biodiversity is necessary to preserve the health and survival of an ecosystem.

Biomimicry: A design discipline that studies nature’s elements, processes and designs and uses these ideas to imitate or design new solutions to human problems sustainably.

Carbon Sequestration: the uptake and storage of carbon.  Trees can be used for carbon sequestration because they absorb carbon dioxide, release the oxygen and store the carbon.

Carbon Sinks: The processes or ecological systems that take in and store more carbon than they release.  This process is called carbon sequestration.  Forests and oceans are large carbon sinks.

Deforestation: the conversion of forested land to other non-forested uses by the removal and destruction of trees and habitat.

Ecosystem: A place having unique physical features, encompassing air, water, and land, and habitats supporting plant and animal life, including humans.

Ecological Impact: a change in the natural environment that could disrupt wildlife habitat or vegetation, or that could cause air, water, noise, or soil pollution.

Environmental Corridors: (see land use section)

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS): a statement prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) predicting the impacts a proposed government action is likely to have on the environment and describing the affected environment and the alternative actions considered.

Environmental Nodes: (see land use section)

Environmentally Sensitive Areas: (see land use section)

Floodplains: land that has been or may be covered by water during a flood event.  The floodplain includes the floodway and flood fringe, and is commonly referred to as the 100-year floodplain.

Greenhouse Effect: The trapping of the sun’s heat by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Greenhouse Gases (GHG): These gases are so named because they contribute to the greenhouse effect due to high concentrations of these gases remaining in the atmosphere.  The GHGs of most concern include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxides (N2O).

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA): A congressional act passed in 1969, establishing a national environmental policy.  NEPA requires federal agencies to consider the environmental effects of decisions early in their decision-making processes and to inform the public of likely impacts.  Environmental impact statements (EISs) are prepared consistent with this law. The act also established the Council on Environmental Quality.

Natural Capital: The flow of ecosystem goods and services that interact with the human economic system.  The idea of natural capital expands economic models to include natural resources that have value to humanity but no inherent price.

Pre-acquisition: A technique where one organization (usually a private land trust) purchases a property and holds it until another organization (usually a government agency) can allocate the funds to purchase it.

Preservation: Leaving a resource undisturbed and free from harm or damage.  While ‘preservation’ is often used interchangeably with ‘conservation,’ the latter entails a connotation of prudent resource use.

Prime Agricultural Land: Land determined by local governments to be important for sustaining agricultural operations and that are often protected from conversion to other uses.

Prime Farmland: Farmland classified by the Natural Resources Conservation Service as best for the crop production of row, forage, or fiber because of level topography, drainage, moisture supply, soil texture and depth, and susceptibility to erosion and runoff. Ideally, prime farmland allows least cost to both the farmer and the natural resources.

Renewable Resources: A resource that can be replenished at a rate equal to or greater than its rate of depletion.  Examples of renewable resources include corn, trees, and soy-based products.

Reforestation: The planting or replanting of forest plants.

Riparian Areas: the shore area adjacent to a body of water.

Stand: A number of plants growing in a continuous area. Examples include ‘a stand of hardwood’ or ‘a stand of timber.’

Stormwater Runoff: Rainwater which is not absorbed into the ground during a rainfall and instead travels across surfaces (lawns, roads, parking lots, rooftops, etc.) and collects surface pollutants and sediment as it flows into rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Compounds that evaporate from many housekeeping, maintenance and building products made with organic chemicals.  In sufficient quantities, VOCs can cause irritation and some are suspected of causing or exacerbating acute and chronic diseases.

Watershed: the area where precipitation drains to a single body of water such as a river, wetland, or lake.

 

ENERGY TERMS:

Alternative Fuels: Non-petroleum and non-coal fuels, such as biodiesel, electricity, ethanol, hydrogen, methanol, natural gas, and propane.

Biomass: Living or recently-dead organic material that can be used as an energy source, excludes organic material that has been transformed by geological processes (such as coal or petroleum).

Demand-side management (DSM): Demand-side management includes end-use measures that conserve electricity. They include energy efficient products and design, and load management strategies.

Embodied Energy: The total expenditure of energy involved in the creation of the buildings and materials. In terms of a full lifecycle of a product, it can also refer to the energy that is required to extract, process, package, transport, install, and recycle or dispose of materials and products.

Energy Efficiency: Using less energy to fulfill the same function or purpose; usually attributed to a technological fix rather than a change in behavior, examples include better insulation to reduce heating / cooling demand, compact fluorescent bulbs to replace incandescent or proper tire inflation to improve gas mileage.

Fossil Fuel: Any petroleum or coal-based fuel source such as gasoline, natural gas, fuel oil, etc.  These fuels were formed underground from the remains of dead plants and animals.

Kilowatt-hour (KWh): A unit of energy typically used for electricity consumption.  One kWh equals 3,412 BTU’s (British Thermal Units) of energy.

Megawatt (MW):  A measure of electricity capacity.  One MW is generally sufficient to provide power to 700 to 1,000 homes.

Non-renewable Energy: Energy derived from sources that cannot be replenished in a short period of time relative to a human life span.  Non-renewable sources of energy are typically divided into two types:  fossil fuels and nuclear fuels.  Fossil fuels include oil, natural gas, and coal.  Nuclear involves uranium.

Rainwater Harvesting:  A term to describe the collection of rainwater in a systematic way, such as a rain barrel, to then be recycled and used for other purposes.

Renewable Energy (also called Green Energy): Energy derived from generally renewable resources including hydro, waste, solar, tidal, wind, wood and geothermal.

Solar PV (Photo Voltaic): A form of renewable energy which converts light into electricity through solar cells that have a layer or two of a semi conducting material, such as silicon, which create an electric field.

Waste-to-Energy: The burning of waste in a controlled-environment incinerator to generate steam, heat, or electricity.

Energy Recovery:  Simply put, obtaining energy from waste.  This is accomplished through a variety of processes, and is also known as “waste-to-energy.” Traditionally, this meant burning waste products, but now gasification and anaerobic digestion are also playing a role.  Also see waste-to-energy.

 

BUILDING/CONSTRUCTION TERMS:

Adaptive Reuse: the conversion of obsolescent or historic buildings from their original or most recent use to a new use.

Architectural Control/Review: Regulations and procedures requiring the exterior design of structures to be predictable, uniform and in keeping with the composition or general style of surrounding areas.  May not allow for organic development; and, if excessively restrictive, may result in visual and architectural mediocrity. (See Aesthetic Zoning)

Cool Roof: Roof consisting of materials that effectively reflect the sun’s energy from the roof surface.  A Cool roof must also have high emissivity, which allows them to emit infrared energy.

Design Review/Control: An aesthetic evaluation, considering landscape design, architecture, materials, colors, lighting, and signs, of a development’s impact on a community.

Design Standards: Criteria requiring specific dimensional standards or construction techniques.

Developer: A person or company that coordinates the ownership, financing, designing, and other activities necessary for the construction of the human-built environment.

Development: An artificial change to real estate, including construction, placement of structures, excavation, grading, and paving.

Leapfrog Development: new development separated from existing development by substantial vacant land.

Mixed-Use Development: A development that allows multiple compatible uses to be in close proximity to one another in order to minimize transportation infrastructure impacts and to create a compact, efficient neighborhood; for example, single family, multifamily, commercial, and industrial uses are located within a reasonable proximity to each other.

Neo-traditional Development: A land-use approach that promotes neighborhoods with a variety of housing and architectural types, a central gathering point, and interconnecting streets, alleys, and boulevards edged with greenbelts.

Neighborhood Unit: the model for American suburban development after World War II based around the elementary school with other community facilities located at its center and arterial* streets at its perimeter.

Neotraditional Development: a land-use approach that promotes neighborhoods with a variety of housing and architectural types, a central gathering point, and interconnecting streets, alleys, and boulevards edged with greenbelts.

Pedestrian Friendly: a development that is primarily accessible to pedestrians rather than automobiles and with an emphasis on street sidewalks rather than parking.  See New Urbanism.

Traditional Neighborhood: a compact, mixed-use neighborhood where residential, commercial, and civic buildings are within a close proximity.

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD): moderate or high-density housing concentrated in mixed-use developments* that encourages the use of public transportation.

Dwelling Unit: The space in a building that comprises the living facilities for one family.

Green Building: A comprehensive process of design and construction that employs techniques to minimize adverse environmental impacts and reduce the energy consumption of a building, while contributing to the health and productivity of its occupants; a common set of metrics for evaluating green buildings includes LEED certification.

Green Roof: Covering a rooftop with a garden to keep the surface temperature low.

Impact Fees: Cash contributions, contributions of land or interests in land, or any other items of value that are imposed on a developer by a political subdivision to offset the community’s costs resulting from a development.

Impervious Surface: A ground cover such as cement, asphalt, or packed clay or rock through which water cannot penetrate; this leads to increases in the amount and velocity of runoff and corresponds to increases in soil erosion and nutrient transport.

Improvements: the actions taken to prepare land, including clearing, building infrastructure such as roads and waterlines, constructing homes or buildings, and adding amenities.

Infrastructure: Public utilities, facilities, and delivery systems such as sewers, streets, roads, curbing, sidewalks, and other public services.

LEED™ (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design): A green building rating system encouraging and accelerating global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of environmental tools and performance criteria.

Lot: a parcel of land that is occupied or intended for occupancy, including one main building and any accessory buildings, open spaces, or parking spaces.

Lot Coverage: the total when an area of a lot covered by the total projected surface of all buildings, impervious surfaces, or vegetative coverage is divided by        the gross area of that lot.

Manufactured Housing: A structure, containing within it plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems, that is transportable in one or more sections of certain sizes and is built on a permanent chassis, and when connected to the required utilities, is designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation.

Multifamily Dwelling: A building or portion occupied by three or more families living independently of each other.

Pervious Surface: A ground cover through which water can penetrate at a rate comparable to that of water through undisturbed soils.

Re-commissioning: The act of testing and adjusting existing building systems and equipment so that they perform once again as originally designed.

Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER): Air conditioner efficiency standard; higher is better.

Set Back: the minimum distance a building, structure, or activity can be separated from a designated feature such as a waterway or bluff-line.

Roadway Setback: the required or existing minimum distance between a public roadway (measured from the centerline or edge of right-of-way) and the nearest point on a structure.

Zero Lot Line: the location of a building in such a manner that one or more of its sides rests directly on its lot line.

Single-family Attached Dwelling: One of two or more residential buildings having a common wall separating dwelling units.

Single-family Detached Dwelling: A residential building containing not more than one dwelling unit surrounded by open space.

Stormwater Detention/Stormwater Retention: the storage of stormwater runoff.

Stormwater Management: the reduction of the quantity of runoff and pollutants generated in the built environment which reach waterways.

U.S. Green Building Council: An organization concerned with building practices that focus on environmentally-friendly materials, protecting ecosystems and biodiversity, improving air and water quality, and conserving natural resources.  See LEED™.

Weatherization: The practice of protecting a building and its interior from the elements, particularly from sunlight, precipitation, and wind; and of modifying a building to reduce energy consumption and optimize energy efficiency.  Weatherization reduces heating and cooling bills.

 

LAND USE TERMS:

Accessory Structure: A detached subordinate structure located on the same lot as and incidental to the principal structure.

Accessory Use: A use incidental to and on the same lot as a principal use.

Adverse Impact: A negative consequence to the physical, social, or economic environment—also called a negative externality.

Aesthetic Zoning: The regulation of building or site design to achieve a particular appearance—promotes uniformity and architectural commonality.  (See Architectural Control/Review)

Agricultural Conservation Easement: conservation easements that restrict specifically farmland from development or specified farming practices and give farmers some tax reductions.

Agricultural Protection Zoning: a method for protecting agricultural land use by stipulating minimum lot sizes or limitations on non-farm use.

Brownfields: lands contaminated by spills or leaks and that are perceived to be unsuitable for future development due to its hazardous nature or owner liability concerns.  In common use, this term is inclusive of old or abandoned buildings (often factories) for which adaptive reuse is or is perceived to be more costly and/or less attractive than greenfields development.

Buffer Area: An area separating two types of development which are presumed to be incompatible (e.g. a single family housing zone and a retail zone may have a buffer area of a multifamily housing zone).  The term can also be used for an area separating development and sensitive natural resources.

Building Line: The line parallel to the street line that passes through the point of the principal building nearest the front lot line.

Bulk Regulations: Standards that establish the maximum size of structures on a lot and the location where a building can be, including coverage, setbacks, height, impervious surface ratio, floor area ratio, and yard requirements.

By Right: A use that complies with all zoning regulations and other applicable ordinances and that is permitted without the consent of a review board.

Central Business District (CBD): The primary, downtown commercial center of a city.

Common Open Space: Squares, greens, parks, or greenways intended for the common use of all residents who wish to use these spaces.

Conditional Use: A land use, construction activity, or structural development, which must be tailored to the site conditions and adjacent property uses through a public and technical review process, that is listed as a conditional use in a zoning district.

Conditional Use Permit: A permit issued by a zoning administrator, if the applicant meets certain additional requirements, allowing a use other than a principally permitted use.

Conservation Areas: environmentally sensitive and valuable lands protected from any activity that would significantly alter their ecological integrity, balance, or character except in cases of overriding public interest.

Conservation Easement: a recorded legal agreement between a landowner and a qualified conservation agency that transfers development rights from the owner to the agency to protect natural or historic features.

Deed Restriction: A limitation, which is recorded with the county register of deeds and to which subsequent owners are bound, on development, maintenance, or use of a property.  This is a strong tool for the preservation of particular land uses.  It can be and is used in ways that will encourage or discourage sprawl.

Density by Right: The maximum capacity allowable (of buildings, families, persons of differing families, retail establishments, livestock, etc.) per acre/square foot for a particular lot or parcel under its existing zoning without the need for a rezoning, special use permit our other special approval.  The allowable density on a parcel of land under applicable and use code.

Developer: See BUILDING/CONSTRUCTION

Development: See BUILDING/CONSTRUCTION

Easement: written and recorded authorization by a property owner for the use of a designated part of the property by others for a specified purpose.

Eminent Domain: the right of a government unit to take private property for public use with appropriate compensation to the owner.

Environmental Corridors: linear areas of natural resources that are critical to maintaining water quality and quantity and to providing habitat linkages that maintain biological diversity. Environmental corridors are often associated with rivers and streams.

Environmental Nodes (in Green Infrastructure terminology: “Hubs”): discrete, inherently large, non-linear areas of natural resources that are sometimes isolated from areas with similar resource features.  Planning objectives often include linking environmental nodes using Environmental Corridors (see definition in this section).

Environmentally Sensitive Areas: areas such as wetlands, steep slopes, waterways, underground water recharge areas, shores, and natural plant and animal habitats that are easily disturbed by development.

Extraterritorial Jurisdiction: a local government’s authority to zone areas outside its boundaries.

Exactions: compensation, which may take the form of facilities, land, or an actual dollar amount, that a community requires from a developer as condition of the approval of a proposed development project.

Floor: Area Ratio: The ratio of the total floor area of buildings on a certain location to the size of the land of that location, or the limit imposed on such a ratio. The Floor Area Ratio is the total building square footage (building area) divided by the site size square footage (site area).

Form Based Code: is a means of regulating development to achieve specific built environment forms.  Form-based codes create a predictable public realm by balancing physical forms through urban and rural regulations, with a lesser focus on land use.  Form-based codes are a response to the modern challenges of urban sprawl, deterioration of historic built environments, and neglect of pedestrian safety in new development.

Heavy Industry: The basic processing and manufacturing of products from raw materials; or, a use engaged in the storage or manufacturing processes using flammable or explosive materials or those that potentially involve offensive conditions.

Historic Area: An area designated by an authority, having buildings or places that are important because of their historical architecture or relationship to a related park or square or because those areas were developed according to a fixed plan based on cultural, historical, or architectural purposes.

Historically Significant Property: any structure or site that is significant to the history, prehistory, or culture of the community, region, state or nation.

Land Banking: the obtaining, holding, and subsequent release of lands by a local government for controlled development or conservation.

Homeowner’s Association: a nonprofit organization made up of and funded by property owners or residents who are then responsible for costs and upkeep of semiprivate community facilities as well as enforcing the homeowner’s association’s contracts with residents regarding appearance and permitted activities on/uses of property.  Similar to Euclidean Zoning, the land-use restrictions written into these contracts are generally enacted in an attempt at maintaining property values and a particular set of community standards.

Incentive Zoning: The granting of additional development possibilities to a developer because of the developer’s provision of a public benefit.

Infill: Development that takes place on vacant or underutilized parcels within an area that is already characterized by urban development and has access to urban services.. (See Brownfield).

Land-use Inventory: a study, cataloging the types, extent, distribution, and intensity of current and future uses of land in a given area.

Land-use Plan: The element of a comprehensive plan that designates the type and location of as well as presents rationalization(s) for future use or reuse of land.

Large-Lot Zoning: a zoning type used in some single family residential zones that requires each lot be a minimum number of acres (generally, five or more acres).  Developments that feature large-lot zoning have inherently less efficient infrastructure and spread environmental impacts over a greater area of land.

Light Industry: The manufacture and distribution of finished products, including processing, fabrication, assembly, treatment, packaging, incidental storage, and sales.

LULU: A locally unwanted land use.

Mitigation: the process of compensating for the damages or adverse impacts of a development.

New Urbanism: An approach to development that includes the reintegration of components such as housing, employment, retail, and public facilities into compact, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods linked by mass transit

NIABY: Not in anyone’s backyard.

NIMBY: Not in my backyard.

NIMTOO: Not in my term of office.

Nonconforming Activity: An activity that is not permitted under the zoning regulations or does not conform to off-street parking, loading requirements, or performance standards.

Nonconforming Building: any building that does not meet the limitations on building size or location on a lot for its use and district.

Nonconforming Use: A use (or structure) that lawfully existed prior to the adoption or amendment of an ordinance but that fails to conform to the standards of the current zoning ordinance.

Noncontributing Building: A building or structure that does not add to the historic architecture or association or cultural values of the area.

Office Park: A large tract that has been planned and developed—based on single occupant automobile transportation—as a single use, integrated facility for a number of separate office buildings.  This type of development considers traffic circulation, surface parking, landscaping, utilities, and compatibility of uses.

Open Spaces: A substantially undeveloped area, usually including environmental features such as water areas or recreational facilities.

Overlay Zone: an additional land use or zoning requirement that modifies the basic requirements of the underlying designation.

Preservation: leaving a resource undisturbed and free from harm or damage. While ‘preservation’ is often used interchangeably with ‘conservation,’ the latter entails a connotation of prudent resource use.

Prime Agricultural Land: Land determined by local governments to be important for sustaining agricultural operations and that are often protected from conversion to other uses.

Prime Farmland: Farmland classified by the Natural Resources Conservation Service as best for the crop production of row, forage, or fiber because of level topography, drainage, moisture supply, soil texture and depth, and susceptibility to erosion and runoff. Ideally, prime farmland allows least cost to both the farmer and the natural resources.

Purchase of Development Rights: a public or private initiative that acquires the development rights of property to limit development and protect natural features or open space.

Quarter/Quarter Zoning: a density based zoning tool used in many states as a development standard where a very limited number of non-farm homes are allowed for every 40 acres of land.  Any non-farm splits are regulated by minimum and maximum sizes, e.g., no less than 1 acre and not greater than 2 acres.  These splits are often required to be contiguous to one another to avoid breaking up farmland into smaller or odd-shaped plots.

Right of Way (ROW): a strip of land occupied by or intended to be occupied by a street, crosswalk, walkway, utility line, or other access.

Scenic Corridor: a linear landscape feature that is visually attractive (for example, stream corridors or bluff lines).

Setbacks: In land use, a setback is the distance which a building or other structure is set back from a property line, a street or road, a river or other stream, a shore or flood plain, or any other place which needs protection. Depending on the jurisdiction, other things like fences, landscaping, septic tanks, and various potential hazards or nuisances might be regulated. Setbacks are generally set in municipal ordinances or zoning.

Site Plan: A scaled plan, which accurately and completely shows the site boundaries, dimensions and locations of all buildings and structures, uses, and principal site development features, proposed for a specific lot.

SmartCode: Is a customizable unified land development ordinance template for planning and urban design.  Originally developed by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., this open source program is a model form-based unified land development ordinance designed to create walkable neighborhoods across the full spectrum of human settlement—from the most rural to the most urban—incorporating a transect of character and intensity within each.  It folds zoning, subdivision regulations, urban design, and basic architectural standards into one compact document.  Because the SmartCode enables community vision by coding specific outcomes that are desired in particular places, each new SmartCode land development ordinance is able to be locally calibrated by professionals and laypersons.

Smart Growth: An approach to land-use planning and growth management that recognizes connections between development and quality of life.  The features that distinguish smart growth approaches vary.  In general, smart growth invests time, attention, and resources in restoring community and vitality to center cities and older suburbs.  In developing areas, the approach is more town-centered, is transit and pedestrian oriented, and has a greater mix of housing, commercial, and retail uses.  Smart-growth approaches preserve open space and other environmental amenities.

Subdivision: The division by plat or deed of a piece of property into two or more lots, plots, sites, tracts, parcels, or other land divisions

Sustainable Development: See definition under SOCIOECONOMIC.

Takings: Government actions that violate the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which reads in part, “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”  Such actions include regulations that have the effect of “taking” property.

Transect: is an urban planning model created by New Urbanist Andrés Duany.   The transect defines a series of zones that transition from natural lands and sparse rural farmhouses to a dense urban core.  Each zone is fractal in that it contains a similar transition from the edge to the center of the neighborhood.  The transect is an important part of the New Urbanism and smart growth movements.  The importance of transect planning is particularly seen as a contrast to modern Euclidean zoning and suburban development.  In these patterns, large areas are dedicated to a single purpose, such as housing or offices or shopping; and they can only be accessed by automobile travel via major arterial roads and at some distance.  The transect, by contrast, decreases the necessity for long-distance travel by any means.

Unified Development Code: the combining of development regulations into a single zoning code.

Up Zoning: changing the zoning designation of an area to allow higher densities or less restrictive use.

Urban Growth Area: an area designated for urban development and usually designed to protect open space or resources beyond its boundaries.  (Not currently allowed in all states).

Urban Growth Boundary: the perimeter of an urban growth area.  (Not currently allowed in all states).

Urban Sprawl: low-density, automobile-dependent, and land-consumptive outward growth of a city; the spread of urban congestion and development into suburban and rural areas adjoining urban areas.

Zone: an area designated by an ordinance where specified uses are permitted and development standards are required.

 

SOCIOECONOMIC TERMS:

Affordable Housing: Housing which requires no more than 30% of the income of its occupant(s) to acquire and maintain.

Annexation: the process of incorporating an area of land which does not fall under any municipal jurisdiction into a municipality.

Biodegradable: A product or material compiled of natural materials that can be broken down into simple compounds and absorbed back into the ecosystem without harm if it has moisture, heat, and micro-organisms. Biodegradability is certified by The International Standards Organization (ISO) 14855, which requires 60 per cent biodegradation in 180 days.

Carbon Footprint: The total amount of greenhouse gases emitted directly or indirectly through an activity, or from a product, company or person, typically expressed in equivalent tons of either carbon or carbon dioxide.

Carbon Neutral: This term effectively means net zero carbon emissions to the atmosphere.  Achieving carbon neutrality means measuring the carbon emissions for an identified product, service or company, then balancing those emissions with carbon reductions to reach net zero carbon emissions.

Comprehensive Plan: A county, city, village or town master plan.  Comprehensive plans provide a vision and general idea of how land should be used in the attempt to assure economic growth as well as public health, safety, and welfare.

Conservation: The preservation or managed consumption of something – whether it is a finished product or raw material, a human or natural resource, energy or potential, to ensure its future/continued utility.

Consumerism: The concept that an ever-expanding consumption of goods is advantageous to an economy.  A social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a collective desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts.

Cradle-to-cradle: A design philosophy put forth by architect William McDonough that considers the life-cycle of a material or product.  Cradle-to-Cradle design models human industry on nature’s processes, in which materials are viewed as nutrients circulating in healthy metabolisms.

Design for the Environment (DfE): A philosophy applied to the design process that advocates the reduction of environmental and human health impacts through materials selection and design strategies.

Detachment: the transposition of land from a municipality back into a township or county (unincorporated) land.

EcoMetrics: Interface’s quantification of the company’s environmental performance over time.  Ecometrics measures materials and energy inputs and outputs for use in benchmarking and monitoring environmental progress.

Environmental or Ecological Footprint:  The environmental impact any company or entity (such as a city/town) makes as it performs any or all activities.  A footprint is determined by how well raw materials or by-products are (or aren’t) absorbed by the surrounding environment.

Food Miles: A measurement of the distance food travels from where it is grown to where it is processed to where it is consumed and any storage points in between.  Generally the lower the food miles, the greener the product.

Gentrification: The resettlement of low and moderate-income urban neighborhoods by middle and high-income professionals

Geographic Information System (GIS): computer technology, tools, databases, and applications that provide spatial (geographic) data management, analysis, and mapping capabilities to support policy evaluation, decision-making, and program operations.

Greenwashing: The process by which a company publicly and misleadingly exaggerates or embellishes the environmental attributes of itself or its products, while participating in environmentally- or socially-irresponsible practices.

Growth Management: the pacing of the rate or controlling of the location of development via law enactment to manage a community’s growth.

Health Impact Assessment (HIA): a combination of procedures, methods and tools by which a policy, program or project may be judged as to its potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of those effects within the population.  An HIA is intended to produce a set of evidence-based recommendations to inform decision-making.  An HIA seeks to maximize the positive health impacts and minimize the negative health impacts of proposed policies, programs or projects.

Historic Preservation: The research, protection, restoration, and rehabilitation of historic properties.

Home Rule: constitutional provisions in some states that give local units of government substantial autonomy.

Incorporation: orderly and uniform development of territory from county to incorporated status.

Level of Service (LOS): A measurement of the quantity and quality of public facilities.  Commonly used when discussing a roadway’s capacity for traffic and speed.

Life Cycle Analysis: The assessment of a products full environmental costs, from raw materials to final disposal, in terms of consumption of resources, energy and waste – ‘from the cradle to the grave’

Linkage: A direct or indirect causal relationship between two or more systems, where changes in one affect the status of another.  Linkages among systems are often reflected in the indicators that measure the health of those systems.  Connections originate from actions, policies, projects, social conditions, economic forces, and environmental changes that affect two or more indicators.

Local and Seasonal Foods: Refers to food which is produced close to you and according to the national seasons and traditional growing cycles – this doesn’t include food supplied out of season by artificial means or foods transported in from other regions. Generally local and seasonal food will be more naturally produced and much less processed. It also requires far less packaging and transportation.

Municipality: a city, village, town, or other unit of local government.  The application of this term varies and it often has specific legal meanings.

New Urbanism: an approach to development that includes the reintegration of components such as housing, employment, retail, and public facilities into compact, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods linked by mass transit.

Organic: 1. Denoting a relation between elements of something such that they fit together harmoniously as necessary parts of a whole.  2. Characterized by continuous or natural development.  3. (Agricultural Products) Produced or involving production without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial agents.

Over-consumption: A situation where resource use within a system has outpaced the ability of the system to resupply the resource(s).

Quality of Life: The level of enjoyment and fulfillment derived by humans from the life they live within their local economic, cultural, social, and environmental conditions.  Quality of life, in this sense, is most directly measured using subjective indicators.  However, objective indicators are often used to track the external conditions which affect quality of life.

Recycling: The series of activities, including collection, separation, and processing, by which materials are recovered from the waste stream for use as raw materials in the manufacture of new products.

Redevelopment: Any proposed replacement of existing development.

Redevelopment Authority: An authority created in a city with a blighted area.  This authority, together with all the necessary or incidental powers, is created to carry out blight elimination, slum clearance, and urban renewal programs and projects.

Regional Plan: A plan that covers multiple jurisdictions, often within the administrative area of a regional planning commission, and that can be prepared jointly by cooperating municipalities, regional planning commissions, state agencies, or other entities.

Report Card: A document that summarizes a community’s indicators.  Report cards are commonly issued annually to the community at large to provide feedback on progress.

Repurposing: Cleaning or refurbishing that allows a product to be reused again in its current form, thereby extending its useful life.

Reuse: To use again or more than once

Sense of Place: the constructed and natural landmarks and social and economic surroundings that cause someone to identify with a particular place or community.

Stakeholder: An individual or group potentially affected by the activities of a company or organization; in sustainable business models the term includes financial shareholders as well as those affected by environmental or social factors such as suppliers, consumers, employees, the local community, and the natural environment.  A participant in a community mobilization effort, representing a particular segment of society.  School board members, environmental organizations, elected officials, chamber of commerce representatives, neighborhood advisory council members and religious leaders are all examples of local stakeholders.

Sustainable Development: Economic (including built environment) development that provides for the basic needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own basic needs.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF): a local governmental financing of private-sector redevelopment, anticipating the additional revenues of the tax increment.

Tax Increment: additional tax revenue resulting from a property-value increase; the amount obtained by multiplying the total of all property taxes levied on all taxable property within a tax-incremental district in a year by a fraction having as a numerator the value increment for that year in the district and as a denominator that year’s equalized value of all taxable property in the district.  In any year, a tax increment is “positive” if the value increment is positive and “negative” if the value increment is negative.

Urban Area: the area within a municipal boundary that is serviced by infrastructure; an intensively developed area with a relatively large or dense population.

 

STATISTICAL TERMS:

Benchmark: A point of reference or a standard against which measurements can be compared.  In the context of indicators, a benchmark is an accurate data point which is used as a reference for future comparisons—a performance-monitoring standard that allows a local government to periodically measure the progress of a local plan’s goals and policies.  Sometimes it also refers to “best practices” in a particular field, and communities compare themselves against those standards.  Many groups use benchmark as a synonym for indicator or target.

Census Tract: A relatively permanent county subdivision delineated to present census data.

Combined Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA): A statistical area defined by the U.S. Census; a large metropolitan statistical area with a population of one million or more that includes one or more metropolitan statistical area (MSA).  (See metropolitan statistical area).

Data: Individual measurements; facts, figures, pieces of information, statistics, either historical or derived by calculation, experimentation, surveys, etc.; evidence from which conclusions can be inferred.

Disaggregation: This does not usually refer to “undoing” the process of aggregating two or more indicators together into an index.  Rather, it refers to breaking down a single indicator into subgroups of geographic or demographic variables.  For example, instead of simply stating that 15% of people in your city live in poverty, you might break down the population by age, ethnicity or neighborhood of residence.

Extrapolate: A method for estimating new data points based on existing measurements, and thereby predicting trends.  For example, if the data for 1994 and 1995 are 8 and 9 respectively, one could extrapolate from that data to estimate that in 1996 the figure might be 10.  In this case since the extrapolation is over time it is also called forecasting.

Geographic Information System (GIS): Computer technology, tools, databases, and applications that provide spatial (geographic) data management, analysis, and mapping capabilities to support policy evaluation, decision-making, and program operations.

Indicator: A measurement that reflects the status of some social, economic, or environmental system over time.  Generally an indicator focuses on a small, manageable, tangible and telling piece of a system to give people a sense of the bigger picture.

Key indicator: One of a limited number of primary indicators that are supported by secondary indicators and provide an overall picture of the community.

Leading Indicator: An indicator whose value changes prior to a change in the larger system of which it is a component.  For example, housing starts are often cited as a leading indicator, because home construction usually leads an upturn in the economy.

Interpolate: A method for estimating data points that fall between points of actual measurement.  For example, if the data for 1992 and 1994 are 5 and 10 respectively, one could interpolate from that data that the value was 7.5 (at the midpoint) in 1993.

Map: A drawing or other representation that portrays the spatial distribution of the geographic, topographic, or other physical features of an area.

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): A statistical area defined by the U.S. Census; a freestanding metropolitan area (i.e. an area with a minimum population of 50,000 and adjacent communities with a high degree of economic and social integration) or a Census Bureau defined urbanized area with a population or 100,000 or greater, not closely associated with other metropolitan areas.  Nonmetropolitan counties surround these areas typically.

Validity: How well an indicator actually represents what one intends to measure.  This is similar to accuracy but refers more to the relation between the measurement and its underlying concept.

 

TRANSPORTATION TERMS:

Alternative Fuels: See definition under ENERGY.

Arterial: A major street, which is normally controlled by traffic signs and signals, carrying a large volume of through traffic.  If combined with a restricted system of collector streets and cul-de-sacs, it is often connected to the creation of vehicular traffic congestion.

Bikeability: is a measure of how friendly an area is to bicycling.  Bikeability has many health, environmental, and economic benefits.  Factors influencing bikeability include traffic and road conditions, land use patterns, building accessibility, safety; and whether policies and practices are in place which help bicyclists be aware and comfortable about traveling by bicycle and for pedestrians and motorists to be aware and comfortable about traveling with bicyclists.

Bike lane: A segregated bicycle use facility from which motorized traffic is generally excluded.  Bike lane facilities consist of a division of a road marked off with painted lines, for use by bicyclists.

Bike path: A segregated bicycle use facility from which motorized traffic is completely prohibited.  Usually this facility will be a path or road for bicycle users only—but may allow pedestrians.

Carpool/Vanpool: Sharing rides to reduce the number of vehicles on the road, especially during typical rush hours.

Clear Zone: An area within a roadway right-of-way that is free of any obstructions, providing vehicles an open area in case of an emergency where the vehicle might run off the road or need to pull off the shoulder of the road.

E.g. on NC roads with a speed limit of 45 mph the closest a shrub will be allowed to grow is between 10 and 15 feet from the curb or travel lane.  On     new or redeveloped curb and gutter city streets of 35 mph and less, no large street trees are allowed to grow within 10 feet of the curb.

Collector: A street designed to funnel a moderate volume of traffic from local streets to arterial streets or from arterial streets to arterial streets.  Transportation design using the collector/arterial street funneling system (as opposed to a traditional street grid) is commonly cited for creating congestion.

Cul-de-sac: A circular ended dead end street (taken directly from French and meaning “bottom of the bag”).  A key component of the collector/arterial street funneling system.  Cul-de-sacs are cited for adding to vehicular traffic congestion because they naturally force traffic in one direction–in communities with multiple cul-de-sacs, this effect is compounded.

Complete Streets: are roadways designed and operated to enable safe, attractive, and comfortable access and travel for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and public transport users of all ages and abilities.  Official policies that encourage or require such accommodation are known as complete streets policies.

Connectivity: refers to the density of connections in a transportation network (should include sidewalk, path, transit and roadway facilities) and the directness of links.  A well-connected transportation network has many short links, numerous intersections, and an absolute minimum of dead-ends/cul-de-sacs.   As connectivity increases, travel distances decrease and route options increase, allowing more direct travel between destinations, creating a more accessible and resilient system.  Connectivity can apply both internally (within a specific geographic area) and externally (connections with other geographic areas).

Fossil Fuels: See definition under ENERGY.

Hybrid Vehicle: A car or other vehicle that uses multiple propulsion sources—often a conventional petroleum diesel or gasoline fueled internal combustion engine and an electric motor.

Level of Service (LOS): is a measure used by traffic engineers to determine the effectiveness of elements of transportation infrastructure.  LOS is most commonly used to analyze highways by categorizing traffic flow with corresponding safe driving conditions.  The concept has also been applied to intersections, transit, and water supply.

Multimodal Transportation: An integrated network of various transportation modes, including pedestrian, bicycle, automobile, mass transit, railroads, harbors, and airports.

Pedestrian Friendly: (See BUILDING/CONSTRUCTION)

Sharrow: roadway lanes that are shared by both cars and bicycle.  The lanes have special arrow markings within to help alert cars to take caution and allow cyclists to safely travel in these lanes when striping is not possible.

Traffic Calming: the process of increasing pedestrian safety via decreasing automobile speed and volume.

Traffic Impact Analysis: an analysis of the impacts of traffi c generated by a development.

Transportation Demand Management (TDM): a strategy that alleviates roadway stress by reducing vehicle density through increasing passengers per vehicle.

Transit-Oriented Development: (See BUILDING/CONSTRUCTION).

VMT:  Vehicle-miles traveled.

Walkability: is a measure of how friendly an area is to walking. Walkability has many health, environmental, and economic benefits.  Factors influencing walkability include the presence or absence and quality of pedestrian right-of-ways (like footpaths and sidewalks), traffic and road conditions, land use patterns, building accessibility, and safety, among others.