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The Green Revolution - What Does it Mean to the Building Products Industry?
This white paper discusses the challenges manufacturers face when making “green claims” and how Intertek helps to third-party validate these claims. Download.
Resources
Green Program Description (140 kb PDF)
Green Attributes (37 kb PDF)
Learn more about Intertek's new Green Leaf Mark.
With the growing popularity of “green claims” within the building and construction industry, manufacturers today face many challenges when making these claims about their products. Environmental products are coming under scrutiny by regulators and becoming a growing source of distrust by consumers.
Our Environmental Certification Program aims to eliminate the confusion in the eco-labeling marketplace. The Program evaluates the environmental impacts of building products and materials, providing manufacturer’s confidence in promoting their environmental claims, knowing they have been certified by a leader, with more than 100 years experience providing testing, quality and safety for products worldwide.
The Program will bring clarity to the “Green Revolution” for building products manufacturers and create an eco-label that is meaningful, trustworthy and valuable to not only manufacturers of building materials, but also to purchasers and specifiers of these products, materials and assemblies.
The program is focused on single or multiple attribute certifications, and consists of five key components:
1. Writing the Test Plan
During the generation of the test plan for the product, careful consideration will be given to what claims can meaningfully be made for it. Inappropriate claims (this fire door hinge contains no asbestos, for instance) will not be allowed. Once correct credentials are identified, nationally or internationally recognized test standards will be utilized to validate these claims.
2. Initial Plant Inspection
The manufacturing facility will then be audited by trained Intertek personnel to witness the production of the test items and to gather the information necessary for the preparation of a Quality Control Manual.
3. Creation of the Quality Control Manual
The Quality Control Manual will adequately describe the methods and procedures utilized in the product’s manufacture.
4. Performance of Verification Tests
Intertek will perform tests based on the sustainable attributes a manufacturer selects such as recycled content, solar reflectance, emissions, and energy efficiency, and will then third-party validate the claims about the products. Following a successful test evaluation, Intertek will issue the manufacturer its proprietary Green Leaf Mark to use on product packaging and marketing materials to help sell their products. The green leaf mark will clearly indicate the environmental credentials that have been recognized for this product, to eliminate confusion.
5. Quarterly Plant Audits and Retest
After products are issued Intertek’s Green Leaf Mark, a routine program of unannounced, quarterly plant inspections will begin to ensure the product is continuing to be manufactured to a quality commensurate with this program.
Intertek is trying to stabilize the industry, not add to the confusion. We have a close relationship with the International Code Council - Evaluation Services (ICC-ES) group that offers a similar program called Sustainable Attributes Verification and Evaluation (SAVE). Consequently, the first nine attributes of our new program are identical to those of the SAVE program.
Attributes offered in Intertek’s Environmental Certification Program currently include:
This list will grow, as appropriate additional attributes are identified and recognized test methods are found to verify them.
Request more information to see how Intertek can help your organization with Building Products Environmental Certification Program.
