Commercial and Institutional Consumption of Energy Survey (CICES), December 2005

Appendix C
Glossary

Diesel: All grades of low-sulphur (lower than 0.05 percent) distillate fuel used for diesel engines.

Electricity: A form of energy emanating from electric charges at rest or in movement.

Energy intensity: Total amount of energy used by a group of establishments, divided by the total floor area of the same group.

Energy source: Type of energy source or fuel used by an establishment. For the purposes of this survey, data were collected on the use of electricity, natural gas, heavy fuel oil, diesel, other middle distillates, propane, steam and wood.

Establishment: The establishment is the statistical unit used for survey purposes. In the case of colleges and universities, the establishment is the campus. In the case of hospitals, it is the entire set of facilities of the hospital complex. For all other activity sectors, it is the enterprise. An establishment may include more than one building.

Floor area: Total floor area, excluding indoor parking and mechanical rooms of all buildings of an establishment, indicated in square metres.

Gigajoule (GJ): One gigajoule equals 1 x 10⁹ joules. A joule is the international unit for measuring energy and corresponds to the energy produced by a power of one watt flowing for one second.

Heavy fuel oil: All grades of residual type fuels, including low-sulphur fuels, used mainly for steam and electric power generation and diesel motors. Includes fuel oil grade nos. 4, 5 and 6.

Natural gas: A mixture of hydrocarbons containing mainly methane with small quantities of various gaseous hydrocarbons or hydrocarbons dissolved in crude oil, found in underground deposits.

North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS): A classification system that categorizes establishments into groups with similar economic activities. The structure of NAICS, adopted by Statistics Canada in 1997 to replace the 1980 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, was developed by the statistical agencies of Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Other middle distillates: Includes light fuel oil (nos. 1, 2 and 3), kerosene, mineral lamp oil, home fuel, gas oils and light industrial fuel.

Private dwelling: A structurally separate set of living premises with a private entrance from outside the building or from a common hallway or stairway inside, such as a single-family house or apartment.

Propane: A normally gaseous straight-chain hydrocarbon extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams. It can also take a liquid form.

Steam: A gas resulting from the vaporization of a liquid or the sublimation of a solid, generated by condensing or non-condensing turbines.

Wood: Includes round wood (sold by the cord), lignin, wood scraps (chips) from furniture and window frame manufacturing, bark, sawdust, forestry residues, charcoal and pulp waste.