Glossary of Terms

Adaptation

Climate change adaptation refers to any process or action taken to increase the resilience of people, infrastructure, communities, and ecosystems, allowing them to better adjust to the impacts of a changing climate and prepare for future impacts.

Asset Class

This is a grouping of infrastructure by form, such as in fleet and public transit, or of function, such as water facilities, that collectively contribute to the provision of core services to a community. On Climate Insight, infrastructure is grouped into the following asset classes - Buildings and Housing, Fleet and Public Transit, Green Infrastructure, Solid Waste, Transportation, and Water.

Baseline Emissions

The initial set, or reference state, of greenhouse gas emissions data (usually expressed in tCO2e) for a given piece of equipment, infrastructure or asset, or portfolio of assets. Quantifying baseline emissions and creating an emission inventory is the first step of climate change mitigation.

Biomass

Combustible fuel in the form of organic material originating from agricultural crops and food residue, forestry and wood residues, processing by-products, algae, and energy crops.

Buildings/Housing

A type of infrastructure/asset class that includes all publicly owned buildings, including recreational facilities and community housing, as well as any buildings and facilities that support other infrastructure types/assets.

Examples: city hall building, arena, buildings housing other processes (eg. wastewater or water treatment), fleet building

Carbon Sequestration

Any mitigation option that involves the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stores it, either naturally (eg. vegetation, soil organic carbon, etc) or technologically.

Codes, Standards and Certifications

This content category on Climate Insight is made up of the following types of documents:

1. Legislation, Acts, Regulations and Guidelines published/ enforced by a government authority
2. Accredited Standards, as recognized by the Standards Council of Canada or the American National Standards Institute.
3. Certifications by recognized third party organizations specializing in sustainable, climate-oriented, or energy-efficient performance.

Comprehensive Risk Assessment

A comprehensive risk assessment approach is one where the scope is wide and takes a system perspective. It either looks at multiple climatic parameters (eg. extreme heat, flood) or across multiple service or thematic areas (eg. health systems, engineered assets).

Consequence

The impact on infrastructure, people, and other systems that a hazard would have should it occur.

Construction Emissions

Construction Emissions can be defined as the direct emissions resulting from building and construction activities, generated mainly from burning fossil fuels (to power equipment, vehicles, and stationary combustion for electrical generation) or releasing non-energy emissions (eg. refrigerants etc) during the construction phase of the project.

Cost Range

On Climate Insight, cost range is used within the Infrastructure Options, Codes, Standards, and Guidelines, and Tools to help illustrate the range of financial costs associated with each activity. The table below shows the definitions of the various symbolizations of costs.

• Definitions/Ranges for Infrastructure Options
  • No Cost: Free
  • Operational Cost: The option can be done within the allocated operational budget and/or not require a request for proposal.
  • $: <$75K
  • $$: $75-500K
  • $$$: $500K-$2M
  • $$$$: $2M-$10M
  • $$$$$: >$10M
• Definitions/Ranges for Codes, Standards, Guidelines
  • No Cost: Free to download or online view access is available
  • $: <$500
  • $$: >$500
• Definitions/Ranges for Tools
  • No Cost: Free
  • $: Requires purchase of the tool
  • $$: Requires additional costs (eg. consulting support for implementation)

Direct Alterations to the Asset(s)

This selection refers to projects that require the infrastructure itself is enhanced, reinforced, or otherwise altered to make it more resilient to a specific hazard.

Direct Emissions

A mitigation category focused on reducing non-energy, GHG emissions from organic waste, refrigerants, fugitive emissions, etc.

Carbon sequestration involves increasing the carbon stocks or rate of removing carbon from the atmosphere through natural or technological processes.

Economic Dependency

On Climate Insight, economic dependency is one of the themes or dimensions of the Social Vulnerability Index relating to reliance on the workforce, or a dependence on sources of income other than employment income.

Electrical Efficiency

On Climate Insight, electrical efficiency is defined as any option that reduces energy use through improved electrical and/or mechanical systems.

Embodied Carbon

Embodied carbon is the upstream carbon and greenhouse gases emitted from the construction process and the materials used in a piece of infrastructure. These upstream stages can include material extraction, manufacturing or processing, and transportation.

Emissions Calculator

Any tool that calculates the greenhouse gas emissions of a particular infrastructure type/asset.

Energy Efficiency

A mitigation option category that includes reducing energy losses with improved thermal efficiency (includes building envelope, process heat, etc.), reducing energy use through improved electro/mechanical systems efficiency and conservation, and improved energy efficiency through operational practices and controls and/or infrastructure-related policy changes.

Energy Modelling

Any tool that simulates the energy flows and systems of a building(s) or process(es) in order to analyse and determine the energy consumption and opportunities for energy savings.

Ethno-Cultural Composition

On Climate Insight, ethno-cultural composition is one of the themes or dimensions of the Social Vulnerability Index relating to the community make-up of immigrant populations and those self-identifying as visible minorities.

Expected Useful Life

On Climate Insight, expected useful life is the length of time the equipment/infrastructure is expected to last before requiring major maintenance, retrofitting, or replacement. This can be aligned with a manufacturer's warranty, or industry averages.

Extreme Heat

Extreme heat is a hazard that is defined as a prolonged period of temperatures that are above the average high, or more humid than the average. The definition of extreme heat may vary by region because of each location’s specific averages. For further information on specific thresholds, refer to Environment Canada.

Fleet and Public Transit

This infrastructure type /asset class refers to all motorized mobile vehicles and equipment, including government-owned/operated trucks, passenger vehicles, parks maintenance equipment, as well as buses, trains, or ferries.

Flooding

Flooding is a hazard that occurs when an area of dry land is partially or completely inundated. This can come from a number of sources including extreme precipitation (pluvial flooding), inland or fresh water bodies (fluvial flooding), seawater (coastal flooding), and groundwater.

Fuel Switching

A mitigation option category that includes any action that involves switching to low or zero carbon fuels/energy (eg. renewable energy systems, electric vehicles, etc.).

Global Warming Potential

All greenhouse gases (GHGs) are not equal. Each one has a unique atmospheric lifetime and heat-trapping potential. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) metric examines each greenhouse gas’s ability to trap heat in the atmosphere compared to carbon dioxide (CO2). We measure this over a specified time horizon. Often, we calculate GHG emissions in terms of how much CO2 is essential to produce a similar warming effect over the chosen time horizon. This is the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2 eq) value. We calculate it by multiplying the amount of gas by its accompanying global warming potential (GWP). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided 100-year GWPs in its Fifth Assessment Report. (Government of Canada)

Green Infrastructure

On Climate Insight, this infrastructure type/ asset class includes natural and hybrid solutions. Green Infrastructure is the natural vegetative systems, engineered and built features, and green technologies that collectively provide society with a multitude of economic, environmental and social outcomes (Click here for a visual illustration of the infrastructure and solution types).

Grey Solution

Climate Insight defines grey solutions to be any infrastructure options that are made exclusively of engineered materials such as concrete and steel (Click here for a visual illustration of the infrastructure and solution types).

Hazard

Hazard refers to the possible, future occurrence of natural or human-induced physical events that may have adverse effects on vulnerable and exposed elements. It can be thought of as the type of stressor or the natural phenomenon that may potentially threaten green, grey or hybrid infrastructure. On Climate Insight, we have used the term hazard to refer to climate-related physical events as well as their physical impacts, where appropriate.

Hybrid Solution

Climate Insight defines hybrid solutions to be any infrastructure option that incorporates elements of grey infrastructure to enhance or support natural infrastructure and/or the use of ecosystem processes. Hybrid solutions encompass enhanced and engineered assets, and are synonymous with low-impact development (Click here for a visual illustration of the infrastructure and solution types).

Immediate Vicinity

This selection includes both direct alterations to the asset and any options that can be implemented within the site's property boundaries

Indigenous Community

Self-governed First Nations, Inuit, or Metis community.

Infrastructure

The managed elements of interrelated systems that provide goods and services essential to enabling, sustaining or enhancing the living conditions of human communities. Infrastructure systems consist of built infrastructure, natural infrastructure, and the enabling environment. The guidance provided on Climate Insight is geared towards municipally owned and/or managed public infrastructure. Infrastructure types referred to in Solutions results refer to the infrastructure that the option increases resilience or reduces net emissions for.

LCA (Life Cycle Assessment)

A tool that assesses the environmental impacts of a project associated with all the stages of its life.

Likelihood

In the context of climate change risk assessments, likelihood refers to the chance of a hazard happening. Likelihood may be measured, determined qualitatively or quantitatively, and expressed in general terms or mathematically.

Local Area

Refers to the area immediately surrounding a site, such as a neighbourhood block, and includes the site and any specific asset/infrastructure.

Low Carbon

On the Climate Insight Map, low carbon is an infrastructure type related to the Canadian Energy transition, including industrial biomass power generation, EV charging stations, wind turbines, and solar power facilities.

Low Carbon Resilience

Low Carbon Resilience is a lens used to coordinate and co-evaluate adaptation and mitigation strategies to reduce both emissions and vulnerability. Green Infrastructure and Nature-based Solutions support LCR as they both address hazards (through water management, cooling, erosion control, etc.) while also sequestering carbon through natural processes. Technical LCR solutions would include those that provide protections against one or more climate hazards while also reducing net emissions through energy efficiency, fuel switching, or offsets.

Major Retrofit

Involves a change or replacement of part/all of the infrastructure involving significant redesign, reconfiguration, and/or reengineering.

Minor Repairs

Considered to require no engineering or design changes, and can be done as part of normal operations.

Mitigation

Climate change mitigation refers to any action that limits or prevents greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere, as well as any enhancing activities that remove these gases from the atmosphere (carbon sequestration).

Moderately Complex Upgrades

Refers to additions or upgrades requiring minor design/engineering changes.

Natural Solution

Climate Insight defines a natural solution to be any infrastructure option that exclusively uses preserved, restored, or enhanced ecosystem features and materials (eg. water, native species of vegetation, sand and stone, etc.) to deliver beneficial community services and infrastructure outcomes. Encompasses all green infrastructure/assets (Click here for a visual illustration of the infrastructure and solution types).

Nature-Based Solution

Actions to protect, manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems, which address societal challenges, effectively and adaptively, providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits. NbSs pertain to natural and enhanced infrastructure/assets (Click here for a visual illustration of the infrastructure and solution types).

Non-Energy Emissions

A mitigation option category that involves any action that reduces non-energy, GHG emissions (organic waste, refrigerants, fugitive emissions, etc.).

Northern Community

Communities in or surrounded by predominantly frozen natural environments, with unique infrastructure considerations such as permafrost, transportation across ice and snow, and/or extreme cold weather systems.

Operational Efficiency

Any option involving improved energy efficiency through operational practices and controls and/or infrastructure-related policy changes.

Option

Infrastructure intervention that will support infrastructure resiliency and/or decrease emissions. Options may be thought of as the solutions that can be applied to infrastructure to address impacts of and on climate change.

Permafrost Thaw

Melting of the previously frozen layer of earth which may consist of gravel, sand, organic matter, and ice.

Potable Water Infrastructure

Any infrastructure that supports drinking water treatment and distribution.

Qualitative Tools

Narrative and thematic assessments leveraged from perceptions and lived experience, for instance using anecdotal data, local knowledge and socio-economic factors to inform the identification of climate change impacts, vulnerabilities and risks, and emissions.

Quantitative Tools

An approach requiring numerical scoring or ranking using an established framework and hard data (e.g., historical climate and weather data, utility data, modelling/projections). Typically involves subject-matter experts (from a given sector or geographic location), as participants need to have a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the subject matter so that they can be confident in assigning numerical values.

Remote Community

Small urban or rural community more than ~1.5 hours by car from a large population centre.

Remote Community

A community that is more than 1.5 hours from the nearest urban centre.

Residential Instability

On Climate Insight, residential instability is one of the themes or dimensions of the Social Vulnerability Index relating to the tendency of neighbourhood inhabitants to fluctuate over time, taking into consideration both housing and familial characteristics.

Resilience

The capacity or ability to anticipate and cope with shocks and to recover from their impacts. In the context of climate change, it is the capacity of a system to prepare for, respond to, and recover from the impacts of hazardous climatic events while incurring minimal damage to societal wellbeing, the economy, and the environment.

Risk

The probability of harmful consequence or expected loss resulting from the interaction of a hazard with the built environment. Level of risk is determined by the characteristics of a hazard - its frequency/likelihood of occurring, and the potential consequences of it occurring. Consequences are dependent on the vulnerability of infrastructure/assets and people who may be impacted, as well as their level of exposure to the hazard itself.

Risk Assessment

The process in which the risk of a system (infrastructure/asset, community, etc.) to climate hazards is calculated. Involves the assessment of vulnerabilities, exposure and climate change hazards and their likelihoods and consequences.

Rural Community

Low density territory, lying outside of population centres often with high areas of natural, forestry, or agricultural lands.

Situational Vulnerability

On Climate Insight situational vulnerability is one of the themes or dimensions of the Social Vulnerability Index relating to variations in socio-demographic conditions in the areas of housing and education, while taking into account other demographic characteristics.

Social Vulnerability Index

In general, a Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) is an empirical tool that combines variables to measure the relative susceptibility of a specific subset of the population within a defined geographical boundary. A SVI combines the socio-economic variables that either directly or indirectly impact an individual’s or household’s vulnerability using proxy data. The analysis results in numerical scores, which are categorized into 1-5 levels. (Reference: Partners for Action. (2024). Inclusive resilience: A socio-economic vulnerability index(SoVI) to map flood risk for targeted communications and disaster risk reduction. Waterloo, Ontario: University of Waterloo.)

On Climate Insight the Social Vulnerability Index represents the Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD). This index consists of variables such as income, newcomer status, age, home ownership, etc. and is taken from Statistics Canada data.

The CIMD is based on four dimensions of deprivation, which have been included as additional standalone and with climate data in bivariate layers on the map.

These additional dimensional layers are:

• Residential instability
• Economic dependency
• Ethno-cultural composition
• Situational vulnerability

See the specific definitions for each of these terms and the Data and Methodology page for more information.

Solid Waste

Fixed infrastructure and assets used to manage, sort, collect, store and dispose of municipally generated waste. Excludes fleet assets and the physical buildings that house operations.

Examples: garbage cans, landfills, incinerators, recycling or composting facilities

Stormwater Infrastructure

Any asset that supports the transport and management or treatment of runoff water from rain or snow to redirect it to either local waterways, storage and retention, or a wastewater treatment plant.

Thermal Efficiency

Any option involving reducing energy losses with improved thermal efficiency (includes building envelope, process heat, etc.)

Tightly Scoped Risk Assessment

A tightly scoped risk assessment approach is one where the assessment is carried out with a given thematic or focus area (eg. a specific asset, asset class, service area, or entire system) or one which is focused on a single hazard category. Generally faster to complete than a comprehensive risk assessment as the number of climate parameters and individuals needed to be involved are limited.

Tools and Guides

This category of content includes the following types of guidance:

1. Technical and content support in the form of guidance documents, survey results, literature reviews, software, calculators, GIS programs, reference documents/databases, research papers on climate and infrastructure.
2. Industry and International Standards/Best Practices from professional associations, non-accredited certifications.

Transportation

An infrastructure type/asset class that includes all non-mobile infrastructure enabling the transport of people or goods from one location to another. On Climate Insight, this excludes public transit and fleet vehicles.

Examples: roads, highways, bridges, lights, signals, road construction, bus stops, EV charging stations

Usable Space

The amount of space not already fully dedicated to other uses. This could include open unlandscaped areas on the project site, or could make use of areas that are part of the structure, but could support additional development or equipment.

Vulnerability

The tendency of exposed elements such as human beings, their livelihoods, and assets to suffer adverse effects when impacted by hazard events.

Wastewater Infrastructure

Any asset that supports the transport and treatment of water that has been used in residential, commercial, or industrial processes.

Water

An infrastructure type/asset class that includes facilities used to treat, transport, process, monitor or test potable water, stormwater, and wastewater.

Examples: Sewage pipes (combined and separate), receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations

Wildfire

A wildfire is a hazard that is an unwanted, unplanned, and uncontrolled fire burning in a natural area (eg. Prairie, forest). The cause may be natural or human. If not put out, it may affect industrial, residential, and cultural landscapes.

Zone

A large area that encompasses the whole or a significant portion of the community including options that apply to the asset, the site, and the local area.