Article Number : 4106 |
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| Date | 2/3/2009 9:07:28 AM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=4106 |
| Abstract | BOSTON—For more than 114 years, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has been an architect of safety systems around the world, and its UL mark is one of the most recognized symbols of safety around the globe... |
| Article | BOSTON—For more than 114 years, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has been an architect of safety systems around the world, and its UL mark is one of the most recognized symbols of safety around the globe. At Greenbuild ’08, the organization announced it was working with manufacturers to test, validate and certify environmentally sustainable products, including those in the flooring industry. Christopher Nelson, UL’s director of corporate development, told FCNews during an exclusive interview there are two programs that make up the new Environmental Services program— Environmental Claims Validation and Sustainable Product Certification. The idea behind these is to try and clear up industry and end-user confusion over whether a product is green, he explained. “Consumers and regulatory authorities value UL as a leader on safety issues.” But, when it comes to green, “right now there are so many marks, stamps, labels out there and, in most cases, no one knows what they mean. UL is a known commodity at both the industrial and consumer/end user levels. In many cases it’s actually the key driver for indicating a product’s safety.” Under the Environmental Claims Validation, manufacturers will be able to submit their products for UL testing and environmental claims validation. Essentially, this program tests and audits a manufacturer’s claims, such as recycled content, volatile organic components (VOCs) and so on. While this program will not include the usage of the UL mark, manufacturers will be given a letter/report stating that UL has confirmed the environmental claims about the product made by the mill are true. Sustainable Product Certification program covers green products and the processes and materials used to create them. Tests are done to confirm a product meets an industry’s publicized standards. Nelson noted UL is actually jumping ahead by creating a tool that will soon be necessary. “This is being done because the USGBC LEED (U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program and the number of others out there do not require validation and certification— but they will in the future.” The goal of this program is greater product acceptance for manufacturers and a healthier planet, he added. Products achieving sustainable certification will be able to show the special UL Mark being developed specifically for this program. “We have many different marks for different safety programs around the world. The one for this will be consistent and recognizable as belonging to the UL family.” A formal, global launch of the new environmental programs is set for early 2009, following the finalization of test programs UL was conducting, including floor covering, Nelson noted. UL evaluates more than 19,000 types of products, components, materials and systems annually with 21 billion UL Marks appearing on 72,000 manufacturers’ products each year in 99 countries. The company currently has 63 laboratory, testing and certification facilities worldwide. There are 1,201 current Standards for Safety published by the UL family of companies, and last year alone, 447 million consumers were reached by UL with safety messages in Asia, Europe and North America. For more information on UL and its new environmental programs, call 847.224.2860. |