Building product manufacturer: Any company making an product for incorporation into the project that would arrive at the job site.
Business unit: A logical segment of a company that represents a specific operational function or production of a product type. Also called department, division, or a functional area.
Component: Uniquely identifiable input, part, element, piece, assembly or subassembly, system or subsystem, that (1) is required to complete or finish an activity, item, or job, (2) performs a distinctive and necessary function in the operation of a system, or (3) is intended to be included as a part of a finished, packaged, and labeled product. Components are usually removable in one piece and are considered indivisible for a particular purpose or use. Commonly, items of very small or insignificant cost are not considered components.
Facility: one or more buildings or locations, or part of a building, that it is clearly delineated in the EMS and includes all process associated with the relevant building product (in the case of a Building Product Manufacturer) or ingredient or component (in the case of a supplier to the building product manufacturer).
First-tier supplier: Any company providing components or ingredients directly to a building product manufacturer.
Green chemistry: The design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances (Anastas, P. T. and Warner, J. C. Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice. Oxford University Press: New York, 1998, p. 30).
Green engineering: The development and commercialization of industrial processes that are economically feasible and reduce the risk to human health and the environment (Anastas, P.T., and Zimmerman, J.B., "Design through the Twelve Principles of Green Engineering", Env. Sci. Tech. 2003, 37(5), 94A-101A).
Ingredient: A substance or single constituent of fixed composition, characterized by its molecular structure(s) used to make a compound, mixture, or finished product. Ingredients can be active (help directly in achieving a performance objective(s)) or inert (facilitate acceptance, application, stability, handling or marketing of the product, or delivery of the active ingredients). Ingredients typically have an associate CAS RN (and may also have synonym CAS RNs).
Optimization: Developing a product or process with the highest achievable combination of functional performance, cost, and positive social, environmental, and health impacts by maximizing desired factors and minimizing undesired ones. For the purposes of LEED’s Material Ingredients credit “optimization” implies giving human and environmental health higher priority among the multiple factors than is typically the case.
Second-tier supplier: A supplier providing ingredients to another supplier that end up in the product being considered by the building product manufacturer.