by Brianna Crandall — July 25, 2014—Schools, districts and design teams seeking healthy or environmentally friendly building materials can now look for a new eco-logo to guide purchasing choices. The national nonprofit Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS), headquartered in Sacramento, California, is introducing the CHPS PRODUCT logo to identify building materials and products that meet healthy and green building materials standards.
Through the High Performance Products Database, CHPS helps designers, specifiers, facilities decision-makers and third-party reviewers to easily access high-quality, vetted information about high-performance products. The CHPS PRODUCT Logo provides a label that users can rely on to show compliance with materials’ standards required by the CHPS Criteria and other green building systems.
“Our goal to is offer a label that consumers can easily identify and rely on when looking for products that meet the most rigorous health and sustainability standards in the market,” said Bill Orr, Executive Director of CHPS. “The CHPS PRODUCT logo will help consumers to easily identify products that will improve their classrooms and environmental footprint.”
Popular environmental and health attributes for products include low-emitting materials, materials with recycled content, and products made with rapidly renewable materials. Other accepted product standards include standards for certified wood, mercury reduction, and life-cycle impact declarations.
Schools, districts and design teams can use the CHPS High Performance Products Database to download certifications and lab results; verify compliance for green rating system projects like the CHPS Criteria, LEED Version 4, and the California Green Building Code (CALGreen); and get up-to-date company and sales contact information, all at no cost.
“We want to help connect consumers to products with the attributes they are looking for,” said Orr. “The CHPS database offers products that are clearly and accurately represented, saving schools, districts and design teams time and money during the product selection and green building documentation process.”
The CHPS Product Logo is available for use by manufacturers on products that are currently listed in the CHPS High Performance Product Database based on lab testing results, third-party certification, or CHPS self-certification forms for Low-Emitting Materials and Recycled Content. For guidance on using the logo and what products are eligible, download the CHPS Guide: Use of the Collaborative for High Performance Schools Name and Logos.
The CHPS High Performance Products Database was developed in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. Building materials manufacturers can manage their products and attributes in the CHPS Product Database, including adding and modifying product attributes, adding and renewing product listings, and managing company and sales contacts.
