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27 Appendix A - Definition of Terms For many facilities, you can rate their energy performance on a scale of 1-100 relative to similar buildings nationwide. Your building is not compared to the other buildings entered into Portfolio Manager to determine your ENERGY STAR rating. Instead, statistically representative models are used to compare your building against similar buildings from a national survey conducted by the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration. This national survey, known as the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), is conducted every four years, and gathers data on building characteristics and energy use from thousands of buildings across the United States. Your building's peer group of comparison is those buildings in the CBECS survey that have similar building and operating characteristics. Arating of 50 indicates that the building, from an energy consumption standpoint, performs better than 50% of all similar buildings nationwide, while a rating of 75 indicates that the building performs better than 75% of all similar buildings nationwide. EPA's energv performance ratinq,system, based on source energv, accounts for the impact of weather variations (see °Degree Days.") as well as changes in key physical and operating characteristics of each building. Buildings rating 75 or greater may qualify for the ENERGY STAR label. EPA's Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey includes several different types of facilities, not all of which are easily comparable with local government facilities, especially those that have mixed usage. Orange County's use of Portfolio Manager, and the Energy Star program are discussed in the "Energy Use: Reporting and Methodology" section of this report, which presents the data analysis procedures for County facilities. Geo-thermal HVAC systems (ground source heat pumps): A geothermal heat pump, ground source heat pump (GSHP), or ground heat pump is a central heating and/or cooling system that pumps heat to or from the ground. It uses the earth as a heat source (in the winter) or a heat sink (in the summer). This design takes advantage of the moderate temperatures in the ground to boost efficiency and reduce the operational costs of heating and cooling systems. Depending on latitude, the upper 3 meters (9.8 ft) of Earth's surface maintains a nearly constant temperature between 10 and 16 °C (50 and 60 °F) ~ Like a refrigerator or air conditioner, these systems use a heat pump to force the transfer of heat from there. Heat pumps can transfer heat from a cool space to a warm space, against the natural direction of flow, or they can enhance the natural flow of heat from a warm area to a cool one. Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) are among the most energy efficient technologies for providing HVAC and water heatingzs Green buildings/~EED/TJCOG High Performance Guidelines: LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third- party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies intended to improve performance in metrics such as energy savings, water efficiency, COZ emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED is intended to provide building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC): is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. USGBC works toward its mission of market transformation through its LEED green building certification program, robust educational offerings, a nationwide network of chapters and 25 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal heat~ump