September 21, 2007—The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) International has announced formal American National Standard Institute (ANSI) approval and release of the following two standards for volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from office furniture:
- ANSI/BIFMA M7.1-2007: Standard Test Method for Determining VOC Emissions from Office Furniture Systems, Components and Seating, and
- ANSI/BIFMA X7.1-2007: Standard for Formaldehyde and TVOC Emissions of Low-emitting Office Furniture Systems and Seating.
These voluntary national standards provide manufacturers, specifiers and users with a basis for characterizing the initial release of various airborne chemicals emitted from a furniture workstation and seating.
M7.1 contains detailed information regarding product sample selection and handling, the testing methods, air sample collection, and so forth, while X7.1 includes the conformance criteria defining “low-emitting” product.
The ANSI/BIFMA Furniture Emissions Standards have been adopted by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) as part of the LEED for Commercial Interiors rating system, the Scientific Certification Systems Indoor Advantage program, the NSF International indoor air quality certification program, and partially adopted by the Greenguard Environmental Institute.
For more information, see the BIFMA Web site.
