November 16, 2007—Architects, designers and end users will now have a standard to identify carpets that have a reduced environmental impact.
The first multi-attribute American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved Standard—NSF 140-2007, Sustainable Carpet Assessment Standard for environmentally preferable building materials—was introduced at Greenbuild 2007.
The unified Standard for sustainable carpet is voluntary, inclusive, and based on life cycle assessment (LCA) principles, with three levels of achievement attaining various levels of reduced environmental impact (silver, gold and platinum). By defining environmental, social and economic performance requirements, the standard provides benchmarks for continual improvement and innovation within the building industry.
The Standard includes an easy-to-use rating system with established performance requirements and quantifiable metrics throughout the supply chain for:
- Public Health and Environment (PHE)
- Energy and Energy Efficiency (EN)
- Biobased or recycled materials (MATLS)
- Manufacturing (MFG); and
- Reclamation and end of life management (EOL)
A Joint Committee under the guidance of NSF International, a not-for-profit, ANSI-accredited public health organization, developed the new standard through a documented consensus process. The first carpet products certified to the approved NSF 140-2007 Standard are expected to be available in the marketplace by the second quarter of 2008.
Currently, 18 carpet products are certified to the California Gold Sustainable Carpet Standard, and an additional 11 products are certified to the NSF 140 Draft Standard. For more information on NSF 140-2007, Sustainable Carpet Assessment Standard, see the Web site.
NSF International, an independent, not-for-profit organization, certifies products and writing standards for food, water and consumer goods. The Carpet and Rug Institute is the source for science-based information and insight into how carpet and rugs can create a better environment for living, working, learning and healing.
