9. Glossary

Thermal diagnostics

A thermal diagnosis identifies a building's weak points in terms of insulation. So, to reduce energy consumption, rather than plunging headlong into energy renovation work, it's better to diagnose precisely what needs to be better insulated to improve comfort and reduce heating consumption.

Grey energy

Grey energy is the amount of energy consumed during the life cycle of a material or product: production, extraction, transformation, manufacture, transport, application, maintenance and finally recycling, with the notable exception of use. Each of these stages requires energy, whether human, animal, electrical, thermal or other.

Standard

A standard is essentially an agreed way of doing something. Standards are the distilled wisdom of people with...