McKillican | Green Reference - Terms starting with the letter A

Terms starting with ...

Acid Rain	Acid rain is a generic term used for precipitation that contains an abnormally high concentration of sulfuric and nitric acid. These acids form in the atmosphere when industrial gas emissions combine with water, and have negative impacts on the environment and human health.
Adherend	A body that is held to another body by an adhesive.
Adherend Failure	Rupture of an adhesive joint, such that the separation appears to be within the adherend.
Adhesion	The state in which two surfaces are held together by interfacial forces which may consist of valence forces or interlocking action or both.
Adhesive	A substance capable of holding materials together by surface attachment. It is a general term and includes cements, mucilage, and paste, as well as glue.
Adhesive Failure	Rupture of an adhesive joint, such that the plane of separation appears to be at the adhesive-adherend interface.
Adhesive Joint	The location at which two adherends are held together with a layer of adhesive.
Advanced (Typical) Decay	The older stage of decay in which the destruction is readily recognized because the wood has become punky, soft and spongy, stringy, ringshaked, pitted, or crumbly. Decided discoloration or bleaching of the rotted wood is often apparent.
AFMA	American Furniture Mfrs. Assn. AFMA, the largest trade association for furniture manufacturers in the U.S., provides management training, national and state government relations, statistical information and representation of the furniture manufacturing industry to its various publics.
Agrifiber	Materials comprised of natural fibres - usually agricultural by-products such as straw.
Air Dried Seasoning	Dried by exposure to air in a yard or shed, without artificial heat.
Air Infiltration	The air that leaks in around doors, windows, and electrical outlets, etc. which can be a major source of heat loss.
Albedo	A measure of surface light reflectance. Albedo is measured on a scale of 0 - 1.0 (0.75 is high).
Allowable Property	The value of a property normally published for design use. Allowable properties are identified with grade descriptions and standards, reflect the orthotropic structure of wood, and anticipate certain end uses.
Allowable Stress	(See Allowable Property)
American Lumber Standard	The American Softwood Lumber Standard, Voluntary Product Standard PS-20 (National Institute of Standards and Technology), establishes standard sizes and requirements for the development and coordination of lumber grades of various species, the assignment of design values when called for, and the preparation of grading rules applicable to each species. It provides for implementation of the standard through an accreditation and certification program to assure uniform industry-wide marking and inspection. A purchaser must, however, make use of grading association rules because the basic standards are not in themselves commercial rules.
Anisotropic	Exhibiting different properties when measured along different axes. In general, fibrous materials such as wood are anisotropic.
ARP	ARP is patented surface only applied to Nevamar laminates.
ASHRAE	American Society of Heating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. ASHRAE provides many of the standards related to energy efficiency, ventilation and thermal comfort for both the US and Canada.
ASHRAE 90.1	Standards describing energy performance.
Assembly Adhesive	An adhesive that can be used for bonding parts together, such as in the manufacture of a boat, airplane, furniture, and the like.
Assembly Joint	Joints between variously shaped parts or subassemblies such as in wood furniture (as opposed to joints in plywood and laminates that are all quite similar).
ATCM	Airborne Toxic Control Measure (ATCM) elements: Establishes new formaldehyde emission limits for HWPW, PB, and MDF panels, andrequires their use in finished goods. Panel manufacturers must demonstrate compliance through third party certification. Fabricators must use compliant products in their finished goods for California. Retailers must only obtain compliant products for sale to the California public.
AWI	AWI is a non-profit organization representing the special woodwork manufacturers of the United States and Canada, devoted to the elevation of industry standards, to continuing research into new and better materials and methods, and to the publication of technical data helpful to architects, designers and specification writers in the design and use of architectural woodwork.