“Start with Why” on Green Product

CertificationBy Rob Freeman Jr. LEED AP

Green building is not a fad. LEED and green building in the U.S. is Enormous. $150 Billion in 2014 with 20% compound annual growth rate.

According to LinkedIn, the “Renewables & Environment” employment category grew 49.2% between 2007-2011

Source: McGraw-Hill

$15-20 billion marketing spend annually

By 2035, approximately 75% of the current 375 billion square feet of U.S. building stock will be renovated... >50% of this will be “green”.

Source: Architecture 2030

Environmental Product Declarations

Why is 3rd Party Certification Important?

• Consumers are increasingly overwhelmed by claims of products being “good for the environment”, “eco-friendly” or “green”.

• For the same reason that building owners seek LEED certification: recognition and credibility.

• LEED is essentially a 3rd party certification for the manufactured product category of real estate.

• With LEED v4 USGBC is increasingly rewarding companies that use EPDs and LCAs with their products.

3rd party certification vs. validation - What’s the difference?

• Validation authenticates or verifies a claim. Certification is a form of validation.

• Some third parties just validate but don’t certify (Cool Roof Rating Council and National Fenestration Council)

• LEED certification is third party validation of a building’s performance. LEED offers four progressively higher levels of certification from “Certified” to “Platinum”.

• LEED offers third party validation of a project’s green features and verifies that the building is operating exactly the way it was intended to.

• The average LEED certification fee is $2,000.

Alphabet Soup!What are EPDs and LCAs?

• EPD stands for Environmental Product Declaration.

• LCA stands for Life-Cycle Assessment.

• An EPD is a third party examination of a product’s environmental impact.

• While the claims of certain materials are self-evident, it is often difficult to compare the sustainable attributes of different products.

• Example: Cabinets made of wheat husks sourced from all over the country and bound together in resin versus solid wood cabinets made from local timber.

• LEED MRc3 - Where did it come from?

• LEED MRc2 - How was it made?

• LEED MRc4 - What is inside?

• LEED EQc2 - What is emitted?

Life-Cycle Thinking - What is Cradle to Cradle or Cradle to Grave?

Extraction

Manufacture

Installation/Use Maintenance

End of Life

Reuse/Recycle ??

Cradle to

GraveCradle

to Rebirth

Single vs. Multi-Attribute Eco-Labels: What’s the Difference?

• Multi-Attribute certification programs offer more comprehensive review of products than single attribute. (Type I Labels through ISO)

• Single attribute certification programs evaluate things such as energy consumption, emissions or recycled content. Can be self declared. (Type II Labels through ISO)

• Most stringent is Type III. Provides consumers with detailed comparative information on performance. An EPD is a third party examination of a product’s environmental impact.

How do PCRs (Product Category Rules) fit into third-party certifications?

• Product category rules help project teams make “Apples to Apples” comparisons.

• Help simplify things for consumers.

• In LEED the process goes:

• PLEase choose my product!

PCR LCA EPD

How do HPDs (Health Product Declarations) fit into third-party certifications?

• Discloses objective information about ingredients in building products.

• Provides information about potential health hazards associated with ingredients.

• Recognized compliance path for green building rating systems such as LEED v4.

• More about disclosure than performance.

Greenwashing... What is it? Why is it bad? What can manufacturers do to avoid it?

• How many of you found one of those little cards in your hotel room that ask you to not wash the towels for the sake of the environment?

• Environmentalist Jay Westerveldt coined the term in 1986 when he was staying in a hotel that had one of these cards.

• Greenwashing is the practice of deceptively marketing a company’s products or policies as environmentally friendly.

• This is a HUGE problem.

FTC Green Guides: Revised Guidelines in 2012

• FTC offers guidelines for companies’ environmental claims.

• Don’t lie or exaggerate. Back up your claims with proof.

• Example of exaggeration: Your bank tells you to: “Go Paperless to Save the Environment”

• Example of lying: Claiming a product is biodegradable or can achieve a specific level of performance.

• Edward Sempolec: $350,000 - making false claims of R-Value in insulation products

• AJM Packaging: $450,000 - Unsubstantiated claims of biodegradability

Greenwash Case Study: EcoBaby Organics, Inc.

• EcoBaby Organics Inc. claims baby mattresses are free of chemicals, VOCs and formaldehyde. Marketed on sites like “EcoFriendOnline.com”

• EcoBaby Organics Inc. prominently displays the seal of the National Association of Organic Mattress Industry “NAOMI”.

• Testing does not confirm these claims.

• NAOMI is an alter-ego of EcoBaby Organics, Inc.

National Association of Organic Mattress Industry raises the standards of mattresses labeled as "Organic" to a higher level of purity than OEKO-certified organic mattresses at present.

Learn more about EPDs and LCAs by joining Poplar and downloading our FREE 90 minute

training course on green product certification.