Designers are Drowning in Sea of Environmental Products, Labels & Standards

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• On: 01/04/2010 11:48:21
• In: Sustainability Practice Group
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Make an inquiry to a manufacturer, and “what we get is a letter saying, ‘trust me,’” explained Michael Fuller, CSI, CDT, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, who led the December meeting of CSI’s Sustainability Practice Group.

Download the presentation (PPT) from this meeting.

The next meeting of the Sustainability Practice Group is scheduled for 3-4pm ET, Tuesday, Jan. 26. The group meets by webinar and is free. Join the group!

Owners, designers, contractors, and manufacturers know less than you might think about how to select green products and what constitutes a green product, Fuller said. Just ask one the difference between “organic” and “sustainable.”  In a study, nearly 50% of the general public didn’t know the difference, and construction professionals aren’t much different in their experience with these terms.

Designers are also considering more than just the green attributes of a product when they make a choice. He offered the example of recycled content, which is important in LEED, but is one of many factors a design team considers when picking a product. They want the one that works in the project, and that remains green even when it’s part of a system or assembly.

“Recycled content is a data point,” Fuller said. “No one would pick a product based on that alone -- that's usually not the criteria by which you select a product."

The construction team has to be clear about what the goals are for the project, what the definition of “sustainable” is for the project, and most important, what that eco-friendly label on a material really means and how it affects the rest of the project.

All labels are not created equal, Fuller said. ISO defines three types of seals:

• Type I – Seal of approval
  • For meeting a multi-attribute set of predetermined requirements
  • Based on life cycle data
  • Requires 3rd party validation
  • Used for comparison 
• Type II– Verifiable (self declared or 3rd party certified) single attribute claims
  • Recycled content
  • Energy consumption
• Type III – Display comprehensive and detailed product information
  • Environmental Declaration
  • Requires 3rd party validation
    

The Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement of the rules that define these types has been lax since 2000, which is the year the last enforcement action took place. However, there’s indication that the today’s FTC will be more attentive. Kmart, Tender Corp., and Dyna-E International faced charges in June 2009 about disposable plates, moist wipes, and compressed dry towels claimed to be biodegradable, and Sami Designs, CSE, and Pure Bamboo, LLC faced charges in August 2009 about rayon clothing purportedly made from “100% bamboo fibers.”

The FTC is now considering revisions to its Green Guides to better reflect what consumers know about sustainability. Key areas of concern include:

• Definition, “renewable,” “sustainable,” and “recycling”
• Standards for “seals” and “labels”
• Establish standards for life cycle assessments
• Definition of terms “environmentally friendly”, “green”, “biodegradability”…etc.
  

“This is important because products behave differently under different environments,” Fuller said.

CSI has already waded into this discussion with GreenFormat, a web-based CSI format that allows manufacturers to accurately report the sustainability properties of their products. It provides designers, constructors and building operators with basic information to help meet green requirements. It helps bridge the communication gap between manufacturers who are trying to fairly and honestly describe their products and designers who are trying to solve a particular problem in a project.

“GreenFormat is one of the resources I use to help me decide on product selection,” said specifier Ross Spiegel, FCSI, Lifetime Member, CCS, CCCA, LEED AP, FAIA. “The way it is organized and the information that is in it makes it very useful."

He explained that the products listed in GreenFormat end up “at the top of the heap” when he’s looking for a solution because GreenFormat makes them so accessible.

CSI is now working with the EPA  and GreenBlue to form the Green Building Products Coalition. The goal is help the “building products manufacturing supply chain promote, support, and implement an ambitious vision for materials, products, systems, and supply chains that are optimized to:”

• Benefit individuals and communities throughout their life cycle
• Meet market criteria for performance, cost, and regulatory compliance
• Encourage sustainable rates of resource consumption
• Maximize the use of renewable energy, clean production technologies and best practices
• Use materials appropriate for all probable use and end-of-life scenarios
• Recover embodied materials, energy, and value
• Enhance the sustainability of broader systems
  

Demand for greener, more responsible building products continues to increase, driven in part by rating system demands, Fuller explained. But the building products supply chain does not have a credible open forum in which to discuss, define, and reach consensus on the ways in which product-level innovation supports system-level sustainability.

"We think there's a demand for this,” he said. “We think it’s important industry members are part of this discussion. They have a lot to contribute to this.”

"There's so much activity out there that manufacturers are having a hard time keeping up with everything coming at them,” said CSI Professional & Technical Services Director Roger Grant, CSI, “We need a clearinghouse."

The next meeting of the Sustainability Practice Group is scheduled for 3-4pm ET,  Tuesday, Jan. 26. The group meets by webinar and is free. Join the group!