ATLANTA – The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) recently announced that all flooring and building insulation products certified to the stringent GREENGUARD Children & SchoolsSM standard can earn valuable LEED® credits across multiple building rating systems.
These approvals increase the availability of qualified sustainable flooring and insulation products. Currently, there are more than 10,000 flooring products certified including hardwoods, laminates, rubber, stone, ceramic, and cushions that can earn credit EQ 4.3.
More than 15,000 building insulations are certified including rolled and loose filled materials, acoustic batts, spray foams, and mechanical products such as HVAC duct liners, boards and flexible ducts. Specific LEED credits for insulation depend on each specific LEED rating system being used. All GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality- and GREENGUARD Children & Schools-certified products can be found in the online product guide at www.greenguard.org. Products are searchable by manufacturer and insulation or flooring type. Printable certificates for each certified product are available for verification and easy submission in the LEED process.
"GEI is privileged to provide a third-party certification program which encourages manufacturers to verify their products for low-chemical emissions," says Dr. Marilyn Black, founder of GEI. "These approvals will not only increase the availability of sustainable flooring and insulation options, but further promote the importance of protecting building occupants' health and well being."
GEI's mission is to protect the indoor air quality of commercial buildings, homes, schools, and health care facilities by certifying construction materials and furnishings for their low, non-toxic emissions that would otherwise pollute the air we breathe. The Children & Schools standard, introduced in 2005, is the most stringent GEI standard and is designed to protect the youngest occupant. Certified products are screened for more than 12,000 different chemicals.
Currently, more than 130 different manufacturers participate in the GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certification Program which requires extensive initial qualification testing followed by ongoing verification. Approximately 30 percent of these manufacturers represent flooring and insulation products. All products must meet, as a minimum, the health-based chronic exposure levels of CA 01350 and 1/100th of any existing occupational health standard. All products must meet these emissions criteria within seven days of installation in a building. This assures building occupants, including remodelers, that new products brought into indoor spaces quickly meet acceptable chemical emission levels.
There are currently more than 200,000 GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality- and GREENGUARD Children & Schools-certified products available. For a complete list, visit the online guide at www.greenguard.org.
About USGBC
The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit membership organization whose vision is a sustainable built environment within a generation. Its membership includes corporations, builders, universities, government agencies, and other nonprofit organizations. Since USGBC's founding in 1993, the Council has grown to nearly 18,000 member companies and organizations, a comprehensive family of LEED® green building certification systems, an expansive educational offering, the industry's popular Greenbuild International Conference and Expo (www.greenbuildexpo.org), and a network of 78 local chapters, affiliates and organizing groups. For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.
About GEI
Founded in 2001, GEI is an industry-independent, nonprofit organization that oversees the GREENGUARD Certification ProgramSM . The Institute's mission is to protect human health and quality of life through programs that improve the indoor air people breathe. As an ANSI-accredited standards developer, GEI establishes acceptable indoor air standards for building materials, interior products, electronic equipment, indoor environments and buildings. The more than 200,000 GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality- and GREENGUARD Children & Schools-certified products meet stringent, third-party standards for low-chemical emissions based on established health guidelines. These products also pass rigorous testing and verification processes on a regular basis. The GREENGUARD Certification Program is broadly recognized and accepted by a number of "green" building programs, including the United States Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED program. An online guide of all certified products is available at no charge at www.greenguard.org.
