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What Does It Mean?
There is still a lot of confusion in the marketplace regarding environmental certifications. Do you know how to accurately answer when asked about LEED certification, GreenGuard, SCS, etc. certifications on behalf of HPFI? It happens pretty much every week that we are asked about whether we meet one of these certifications. |
What are LEED, GreenGuard and SCS?
1) LEED - Products can NOT be LEED certified. Only a complete building project can be LEED certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. Can HPFI products contribute LEED points towards a project seeking certification? Yes! We are currently documenting all of the areas that we can contribute points.
2) GreenGuard is a registered trademark for a company marketing their own emissions testing labs. GreenGuard is only concerned with the emissions (off-gassing ) of chemicals from finished goods. It has nothing to do with recycled content, recyclability or landfill diversion. A GreenGuard certification will show that you meet ANSI/BIFMA 7.1 test standards addressed into the BIFMA e3 standard.
3) SCS is one of the six organizations that is authorized by BIFMA to perform third-party certification of furniture manufacturers to the e3 standard. SCS utilizes other companies' labs to conduct the emissions (ANSI/BIFMA 7.1) testing that are marketed as SCS Indoor Advantage and Indoor Advantage Gold. |
What Path Is HPFI Taking?
HPFI is utilizing the ANSI/BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustainability Standard (level®) published in 2008. This standard is multi-attribute and encompasses several areas of environmental concerns from four major categories - Materials, Energy & Atmosphere, Human & Ecosystem Health and Social Responsibility.
HPFI has a "Green Team" that meets weekly to assess and document our achievement toward the standard. This standard has been commonly called the level program as there are three different levels of achievement. At present, we have (internally) documented 36 total (6 product) points for the chair plant products and 35 total (5 product) points for the desk plant products. The first level for which you can be certified is at 32 points. Level II is 45 points and Level III is 63 points. Our long-term goal is to achieve level II, but we have a way to go. We hope to begin the process of level II (third party) certification by the end of calendar 2011. |
