NSF 332 Sustainability Assessment for Resilient Floor Coverings is a reliable, science-based, third-party assessment of the environmental performance and sustainability attributes (including social aspects) of resilient flooring products. NSF is an Accredited Standards Developer of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ANSI, under the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, is the administrator and coordinator of the U.S. private sector voluntary standardization system.

While NSF 332 should be finalized this spring, some companies such as Mannington have already certified some product categories to the draft standard. The program is open to all resilient flooring products.

The standard has six criteria: Product Design, Product Manufacturing, Long-Term Value, End of Life Management, Corporate Governance and Innovation. It’s important to realize it’s not just products that are examined but the entire company and its comprehensive manufacturing operations.

The product and company earn points in each of these six categories and, depending on total points, can achieve a Conformant, Silver, Gold or Platinum rating. A product certified as Platinum would be more desirable from a sustainability perspective than one certified with a Silver rating.

Products can also be certified within one of several product platforms. These include vinyl composition tile, sheet vinyl flooring (with and without backing), vinyl tile, rubber sheet flooring (with and without backing), rubber tile, linoleum sheet flooring, linoleum tile, polymeric flooring, resilient wall base and resilient stair treads.

The assessment for the sustainability standard takes into consideration other indicators with which you may be familiar such as: FloorScore, a third-party indoor air quality certification program that tests resilient flooring for VOC emissions; lifecycle analysis (LCA), the investigation and evaluation of the environmental impacts of a given product throughout its existence; and ISO 14000 standards that identify the company’s systematic approach toward setting environmental objectives and demonstrating these have been achieved.

Resilient flooring has been long valued for its inherent durability, use of renewable materials and long life cycle — attributes that support favorable sustainability assessments. In addition, many resilient flooring products have low-maintenance requirements, not only reducing the amount of maintenance chemicals introduced into interior environments but also reducing energy used to maintain floors. In the future, look for products certified under NSF 332 and be prepared to point out environmental benefits to customers.

For more information, visit rfci.com.