Article Number : 3818 |
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| Date | 11/3/2008 8:41:23 AM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=3818 |
| Abstract | By Sarah Zimmerman The ever-daunting task of specifying products that meet a variety of environmental parameters has been an industry-wide frustration for quite some time... |
| Article | By Sarah Zimmerman The ever-daunting task of specifying products that meet a variety of environmental parameters has been an industry-wide frustration for quite some time. But, with last year’s launch of ecoScorecard, several manufacturers have now eradicated these aggravations—wasted time and effort quantifying every product into the project spec, which is a requirement for certification in every rating system. “Typically, nearly 200 hours are spent on a single green project, searching, evaluating and documenting green material choices,” explained Paul Shahriari, CEO of ecoScorecard. “Now, with the ecoScorecard platform, a team can do the same amount of work in less than eight hours, and all the leftover time can be spent making sustainability happen.” Licensed on a monthly or yearly basis, ecoScorecard allows mills to publish their products’ green attributes on a Web site catalog, and then calculate the necessary requirements for seven different environmental rating systems—LEED Green Building Rating Systems, including New Construction, Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance, Core & Shell, Commercial Interiors, and the retail and laboratory application guides; LEED Canada New Construction and Commercial Interiors Rating Systems; Green Guide for Healthcare; Collaborative for High Performance Schools; and residential systems that include LEED for Homes, NAHB’s National Green Building Standard and ReGreen—producing product documentation for inclusion in the certification process. “We’re passionate about the critical role of green buildings in our environment, and we see our role as helping knock down the obstacles in getting them built,” Shahriari said. “Understanding how green a product is and how it fits into any of the rating systems has been one of those obstacles. This program overcomes that.” Developed by a team of experienced green building consultants, the Web-based platform has already hit a home run with numerous leading manufacturers— over 24 brands will be live by Greenbuild 2008. Armstrong and J&J/Invision were the first hard and soft surface flooring ecoScorecard users, respectively, and both say a year later, it was a great decision. First utilizing the program in October 2007 and getting a jump on the competition, Mark Clayton, J&J/Invision’s vice president of marketing, said the company was very impressed with the system’s capabilities. “The technology of ecoScorecard far exceeds that of any other product available today,” he said. “It allows us to offer ease-of-search capabilities to our customers that we could not otherwise achieve.” He noted J&J/Invision is extremely pleased it made the investment with ecoScorecard a year ago and is proud to have just recommitted to the program. “Our reps have embraced the technology and have become disciples of ecoScorecard, presenting it to their designers and specifiers whenever possible.” Similarly, Armstrong announced its use of ecoScorecard for its commercial flooring line at last year’s Greenbuild and then quickly added residential SKUs in January 2008. Kent Clauson, general manager of marketing for Armstrong Floor Products, noted the company chose ecoScorecard because it felt the program was the best option for the company and its consumers. “Now, critical information on our entire hard surface portfolio is available at a click, covering all key industry rating systems. The program is able to deliver critical information on our entire product line 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” He added that making information accessible, easy to understand and being constantly updated both in terms of product specs and rating system changes are powerful benefits in today’s market. Clayton agreed, noting one of the key benefits of ecoScorecard is it’s easy and fast. “We understand our customers’ time is valuable and appreciate the frustration they have historically dealt with while attempting to research and document environmental criteria for various products. With ecoScorecard, our customers have the ability to search, evaluate and document products with little effort.” Clauson added, “The biggest advantage of ecoScorecard is that it does the environmental evaluation for the user.” Both companies also noted nothing but positive response from their customers and would encourage other mills to utilize ecoScorecard’s technology. Clayton said once customers try it, they’re hooked. “We hear time and time again that we have removed a huge obstacle for our consumers and really helped to simplify their lives.” The program has been working well, agreed Clauson, who said when Armstrong demos the tool, there’s a definite “wow” factor. “People understand immediately the savings in time and, more importantly, the accuracy of information, which is one of designers’ biggest issues. The ecoScorecard software analysis package is probably the ultimate tool in this area.” And, as mill membership and end users continue to grow, Shahriari noted nothing but advancements in the future. “We are committed to advancing the ecoScorecard technology on a continual basis,” he said, adding several improvements will be released at this year’s Greenbuild in Boston. Shahriari has also set a goal of 100 active brands by the end of 2009. For more information on ecoScorecard and its abilities, visit www.ecoscorecard.com. |