Enviropundit: Green Building Blog

Third Party Green Product Certification

LEED buildings are designed to be energy efficient, to be environmentally friendly, and also to provide better conditions inside for the occupants. One of the primary ways of accomplishing the last two of these goals is through product selection. However, the USGBC evaluates the entire building, not individual products; they proscribe the goals through a point system, and leave it to the designers to meet those goals. In order for a designer to meet those goals, they need to chose from many different products with many different claims.

This is where third party certification comes in:

The certification of a specific product or process that is performed by an organization independent from those who produce the product or process. Certification is often used to substantiate the environmental attributes of specific products (such as the percentage of recycled content) or processes (such as a sustainable harvesting operation for forests).

It is not mandatory for a product to be certified, but trusted agencies can save the designer a good deal of time and effort in the design process. Designers who cannot find a suitable, certified building product can follow the same guidelines, as shown at either the The Natural Step, Green Blue, and Building Green.

A general list of qualities of green products are:

• They promote good indoor air quality (typically through reduced emissions of VOCs and/or formaldehyde);


• They are durable, and have low maintenance requirements;


• They incorporate recycled content (post-consumer and/or post-industrial);


• They have been salvaged from existing or demolished buildings for reuse;


• They are made using natural and/or renewable resources;


• They have low "embodied energy" (the energy required to produce and transport materials);


• They do not contain CFCs, HCFCs or other ozone depleting substances;


• They do not contain highly toxic compounds, and their production does not result in highly toxic by-products;


• They are obtained from local resources and manufacturers;


• For wood or bio-based products, they employ "Sustainable Harvesting" practices;


• They can be easily reused (either whole or through disassembly);


• They can be readily recycled (preferably in a closed-loop recycling system);


• They are biodegradable.

Some agencies involved in certification are:
Certified Forest Products Council (CFPC)
Forest Stewardship Council United States (FSC)
Scientific Certification Systems (SCS)
Smart Wood
Carpet & Rug Institute's Green Label Plus
Energy Star
Green Guard
Green Seal
State of California's Section 01350
Unified Sustainable Textile Standard
Green Building Products
Building Green Suite
Green Spec Directory

See also Green Home Guide.

| Jacqui |