LEED and WELL Product Labels: A Guide and Analysis

SPOTLIGHT REPORT

Editors

Paula Melton Editorial Director

Brent Ehrlich

Nadav Malin

Alex Wilson

Graphic Design

Amie Walter

Julia Eva Bacon

Cover Photo

The Phenomenology fabric collection from Teknion Photo: Teknion

About BuildingGreen

BuildingGreen, Inc is an independent consultancy committed to providing accurate, unbiased, and timely guidance to help building industry professionals and policy makers improve the environmental performance of buildings and reduce their adverse impacts.

We offer consulting, training, facilitation, and online resources to help our customers design and build from a whole-systems perspective. Our integrated design approach minimizes ecological impact and maximizes economic performance.

Readers of this guide are eligible for continuing education credits from the AIA and GBCI. To claim your credits, take the quiz at www.buildinggreen.com/spotlight/labels

Published by BuildingGreen, Inc.122 Birge St., Suite 30Brattleboro, Vermont 05301©2019 BuildingGreen, Inc. All rights reserved.

LEED and WELL Product Labels: A Guide and Analysis

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Image: Interface

Many Interface carpet products are covered by environmental product declarations.

LEED and WELL Product Labels: A Guide and AnalysisWhat’s up with all the programs encouraged by LEED and WELL? Learn the essentials—plus what’s behind the labels.

By Paula Melton

A seal of approval is a useful guide. It lets you know at a glance that a product meets a trusted source’s standards for performance. But in a sea of logos, any particular program becomes harder to discern and understand.

LEED and WELL encourage a number of different product standards, certifi-cations, and disclosures—so many that it’s easy to forget some or get them con-fused. Organized by credit, this report covers product labels referenced in LEED v4 and v4.1 for Building Design and Construction, and WELL v1 and v2. It will help you get your bearings while also offering an analysis of each pro-gram.

Read through from beginning to end, or use these links to jump to the program you’re looking for:

BIFMA e3 (material transparency)

BIFMA e3 (product VOC emissions)

Cradle to Cradle Certification

Cradle to Cradle Material Health Certificate

CDPH Standard Method

Declare

Environmental product declaration

Facts Certification

FloorScore

Forest Stewardship Council certification

Green Label Plus

Greenguard

GreenScreen

Health Product Declaration

Indoor Advantage

Intertek Clean Air

Living Product Challenge

Manufacturer inventory

MAS Certified Green

NSC 373 standard (stone)

NSF 332 standard (resilient flooring)

Product Lens

VOC content standards (CARB and SCAQMD rules)

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LEED Credit: Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Environmental Product DeclarationsThis LEED v4 credit offers up to two points for projects that include products with environmental product declara-tions, or EPDs. The EPDs accepted for the credit have to meet certain interna-tional standards, with information veri-fied by a neutral third party. To meet the requirements of Option 1, project teams have to gather 20 qualifying EPDs from at least five different manufacturers.

Environmental product declarationThe term “environmental product dec-laration” comes from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and is short for “Type III Environmental Product Declaration.” The ISO standard defines how the information must be presented. It’s all about how it’s manu-factured, not how it performs. It’s im-portant to keep in mind that the mere existence of an EPD does not mean a product is environmentally preferable.

EPDs for LEED come in two varieties: industry wide, which is an average mea-surement for a whole product category from multiple manufacturers, and prod-uct specific, which applies to a specific product or group of products from a sin-gle manufacturer.

Format

An EPD is not an at-a-glance tool. Though it’s a summary of a full life-cycle assess-ment (LCA), it’s typically more than ten pages long and is divided into sections that are dictated by the ISO standards that govern how the information must be displayed. These sections include:

• product description

• material content (an ingredient list)

• product manufacturing (diagrams and flow charts showing how the product is put together)

• use stage (information about environ-mental impacts during use)

• end of life (a discussion of how the product is typically disposed of)

• life-cycle assessment results (tables and descriptions of the original LCA research on which the EPD is based)

There should also be a section or sections describing who verified the data, which ISO standards were followed, and other information that may be important to ensuring the EPD meets LEED criteria.

Who’s behind the standards

As the LEED credit language indicates, in order to be eligible for the credit, EPDs have to meet certain ISO standards. ISO is an international standard-setting body that supports a consensus pro-cess characterized by openness and due process.

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Offers in-depth data reporting Long; is not an at-a-glance tool

Is governed by robust international standards May contain marketing language

Includes embodied carbon information Can be difficult for laypeople to interpret

Is easy to find in product databases Is not typically suitable for apples-to-apples comparisons

Environmental Product Declaration: Pro & Con

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What EPDs measure

As a summary of an LCA, an EPD may report on a number of environmental attributes. The most common—and the ones relevant to LEED—are:

• global warming potential

• depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer

• acidification of land and water sources

• eutrophication

• formation of tropospheric ozone (smog)

• depletion of nonrenewable energy resources

Where to look for EPDs

You shouldn’t have to ask a manufactur-er to send you an EPD: the LEED rules require that they be publicly available in order to count toward the credit. Many are published on manufacturer websites, but they can also be found in sustainable product databases. Here are a few places to search for EPDs:

• ASTM International EPD page

• ICC Evaluation Services EPD Directory

• NSF International EPD Listings

• SCS Global Services Certified Green Products Guide

• UL Spot

Learn more

What’s an EPD? Environmental Product Declaration FAQs

EPD Quick-Start Guide: Five Easy Steps (Infographic)

The Product Transparency Movement: Peeking Behind the Corporate Veil

Where Environmental Product Declara-tions Come From (Infographic)

How to Read an EPD: 7 Tips from the Field (Video primer)

LEED Credit: Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Sourcing of Raw MaterialsThis LEED credit rewards projects up to two points for 1) reporting on the source, location, and sustainability of raw material extraction or harvesting, or 2) demonstrating environmental-ly preferable extraction or harvesting practices. Under LEED v4, the reporting option is not viable because only one industry has met the requirements, so there are not 20 different products from five manufacturers that can do so.

NSC 373: Sustainable Production of Natural Dimension StoneThe Sustainable Production of Natural Dimension Stone standard is the only framework that counts toward Option 1 of the sourcing credit under LEED v4. (Note that in the LEED v4.1 draft, Option 1 has been removed.) It does not count toward Option 2. In order to qualify, a quarry must meet credit 7.2.1 (Ecosystem Boundaries) or 7.2.2 (Environmental Impact Assessment) of NSC 373, and the scorecard has to be publicly available.

Who’s behind NSC 373

The Natural Stone Council (NSC) created NSC 373 in 2014 to help stone quarries track and disclose their sustainability ac-tivities. NSC calls itself “the united voice of the stone industry” and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The standard was developed using a consensus pro-cess overseen by NSF International.

What it assesses

The program examines such sustainabil- ity indicators as transportation energy (the source of stone’s greatest environ-mental impact), water use, site manage- ment, chemical and waste management,

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and health and safety. NSC 373 includes both a quarry certification and a chain- of-custody component.

Where to look for certified products

NSC’s sustainability page lists the quar-ries and products that meet the stan-dard.

Learn more

Stone, the Original Green Building Material

Stone Certification Recognized in LEED v4, Living Buildings

NSF Certification Verifies Sustainability of Stone

Image:Coldspring

Coldspring’s Milbank Quarry has achieved the Gold level of the NSC 373 certification for sustainable stone.

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Counts toward Option 1 of the Sourcing of Raw Materials credit

Does not count toward Option 2 of the Sourcing of Raw Materials credit

Reduces major environmental impacts of natural stone May come with a cost premium

Focuses on life-cycle issues like transportation energy May not be affordable for smaller quarries

NSC 373: Pro & Con

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Sustainable Agriculture StandardThe Sustainable Agriculture Standard is referenced in LEED v4 as a way to ver-ify that biobased products come from sustainably harvested raw materials. Unfortunately, there are currently no building materials (aside from wood products, which must be certified under a different framework) that meet the standard.

Biobased materials also have to be test-ed under ASTM D6866, which simply identifies biobased content.

Who’s behind the standard

Created by the Sustainable Agriculture Network, the Sustainable Agriculture Standard is now licensed by Rainforest Alliance, an international environmen-tal non-government organization (NGO).

What the standard assesses

Factors considered in the Sustainable Agriculture Standard include soil ero-sion, water consumption and pollution, waste, habitat protection, pesticide use, and working conditions.

The standard includes a farm certifica-tion and a chain-of-custody certification.

Where to look for certified products

Rainforest Alliance offers a database of it's certified products. As mentioned,

however, the only building materials in this database are wood products, which must meet Forest Stewardship Council certification rather than the Sustainable Agriculture Standard.

Learn more

Biobased Materials: Not Always Greener

Biobased PVC? Take Vinyl Industry Claims with a Grain of Salt

USDA Biobased Label Identifies Farm-Grown Content

Forest Stewardship CouncilFor wood products, the Forest Steward Council (FSC) certification is the stan-dard to meet (but see the sidebar for some nuances). FSC represents one of the “leadership extraction practices” that demonstrate better ways of acquir-ing raw materials. To achieve the point, project teams need to demonstrate that at least 25% of products meet one of the leadership extraction criteria.

Who’s behind FSC certification

The international Forest Stewardship Council is a nonprofit NGO founded in 1994. With input from its members, which include forestry companies and environmental groups, FSC Internation-al develops responsible forestry stan-dards that are then adapted by national FSC offices to take regional differences into account.

Legal Wood and LEED

FSC was the only wood certifica-tion accepted by LEED for many years. That changed in 2016, when LEED introduced a pilot al-ternative compliance path (ACP) called “Legal Wood” that allows other frameworks.

Although the ACP’s name refer-ences legality, the fine print de-fines three tiers of compliance: legal, responsible, and certified. In LEED v4, 100% of the wood on the project has to be from legal sources, and 70% has to be from “responsible sources.” “Respon-sible,” as defined by the refer-enced standard, ASTM D7612, comes down to sourcing from the U.S. or Canada. Certification to various standards aside from FSC also qualifies the products to be considered responsible. Some NGOs have argued that this was a back-door way for other forestry certification sys-tems to enter LEED without the change having to be balloted; they have proposed an alterna-tive prerequisite that addresses legal wood.

INSIGHT

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Is a rigorous environmental certification: the gold standard Comes with a cost premium

Takes social equity and indigenous peoples’ rights into account

Has an “FSC Mix” certification that is less robust and transparent

Involves robust on-the-ground auditing and strict enforcement

Requires time-consuming cross-checking to ensure chain-of-custody requirements are met

FSC Certification: Pro & Con

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What FSC assesses

FSC forestry standards weigh in on a number of issues, including:

• pesticide use

• protection of old-growth forest

• protection of endangered and protected species

• maintenance of natural ecological systems

• prevention of deforestation

• protection of the rights of indigenous peoples

FSC also has a chain-of-custody certifica-tion to help ensure that certified prod-ucts are tracked properly throughout the supply chain.

Where to look for FSC-certified products

You can use the FSC database find man-ufacturers or to verify an FSC claim (in-structions can be found here).

Learn more

Certified Wood: How SFI Compares to FSC

What These Forestry Labels Really Mean (Infographic)

FSC, LEED, and the Price of Perfect- ionism (Op-ed)

LEED Pilots Legal Wood, Expansion of Certified Wood

FSC to Use Forensics to Uncover Criminal Forestry Practices

LEED Credit: Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Material Ingredients

WELL v1 Optimization: Material Transparency

WELL v1 Optimization: Enhanced Material Safety

WELL v2 Optimization: Enhanced Material Precaution

WELL v2 Optimization: Material TransparencyWe know what’s in our food and even in our health and beauty products, but building materials have remained a mystery despite our close contact with them on a daily basis. Many health ad-vocates have been pushing for building product manufacturers to release more information about what’s in their prod-ucts.

To incentivize such disclosures, both LEED and WELL encourage products with a publicly available ingredient list. Both also have ways of incentivizing products that are “optimized” in terms of chemical content. The two rating sys-tems are well aligned, although WELL v2 adds an optimization option—the Living Product Challenge—not available in WELL v1 or LEED.

BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustainability StandardThe BIFMA e3 standard and the associ-ated BIFMA “level” certification are a way for manufacturers of office and in-stitutional furniture to distinguish their products. To count toward the LEED Material Ingredients credit and WELL Material Transparency optimization, products have to meet specific parts of the standard.

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Who’s behind e3

The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA), a 501(c)(6) trade association founded in 1973, created the e3 standard in 2010 to assess the sustainability of office furni-ture. The group formed a Joint Commit-tee on Furniture Sustainability in 2006 to develop the standard using the ANSI consensus process, with support from NSF International.

What BIFMA e3 assesses

This is a multi-attribute standard look-ing at everything from social respon-sibility to recycled content to energy use in manufacturing. But most of that doesn’t come into play for LEED and WELL. To be eligible here, manufactur-ers only need to demonstrate that the certified product earned at least three points under 7.5.1.3 Advanced Level in e3-2014 or three points under 7.4.1.3 Ad-vanced Level in e3-2012.

Those numbers represent optional cred-its in the standard that encourage man-ufacturers to track the constituents of their products. In the 2014 version, man-ufacturers have to identify and assess all chemical constituents down to 100 parts per million (ppm) for at least 90% of ma-terials in order to get three points, and meet the LEED and WELL requirements.

Where to look for level-certified products

BIFMA publishes a central database of level-certified products. The filters, however, don’t allow you to identify products meeting the LEED and WELL requirements.

Third-party level certifiers like UL and SCS Global also provide databases. UL’s Spot database can filter by building rating system, with search results that specify which credit requirements the product can meet. That second part is important because different credits of the BIFMA standard can also qual-ify products for the LEED v4 and v4.1 Low-Emitting Materials credit. In the end, you’re likely to have to ask furni-ture manufacturers to show you their BIFMA scorecards in order to verify that they meet the LEED and WELL require-ments.

Learn more

Office Furniture (Product Guide)

The Level on BIFMA’s Furniture Certification

Three Lounge Seating Manufacturers Keeping Pace with High BIFMA Standards

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Is a robust multi-attribute standard with a mechanism for third-party certification; level three is difficult to meet

Has few products available at level 3, the most difficult to achieve

Has its own rigorous VOC testing standard Does not require manufacturers to publish scorecards or material

ingredientsFocuses on materials and human health, which is vital for office furniture

BIFMA e3: Pro & Con

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Cradle to Cradle certificationCradle to Cradle (C2C) is a multi-attri-bute certification that looks at energy, water, social responsibility, and more. To be eligible for LEED and WELL rec-ognition for transparency, C2C products have to be certified at at least the Bronze level under C2C v3.

The bar is higher to be recognized for optimization—v3 Bronze (for WELL) or Silver (for LEED).

Who’s behind Cradle to Cradle

The C2C certification program grew out of the 2002 book Cradle to Cradle: Re-making the Way We Make Things, by Wil-liam McDonough and Michael Braun-gart. The two thought leaders’ company, called McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), developed the C2C program, which launched in 2005. A separate nonprofit, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2CPII), spun off from MBDC in 2010 as the ad-ministrator of the standard. MBDC and other consultants still work directly with manufacturers that are pursuing C2C certification, with C2CPII acting as the third-party verifier. The current standard is version 3.1.

What C2C assesses

C2C is a multi-attribute standard that assesses the following areas:

• material health

• material reutilization

• renewable energy and carbon management

• water stewardship

• social fairness

Continuous improvement and optimi-zation are also part of the certification: manufacturers must demonstrate a “good-faith effort” to continuously im-prove the product at every recertifica-tion period until it’s fully optimized. Al-though suppliers have to disclose their ingredients to the material assessor, there is no requirement that constitu-ents be publicly disclosed.

Where to look for C2C-certified products

C2CPII publishes a product registry. The registry can be filtered by LEED eligibil-ity.

Learn more about C2C

Cradle to Cradle Gains Independence: A First Look at the 3.0 Launch

The Problem with Red Lists

Cradle to Cradle Material Health CertificateThe C2C Material Health Certificate is a way for manufacturers to assess and

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Is a robust multi-attribute standard with a mechanism for third-party certification; Platinum level is nearly

impossible to achieveDoes not require material transparency

Has a rigorous screening and assessment process for product chemistry

Is expensive for manufacturers to pursue and achieveEncourages low-toxicity products that can be

recycled indefinitely

Requires continuous improvement

C2C Certification: Pro & Con

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disclose material health attributes of their products.

Format

Unlike many other material transparen-cy formats, the Material Health Certifi-cate does not list ingredients. Instead, it shows a percentage assessed, the “as-sessment rating” (how toxic the materi-als are based on the C2C material health standard), and a product optimization scale (showing the number of materials and how toxic they are).

Although primarily used by manufac-turers already working within the C2C framework, it is available to anyone; you don’t have to be C2C-certified to par-ticipate.

Who’s behind the Material Health Certificate

C2CPII is the nonprofit organization that develops this standard and releases the certificates.

Where to look for certificates

C2CPII offers an online Material Health Certificate registry, where certificates can be found and downloaded. The reg-istry can be filtered by LEED eligibility.

Learn more

The Great Transparent Elevator: Disclo-sure on the Rise for Conveying Systems

Declare labelThe Declare label is a material transpar-ency tool based on the Living Building Challenge Red List.

Note that only certain Declare labels count toward the LEED v4 requirements: for the product to be eligible, the label has to indicate that all ingredients have been evaluated and disclosed down to 1,000 ppm. In 4.1, this is only true for LBC Compliant labels; Red List Free and Declared labels are automatically okay.

A Declare label that’s either Living Build-ing Challenge Red List Free or Living Building Challenge Compliant counts toward the Optimized Materials optimi-zation in WELL v2.

Format of the label

The label includes information on man-ufacturing location, life expectancy, and end-of-life options. It has a central ingre-dient-disclosure component.

The label also includes information about whether it’s third-party verified and whether the product meets Living Building Challenge requirements.

Who’s behind Declare

The Declare standard and label are pro-grams of the International Living Fu-ture Institute—the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs the Living Building Challenge whole-building rating system. The label was first developed to help Living Build-ing Challenge project teams find prod-ucts, and that’s still its main focus. Re-cently, ILFI partnered with a third-party

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Is easy to read and interpret Does not include an ingredient list

Has a rigorous screening and assessment process for product chemistry

Breaks out a single attribute of a robust multi-attribute standard

C2C Material Health Certificate: Pro & Con

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verifier, Toxnot, to bring more credibil-ity to an otherwise self-reported claim.

What Declare screens for

Declare ingredients are screened against three red lists—the Living Building Chal-lenge Red List, chemicals targeted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s chemical action plan, and chemicals considered of “very high concern” in the European Union’s REACH program. Problematic substances show up in red or orange on the label, making them easy to identify.

Where to look for Declare labels

The International Living Future Insti-tute has a public database of Declare labels. Filters include a LEED v4 status search.

Learn more

Transparency Is the Secret Ingredient in “Declare” Products

Declare Labels—Now with Improved Data and Verification

Take Control of Your Materials: Four Empowering Lessons from Teams That Beat the Red List

Facts certificationFacts is a certification program for com-mercial textiles. To be eligible for LEED, products can be certified at any level un-der the program.

Who’s behind Facts

The Association of Contract Textiles (ACT) worked in partnership with the nonprofit GreenBlue and with the sup-port of NSF International to develop the standard that Facts is based on—NSF 336: Sustainability Assessment for Com-mercial Furnishings Fabric. It is a con-sensus-based ANSI standard developed over a five-year period and first pub-lished in 2011.

Image:Teknion

The Phenomenology fabric collection from Teknion is certified through the Facts program.

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Is easy to read and interpret Not a consensus-based standard

Discloses product contents Does not include some information found in other formats, like CAS

number—though some of this informa-tion is readily available in database

search results

Includes extra information like life expectancy, recyclability, and VOC screening

Declare Label: Pro & Con

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What Facts assesses

Facts is a multi-attribute system that looks at:

• fiber sourcing

• safety of materials

• water conservation

• water quality

• energy

• air quality

• recycling practices

• social accountability

It’s the “safety of materials” section that makes Facts relevant for LEED and WELL transparency options. Although disclosure of ingredients is not required (much like with C2C), the certification program has a prerequisite requiring manufacturers to identify and assess all product ingredients down to 1,000 ppm.

Where to look for Facts-certified products

SCS Global’s Certified Green Products Guide includes a Facts certification search. Individual manufacturers also have search functions for Facts-compli-ant products within their product offer-ings.

Learn more

Four Credible Certifications to Aid Contract Textile Selection

Textile Choices: Cleaner Options for Every Application

Three Ways to Find Sustainable Textiles, and Seven of the Best Brands

NSF 336 Sustainable Fabric Standard Now Final

Health Product DeclarationThe Health Product Declaration, or HPD, is way of disclosing product ingredients and their toxicity data.

Format of the HPD

The HPD is divided into sections. Section 1 is a summary, and Section 2 is the full ingredient list, which includes some-times-extensive explanations of each constituent, and its purpose and per-centage in the product. The other sec-tions include information about product certifications, accessories, and notes and references. Products can be assessed as “basic,” which is used for single-com-ponent products such as insulation, or “nested” which is used for complicated products such as furniture, where each component is different.

The summary page is generally suffi-cient for assessing whether the HPD complies with LEED and WELL require-ments, with the rest of the HPD provid-ing a useful tool for deeper scrutiny.

Who’s behind the HPD

The Health Product Declaration Collab-orative (HPDC) is a 501(c)(6) trade asso-ciation. It owns and develops the HPD Open Standard, which dictates how data must be presented on the HPD. (It’s an “open” standard because it’s available

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Has a rigorous material safety prerequisite

Does not require ingredient disclosureIs a robust multi-attribute standard with a mechanism for third-party certification; Platinum level is difficult to achieve

Facts Certification: Pro & Con

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under a Creative Commons license, meaning anyone can use or publish it as long as they comply with the license requirements.) HPDC recently released a companion standard that dictates how to verify the contents of an HPD, adding a third-party verification option to an otherwise self-reported claim.

Version 2.1.1 is the current iteration of the standard; the first version was cre-ated through the HPD Open Standard Working Group, a partnership between BuildingGreen (publisher of The Build-ingGreen Report) and the Healthy Build-ing Network. HPDC formed in 2012 to take over ownership and development of the standard just after version 1 was released.

What HPDs report

The heart of an HPD is its ingredient re-porting, which lists contents in descend-ing order of quantity. Some information that’s included for each constituent:

• CAS number (Chemical Abstracts Service Registry number, sometimes abbreviated CASRN)

• percentage in product by weight

• GreenScreen benchmark

• role in product

• hazards found and agencies with warnings about the substance

All this is summarized on page one and reported fully in Section 2.

The GreenScreen benchmark is an im-portant but often confusing detail. The

GreenScreen method is a way of identi-fying health and environmental hazards associated with a particular substance. Benchmark 1 is highly toxic (think lead), and Benchmark 4 is relatively benign (think water). Unfortunately, one of the more common benchmarks on an HPD is “LT-UNK,” which means that the chemical’s toxicity is unknown.

If the HPD meets certain GreenScreen benchmarks, it can make the product eligible for optimization credit for LEED and WELL. (See more on GreenScreen below.)

Where to look for HPDs

Many manufacturers publish their own HPDs on their websites, but the best place to search for them is in the central HPD Repository on the HPDC website. There is a filter for LEED eligibility. (Ver-sion 2.1 of the HPD also has a place to indicate whether it’s been pre-screened for LEED.)

Remember that you shouldn’t have to ask a manufacturer for an HPD: for LEED, it has to be publicly available to count toward the credit requirements.

Learn more

What’s an HPD? Health Product Declaration FAQs

Different Tools for Different Jobs: How HPDs Fit In

Will HPDs Get You Sued? Sage Advice to Keep You Out of Hot Water

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Is the leading tool for ingredient disclosure: the gold standard

Is complicated to read and interpret (and for manufacturers to navigate)

Is relatively inexpensive for manufacturers Does not currently have many third-party-verified documentsHas a mechanism for third-party verification

Health Product Declaration: Pro & Con

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Manufacturer inventoryThe manufacturer inventory is an alter-native to the HPD.

Who’s behind the manufacturer inventory

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) created the manufacturer inventory as a way for manufacturers to disclose in-gredients before the HPD was in wide-spread use.

What manufacturer inventories report

The manufacturer inventory is simi-lar to an HPD, with a few exceptions. It must include either each substance’s CAS number or its role, percentage, and hazard screening information.

The hazard screening can be done using the GreenScreen benchmark, as with the HPD, or manufacturers can choose to use the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chem-icals instead. This is the system behind the safety data sheet (SDS), meaning that, in theory, a complete enough SDS

could count toward the credit. It’s not typical for an SDS to include all ingredi-ents, though; it’s often just the hazard-ous ones. By contrast, a manufacturer inventory has to list them all down to 1,000 ppm.

Where to look for manufacturer inventories

There’s no central database of these doc-uments. You’ll have to find them on indi-vidual manufacturer websites.

Product LensProduct Lens is a hybrid of different screening and disclosure systems, and is a relative newcomer to the LEED and WELL transparency scene.

Format of Product LensMuch like an HPD, the document has a summary page and a more detailed con-stituent breakdown. The summary page includes a section on whether the prod-uct meets specific LEED requirements. Hazards are color coded from green (safer) to red (more toxic) to make them easily identifiable.

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Is relatively inexpensive for manufacturers

Has no mechanism for third-party verification

Has seen very little uptake, so few are available

Has no central database

Manufacturer Inventory: Pro & Con

PRO CON

Offers exposure-related information throughout the life cycle in addition to hazard markers

Has seen very little uptake, so few are available

Has a rigorous screening and assessment process for product chemistry

Is easy to read and interpret

Requires a third-party chemical assessment

Product Lens: Pro & Con

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

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Who’s behind Product Lens

Product Lens was created by Underwrit-ers Laboratories (UL)—the same con-sulting and certification company that deemed your desk lamp and toaster to be safe. (Learn more about UL in the Greenguard section of this report.)

What Product Lens reports

Unlike many other transparency frame-works, Product Lens goes beyond the issue of whether a product contains a hazardous chemical; it also looks at the associated risk that people may have by coming into contact with that chemical. It blends an HPD-style ingredient disclo-sure with the C2C assessment method- ology.

Where to look for Product Lens disclosures

You can search for products with Prod-uct Lens documentation on the UL Spot website.

Learn more

“Product Lens” Focuses on Whether Chemicals Can Harm Us

GreenScreen for Safer ChemicalsLike C2C, the GreenScreen benchmark-ing system is one of the frameworks used by LEED and WELL to determine whether a product is “optimized.”

Who’s behind the standard

Clean Production Action, a 501(c)(3)

nonprofit, developed and maintains the GreenScreen benchmarking program.

What GreenScreen assesses

The GreenScreen method is a way of identifying health and environmental hazards associated with a particular substance. There are two types of Green-Screen hazard analysis:

• A full GreenScreen assessment looks at the full life cycle of a substance, in-cluding the chemicals it’s made from and the chemicals it’s likely to break down into.

• A GreenScreen List Translator screen-ing looks at the hazards that inter-national governmental bodies and toxicology experts have associated with certain substances (but not at hazards associated with manufacture and degradation).

For LEED and WELL, either type of screening can be used. In LEED, prod-ucts are valued higher if there’s a full GreenScreen assessment of all ingredi-ents. Products without any Benchmark 1 hazards are considered “optimized.”

Note that in LEED v4, the assessment goes down to 100 ppm, but for WELL, the threshold is 1,000 ppm.

Where to find GreenScreen information

Look on a product’s HPD or manu-facturer inventory (provided it uses GreenScreen) to find out whether it’s op-timized or not. The central HPD Reposi-tory allows you to filter for products that are optimized for LEED v4.

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Has a rigorous screening and assessment process for product chemistry

Has few chemicals that have gone through full screening

GreenScreen: Pro & Con

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Learn more

Understanding GreenScreen and List Translator Benchmarks

NSF Offers GreenScreen to Promote Safer Chemicals

GreenScreen Launches Certification for Textile Chemicals

Living Product ChallengeThe Living Product Challenge is a multi-attribute certification program that qualifies products for optimization credit under WELL v2.

Who’s behind the certification

The International Living Future Insti-tute (ILFI) created the Living Product Challenge, a 2015 offshoot of the group’s Living Building Challenge whole-build-ing rating system.

What the Living Product Challenge assesses

Like ILFI’s Living Building Challenge, the Living Product Challenge consists of 20 specific requirements (or “Impera-tives”) under seven categories (“Petals”). All 20 requirements are needed for full certification, but ILFI also offers Imper-ative and Petal certification. The seven petals are:

• Place

• Water

• Energy

• Health + Happiness

• Materials

• Equity

• Beauty

Where to find certified products

A list of certified products can be found on the Living Product Challenge web-site.

Learn more

Can Products Do More Good Than Harm? The Living Product Challenge

Behind Humanscale’s Living Product Challenge Certification

Living Product Challenge Logs First Certifications

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Is a rigorous mutli-attribute standard focusing on net-positive performance Has just a few fully certified products

Includes social equity—with a requirement for affordability Is referenced by WELL but not by LEED

Living Product Challenge: Pro & Con

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LEED Credit: Low-Emitting Materials

WELL v1 Precondition: VOC Reduction

WELL v2 Optimization: Long-Term Emission Control

WELL v2 Optimization: Short-Term Emission ControlBoth LEED and WELL encourage speci-fication of products that don’t put exces-sive VOCs into indoor air. This is accom-plished through two basic methods. For all types of products, emissions testing must be conducted; this involves putting products into a controlled chamber and measuring specific VOCs in the chamber after a prescribed period of time. For wet-applied products like paints and adhesives, VOC content testing is also required. This is a measure of specific VOCs found in the can or tube.

CDPH Standard MethodThe CDPH Standard Method is a way of measuring emissions from products and determining whether these emissions are at safe levels for human health. It forms the basis of a number of different certification systems, but manufactur-ers don’t have to use any of those cer-tification systems to comply with LEED and WELL requirements—as long as an

independent lab confirms that a product meets the standard.

Note that LEED v4 and WELL v1 refer-ence the 2010 version of this standard, while LEED v4.1 and WELL v2 reference the 2017 version. The 2017 update has minimal changes and is acceptable for all the rating system versions.

Who’s behind CDPH

CDPH stands for “California Department of Public Health,” and it’s that state gov-ernment agency that’s behind this emis-sions testing standard.

Note that an older version of a similar testing standard used to be referred to by its specification section name: Cali-fornia Section 01350—often just called “section thirteen-fifty.” That’s an outdat-ed name, but people still use it casually to refer to the CDPH Standard Method.

What the CDPH Standard Method measures

Products are tested by placing them in sealed stainless-steel chambers. After the product has been in the chamber for a specified amount of time, air samples are drawn from the chamber and ana-lyzed.

The CDPH Standard Method tests levels of 33 VOCs that are commonly emitted from building products—things like benzene, formaldehyde, and styrene.

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Is widely accepted in North America as the most rigorous way to test building materials

for VOC emissions

Tests for only a handful of VOCs and does not address semi-volatile organic compounds,

which can also cause harmful effects

Uses well-founded CRELs as a benchmark for emissions limits

Can’t account for the possible effects of breathing in multiple harmful VOCs at once

Is publicly available Tests samples, so can’t make up for an off day on the production line

CDPH Standard Method: Pro & Con

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Based on toxicological studies of how much of a compound is safe for humans to inhale, the standard has established “chronic reference exposure levels,” or CRELs. If the air in the testing chamber exceeds the allowable concentration (which is based on the CREL) for any of the 33 compounds, the product fails the test.

The CDPH Standard Method also mea-sures the total VOC (TVOC) emissions of products, but there is no CREL for that. LEED requires manufacturers to report the range this number falls into but doesn’t place any limit on it.

How to find products with CDPH verification

Certification to a number of different schemes, some of which are discussed below, demonstrate compliance with the CDPH Standard Method. For LEED and WELL, manufacturers can also pro-vide a certificate of compliance from an independent lab. Unlike with environ-mental product declarations and ma-terial ingredient reporting documents, these don’t need to be publicly available; it’s okay if you have to ask a manufac-turer for the documentation.

Learn more

VOC Testing: What It Can and Can’t Tell You

VOCs: Why They’re Still Here and What You Can Do about It

How to Get from VOC Certifications to Better Products

VOCs in LEED v4 and Other Rating Systems

The Questionable Science Behind VOC Emissions Testing

AgBB Testing and Evaluation SchemeMuch like the CDPH Standard Meth-od, the AgBB Testing and Evaluation Scheme is a way of testing for product emissions and evaluating the potential human-health effects of these emissions.

In LEED v4, AgBB is listed as an interna-tional alternative compliance path, but it’s an option for any project in LEED v4.1.

Who’s behind the AgBB standard

A group of German government agen-cies, collectively called Ausschuss zur ge-sundheitlichen Bewertung von Baupro-dukten (Committee for Health-Related Evaluation of Building Products), was formed in the late 1990s to develop this standard.

What AgBB measures

The AgBB scheme tests for the emission levels of more than 200 compounds, including certain semi-volatile organ-ic compounds (SVOCs). The standard references the European Union’s Low-est Concentrations of Interest, or LCIs, based on how much of a compound has been deemed safe to breathe over a cer-tain period of time. If the air in the test-ing chamber exceeds the allowable LCI for any of the compounds, the product fails the test.

How to find products with AgBB verification

For certain product categories, the Ger-man government’s Blue Angel certifica-tion denotes compliance with the AgBB scheme:

• floor-covering adhesives and other installation materials

• elastic floorings

• textile floorings

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• thermal insulation and suspended ceilings

• flooring underlays

Other certifications referencing AgBB include the eco-Institute-Label, Emicode EC1, GUT, and Indoor Air Comfort Gold.

Learn more

The Questionable Science behind VOC Emissions Testing

California Air Resources Board Suggested Control Measure for Architectural CoatingsThis standard is referenced in both LEED and WELL as a way to control the VOC content of paints and coatings that are wet-applied on the jobsite.

Who’s behind the standard

The California Air Resources Board, or CARB, is a government agency that reg-ulates outdoor air quality in the state of California.

What the CARB SCM measures

The 2007 CARB Suggested Control Mea-sure (SCM) for Architectural Coatings sets VOC content limits for a wide vari-ety of different coating types. The lim-itations differ according to the product category. For example, the limit for bi-tuminous roof coatings is 50 grams per liter (g/l), while the limit for wood pre-servatives is 350 g/l.

It’s important to be aware that, unlike VOC emissions standards, the CARB SCM was not designed to protect people from indoor VOC emissions. Instead, it’s meant to control smog in outdoor air. However, VOC emissions standards measure emissions over a relatively long period of time, and so they aren’t designed to protect jobsite workers from immediate VOC emissions, or building occupants who might be present during renovations.

How to find products that meet CARB SCM limits

There’s no certification scheme that ref-erences CARB regulations, so you’ll need to find the VOC content of your paint or coating and cross-check that against the CARB SCM requirements.

South Coast Air Quality Management District Rules 1113 and 1168

These rules are referenced in both LEED and WELL as a way to control the VOC content of any materials that are wet-ap-plied on the jobsite.

Who’s behind the rules

The South Coast Air Quality Manage-ment District, or SCAQMD, is a govern-ment agency that regulates outdoor air quality in southern California. Like the CARB standard discussed above, it was originally a strategy to manage smog.

What the SCAQMD rules measure

Rule 1113 sets VOC content limits for a wide variety of different coating types.

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Can help protect jobsite workers and building occupants from some of the most harmful

(pre-curing) VOC emissions

Were designed to reduce smog, so some hazardous VOCs are excluded

Don’t specify which VOCs are present—only the total VOC content

VOC Content Standards: Pro & Con

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The limitations differ according to the product category. For example, the limit for varnish is 200 g/l, while the limit for floor coatings is 50 g/l.

Rule 1168 is for adhesives and sealants, also with different limits for different product categories. These can range from 30 g/l for general metal adhesives all the way up to 780 g/l for thin-metal laminating adhesive.

Learn more

Why “Zero VOC” Was Never Enough

BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustain-ability StandardThe BIFMA e3 standard and the asso-ciated BIFMA “level” certification are a way for manufacturers of office and institutional furniture to distinguish their products. To count toward the LEED Low-Emitting Materials credit and WELL’s VOC-related features, products have to meet specific parts of the stan-dard.

Who’s behind e3

The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA), a 501(c)(6) trade association founded in 1973, created the e3 standard in 2010 to assess the sustainability of office furni-ture. The group formed a Joint Commit-tee on Furniture Sustainability in 2006 to develop the standard using the ANSI

consensus process, with support from NSF International.

The associated VOC emissions stan-dards, ANSI/BIFMA M7.1 and ANSI/BIF-MA X7.1, were created much earlier and first released in 2007. BIFMA M7.1 docu-ments the test methods, and X7.1 estab-lishes the thresholds for certification.

What BIFMA e3 assesses

This is a multi-attribute standard look-ing at everything from social responsi-bility to recycled content to energy use in manufacturing. But most of that doesn’t come into play for LEED and WELL. To be eligible under the Low-Emitting Ma-terials credit and the VOC-related WELL features, manufacturers only need to demonstrate that the certified product met the requirements of sections 7.6.1 (for half value by cost) or 7.6.2 (for full value).

Those numbers represent optional cred-its in the e3 standard that reference the BIFMA X7.1 (for section 7.6.1) and BIF-MA M7.1 (for section 7.6.2) emissions standards.

Why are there specific furniture-relat-ed standards for VOC emissions? M7.1 typically calls for a mid-size or large chamber to accommodate whole pieces of furniture, while the CDPH Standard Method initially specified small cham-bers. The M7.1 standard is now refer-enced in CDPH as the method for testing large furniture items.

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Is a robust multi-attribute standard with a mechanism for third-party certification; level three is difficult to meet

Has few products available at level 3, the most difficult to achieve

Has its own rigorous VOC testing standard Does not require manufacturers to publish scorecards or material

ingredientsFocuses on materials and human health, which is vital for office furniture

BIFMA e3: Pro & Con

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Where to look for level-certified products

BIFMA publishes a central database of level-certified products. The filters, however, don’t allow you to identify products meeting the LEED and WELL requirements.

Third-party level certifiers like UL and SCS Global also provide databases. UL’s Spot database can filter by building rating system, with search results that specify which credit requirements the product can meet. That second part is important because different credits of the BIFMA standard can also qualify products for the LEED v4 Material In-gredients credit. In the end, you’re likely to have to ask furniture manufacturers to show you their BIFMA scorecards in order to verify that they meet the LEED and WELL requirements.

Learn more

Office Furniture (Product Guide)

The Level on BIFMA’s Furniture Certification

Three Lounge Seating Manufacturers Keeping Pace with High BIFMA Standards

FloorScoreFloorScore is an indoor-air-quality pro-gram designed specifically for hard-sur-face flooring and adhesives.

Who’s behind FloorScore

FloorScore was developed by the Resil-ient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI), a trade association, in partnership with third-party certifier SCS Global Services. The program certified its first products in 2005.

What FloorScore measures

Both flooring products and adhesives must meet the requirements of the CDPH Standard Method in order to be certified to FloorScore.

Image:Tarkett

Tarkett’s Harmonium xf2 line is FloorScore certified for low indoor emissions.

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In addition to this requirement, SCS Global Services, the exclusive certifying body for this standard, supports the pro-cess by identifying samples for testing, interpreting emissions testing reports, and conducting factory inspections to ensure manufacturers are meeting the requirements of the CDPH method.

Where to find FloorScore-certified products

The SCS Global Services Certified Green Products Guide lists products certified to the FloorScore standard.

Learn more

Resilient Flooring (Product Guide)

Laminate Flooring (Product Guide)

Hardwood and Bamboo Flooring (Product Guide)

Rubber Flooring: A Good Use for Old Car Tires?

Greenguard and Greenguard GoldThe Greenguard and Greenguard Gold certifications are available for building materials, finishes, furnishings, elec-tronic equipment, and cleaners.

Who’s behind Greenguard

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) main-tains the Greenguard certification pro-gram, which is based on the standard UL 2821. You may recognize the UL logo

from seeing it on electrical applianc-es and other equipment in your home or office: the company has been a safe-ty certifier for more than 120 years. It started UL Environment, the arm of the company that maintains the Greenguard certification, in 2009.

The Greenguard standard didn’t orig-inate with UL Environment, though. The company purchased it in 2011. The original creator, Air Quality Sciences, launched the certification in 2000.

What Greenguard assesses

The Greenguard certification incorpo-rates the CDPH Standard Method as well as the BIFMA emissions testing proto-cols.

But it goes beyond these into other terri-tory as well. In order to account for com-pounds not measured in either of those standards, the Greenguard certification

Image:Rockwool

AFB Evo from Rockwool is certified Greenguard Gold.

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Tests and rates products using the CDPH Standard Method—the gold standard for

VOC limits in the U.S.

Does not test for certain flooring-specific compounds like phthalates (found in many vinyl products) or BZT

(found in rubber flooring)

Includes rigorous third-party certification and scrutiny

Looks only at emissions, not at the full sustainability profile of flooring

FloorScore: Pro & Con

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also sets limits on total VOCs, total alde-hydes, and particulates, among other compounds.

Greenguard Gold does all that and adds threshold limit values, or TLVs, for a list of more than 300 other compounds not covered by the CDPH or BIFMA stan-dards.

Where to find Greenguard- certified products

You can search for Greenguard certifica-tion by product category in the UL Spot database.

Learn more

How to Get from VOC Certifications to Better Products

Green Label PlusGreen Label Plus is a VOC certification for carpet, carpet cushion, and carpet adhesives.

Who’s behind Green Label Plus

The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), a 501 (c)(6) trade association, created the Green Label Plus label in 2004; it was a major update to a much older Green La-bel standard and was designed to align with the CDPH Standard Method.

What Green Label Plus assesses

The standard complies with CDPH but also goes beyond it. CRI worked with UL, the exclusive certifier of Green La-bel Plus products, to identify 12 more carpet-specific compounds not targeted by CDPH that have to be measured and limited in order to qualify for the Green Label Plus standard. These include caprolactam, a VOC commonly emitted from nylon carpets.

Learn more

How to Get from VOC Certifications to Better Products

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Incorporates the CDPH Standard MethodLooks only at emissions, not at the full sustainability

profile of carpetGoes beyond the typical method by including carpet-specific VOCs

Green Label Plus: Pro & Con

PRO CON

Incorporates the CDPH Standard Method as well as the BIFMA emissions standards for furniture

Can be expensive for manufacturersGoes beyond the typical methods, e.g., by including

requirements for total VOCs and total aldehydes

Highest level of certification, Greenguard Gold, limits a long list of compounds not included in CDPH Standard

Method or BIFMA M7.1 standard Is owned by a private company and is not consensus based

Has an underlying standard, UL 2821, that is publicly available

Greenguard: Pro & Con

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

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Indoor Advantage and Indoor Advantage GoldThe Indoor Advantage certification is available for any building product, in-cluding furniture; the furniture stan-dard has two levels: Indoor Advantage and Indoor Advantage Gold. For other products, the only level is Indoor Advan-tage Gold.

Who’s behind Indoor Advantage

SCS Global Services (formerly Scientific Certification Systems) created and main-tains the Indoor Advantage program. The company was founded in 1984 and became a mission-based benefit corpo-ration (B corp) in 2012.

What Indoor Advantage assesses

The Indoor Advantage Gold–Building Materials certification incorporates the CDPH Standard Method and, for wet-applied products, references the VOC content requirements of CARB and SCAQMD.

Indoor Advantage–Furniture referenc-es the BIFMA M7.1 and X7.1 standards, while Indoor Advantage Gold–Furni-ture incorporates those plus the CDPH Standard Method for school furniture (this establishes VOC limits based on the classroom testing scenario).

All the Indoor Advantage certifications require onsite factory audits.

Where to find Indoor Advantage- certified products

The SCS Certified Green Products Guide lists Indoor Advantage-certified prod-ucts and can be filtered by product cat-egory.

Intertek Clean AirIntertek Clean Air is a VOC testing stan-dard for furniture.

Who’s behind the certification

Much like UL, Intertek is an internation-al testing firm founded in the late 1800s. It has had many prior names, one of

PRO CON

Incorporates the CDPH Standard Method as well as the BIFMA emissions standards for furniture

Can be expensive for manufacturersIncludes VOC content requirements for

wet-applied products

Requires onsite factory auditsIs owned by a private company and is

not consensus basedHas an underlying standard, SCS-EC10, that is publicly available

Indoor Advantage: Pro & Con

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Gold level incorporates the CDPH Standard Method as well as the BIFMA emissions

standards for furniture

Has not had much market uptake, so few products are available

Intertek Clean Air: Pro & Con

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which is Electrical Testing Laboratories, or ETL. Intertek Clean Air was formerly called the ETL Environmental VOC Cer-tification.

What Intertek Clean Air assesses

The Clean Air certification has two lev-els. The Silver level means the product meets BIFMA X7.1 VOC levels. The Gold level means it meets the BIFMA standard as well as the CDPH Standard Method requirements.

Where to find Clean Air-certified products

Intertek maintains a list of certified products on its website.

MAS Certified GreenThe MAS Certified Green label is avail-able for any building product, including furniture.

Who’s behind MAS Certified Green

Materials Analytical Services is a labo-ratory founded in 1987 to provide test-ing services for products ranging from pharmaceuticals to consumer goods to semiconductors.

What MAS Certified Green assesses

This certification incorporates three standards based on which kind of prod-uct is being tested: CDPH Standard Method, BIFMA M7.1, and, for compos-ite wood products, California Air Re-

sources Board standards for formalde-hyde emissions.

Where to find certified products

MAS provides an alphabetical listing by manufacturer name on its website.

NSF 332NSF 332, Sustainability Assessment for Resilient Floor Coverings, is a multi-at-tribute standard for resilient flooring products like vinyl, rubber, and lino-leum.

Who’s behind NSF 332

The Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI), a trade association, worked to de-velop this standard through a consensus process with support from NSF Interna-tional.

What NSF 332 assesses

NSF 332 is a point-based multi-attribute standard that looks at:

• product design

• product manufacturing

• long-term value

• end-of-life management

• corporate governance

• innovation

Certification levels are Conformant, Sil-ver, Gold, and Platinum. Since flooring products have to meet the CDPH Stan-dard Method requirements as a pre-requisite under the “long-term value”

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

PRO CON

Incorporates the CDPH Standard Method as well as the BIFMA emissions standards for furniture and CARB formaldehyde standards for composite wood

Has not had much market uptake, so few products are available

MAS Certified Green: Pro & Con

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category, the certification meets the LEED v4 and v4.1 requirements for the Low-Emitting Materials credit.

Where to find NSF 332-certified products

Third-party certifiers UL and SCS Global Services both publish databases where these products can be found.

PRO CON

Is a multi-attribute standard with a mechanism for third-party certification; Platinum level is

difficult to achieve

Does not require ingredient disclosure or release of scorecards

NSF 332: Pro & Con

Source: BuildingGreen, Inc.

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Continuing EducationTo receive continuing education credits, take this quiz online at www.buildinggreen.com/spotlight/labels.

1.5 AIA LU|HSW, 1.5 GBCI LEED and WELL Specific Credits

Instructions

If you purchased this report, or if you are a BuildingGreen Premium member, you can get continuing education credits by successfully completing this quiz on our website.

For BuildingGreen to automatically report your CEUs, you will need to add your AIA and/or GBCI identification info to your profile, at www.buildinggreen.com/user.

Description

A seal of approval is a useful guide. It lets you know at a glance that a product meets a trusted source’s standards for performance. But in a sea of logos, any particular program becomes harder to discern and understand.

In this course, BuildingGreen will take a comparative look at the LEED v4, LEED v4.1, WELL v1, and WELL v2 standards in order to help you get your bearings while also offering an analysis of each program. LEED and WELL encourage a number of different product standards, certifications, and disclosures—so many that it’s easy to forget some or get them confused. Organized by credit, this re-port covers product labels referenced in LEED v4 and v4.1 for Building Design and Construction, and WELL v1 and v2.

Learning ObjectivesUpon completion of this course, partici-pants will be able to:

1. Recognize product-related programs for LEED v4 BD+C, LEED v4.1 BD+C, WELL v1, and WELL v2 that contribute to the sustainability of projects and the health and well-being of occu-pants and installers by ensuring prod-ucts have verified green credentials.

2. Understand the requirements of the Building product disclosure and opti-mization - sourcing of raw materials and Building product disclosure and optimization - environmental product declarations credits in LEED v4 BD+C, and how products meeting these re-quirements can increase the sustain-ability of projects pursuing the credit.

3. Understand the requirements of the Low-emitting materials credit in LEED v4 and v4.1 BD+C, WELL v1 Precondition: VOC Reduction, WELL v2 Optimization: Long-Term Emission Control, and WELL v2 Optimization: Short-Term Emission Control, and how products meeting these require-ments can contribute to the health and well-being of building occupants and installers.

4. Understand the requirements of the LEED v4 BD+C credit Building product disclosure and optimization – materi-al ingredients, WELL v1 Optimization: Material Transparency, WELL v1 Op-timization: Enhanced Material Safety, WELL v2 Optimization: Enhanced Material Precaution, and WELL v2 Optimization: Material Transparency, and how products meeting these requirements can contribute to the health and well-being of building occupants and installers.

®

QUIZ QUESTIONS

1. LEED Credit: Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Environmental Product Declarations, offers up to ____ points for projects that include products with environmental product declarations, or EPDs .

a. Oneb. Twoc. Threed. None

2. The term “environmental product declaration” comes from the ____ and is short for “Type III Environmental Product Declaration.”

a. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)b. Product Codes Inc. (PCI) c. American National Standards Institute (ANSI)d. International Organization for

Standardization (ISO)

3. As a summary of an LCA, an EPD may report on a number of environmental attributes. Which of the following are ones relevant to LEED: (Select all that apply)

a. Eutrophicationb. Global warming potentialc. Acidification of land and water sourcesd. All of the abovee. None of the above

4. You shouldn’t have to ask a manufacturer to send you an EPD: the LEED rules require that they be publicly available in order to ____ .

a. Be publishedb. Be reviewedc. Give manufacturers recognition d. Count toward the credit

5. Which is an Environmental Product Declaration con:

a. Has no mechanism for third-party verificationb. May contain marketing languagec. Is referenced by WELL but not by LEED d. Comes with a cost premium

6. Factors considered in the Sustainable Agriculture Standard include soil erosion, water consumption and pollution, waste, as well as: (Select all that apply)

a. Pesticide useb. Working conditionsc. Habitat protectiond. All of the abovee. None of the above

7. The international Forest Stewardship Council is a nonprofit NGO founded in ____ .

a. 1994 b. Mainec. 1987d. Paris

8. BIFMA publishes a central database of level- certified products. The filters, however, don’t allow you to identify products meeting the ____ requirements.

a. WELLb. LEEDc. LEED and WELLd. None of the above

9. ____ is a multi-attribute certification that looks at energy, water, social responsibility, and more.

a. Manufacturer inventoryb. Product Lensc. Health Product Declaration (HPD)d. Cradle to Cradle (C2C)

10. A Declare label that’s either Living Building Challenge Red List Free or Living Building Challenge Compliant counts toward the Optimized Materials optimization in____.

a. LEED v4b. WELL v2c. WELL v1d. LEED v4.1

TAKE THE OFFICIAL QUIZ

www.buildinggreen.com/spotlight/labels

Continued on next page

QUIZ QUESTIONS

TAKE THE OFFICIAL QUIZ

www.buildinggreen.com/spotlight/labels

11. ____ is a hybrid of different screening and disclosure systems and is a relative newcomer to the LEED and WELL transparency scene.

a. Manufacturer Inventoryb. Declare Labelc. Product Lensd. World Health Organization

12. Like C2C, the GreenScreen benchmarking system is one of the frameworks used by ____ to determine whether a product is “optimized.”

a. LEED and WELLb. Living Building Challengec. LEEDd. WELL and Living Building Challenge

13. Like ILFI’s Living Building Challenge, the Living Product Challenge consists of 20 specific require-ments (or “Imperatives”) under seven categories (“Petals”). Two of the seven petals are:

a. Soil and Energyb. Equity and Waterc. Transportation and Beautyd. Embodied Carbon and Clean Air

14. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Standard Method is a way of measuring emissions from ____ and determining whether these emissions are at safe levels for human health.

a. Productsb. SVOCsc. Deforestationd. Transportation

15. The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA), a 501(c)(6) trade association founded in ____ , created the e3 standard in ____ to assess the sustainability of office furniture.

a. The Great Recession; Orderb. 1994; 2012c. 1973; 2010d. North Carolina; 2012