by Shane Henson — July 4, 2011—UL Environment Inc., a source for independent green claims validation, product certification, training, advisory services and standards development, is able to help building products qualify for the recently released Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Pilot Credit 43, Certified Products. Qualified products evaluated by UL Environment can contribute extra innovation points toward LEED certification.
The recently released pilot credit, which serves as a “trial run” credit before its formal adoption into the LEED rating system, rewards LEED projects for using products whose life cycles, ingredients, and other environmental attributes are high performing and more transparent. UL Environment’s Sustainable Product Certification, Environmental Claims Validation, and Environmental Product Declarations can now enable manufacturers to meet this requirement. UL’s affiliate program run by Terrachoice in Canada, the EcoLogo program, also qualifies.
To achieve the new pilot credit, LEED projects must demonstrate that, based on value, at least 10 percent of non-structural products meet one of the following requirements:
- have environmental claims verified by a third party,
- are certified to third-party multi-attribute performance standards, or
- are accompanied by a life cycle assessment report or a third-party verified Environmental Product Declaration.
Among the non-structural product types that qualify under the new pilot credit are gypsum board, doors, insulation, heating and cooling systems, hot water tanks, office furniture and panel systems, sealants, caulking, adhesives, carpet, tile, and other flooring—all of which have a UL Environment or EcoLogo sustainability standard. Several additional product standards, including ceiling tiles and luminaires, are under development and expected to be released later this year.
Swinging doors will also be eligible for pilot credit qualification with UL Environment’s recently announced UL ISR 102, which establishes sustainability certification criteria for doors that are meant to swing, hang or glide.
See also “UL Environment releases sustainability standard for swinging doors” on FMLink.
