The Architect’s Guide to Specifying Sustainable Single-Ply Roofing Membranes: NSF/ANSI 347

The first sustainable certification for single-ply roofing membrane materials includes points for design, recycling, durability, and more

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Architects and Specifiers Use NSF/ANSI 347 to Achieve Sustainability Goals

Market demand for products that comply with green building standards has increased exponentially during the past decade. The U.S. Green Building Council estimates that more than 3.6 billion sq. ft. of office space are certified by the LEED rating program. According to a Dodge Data & Analytics World Green Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket Report, the global green building sector continues to double every three years. Global respondents indicate that 60 percent of their projects will be green by 2018.³

The 2018 USGBC annual list of top 10 states for green building per capita, which ranks states in terms of certified square feet per resident, includes Massachusetts as number one, followed by New York, Illinois, Hawaii, and Maryland.⁴

The U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Rating System

While LEED doesn't have a designated credit for multi-attribute sustainability standards, the due diligence to earn the NSF/ANSI 347 credits can help manufacturers get a head start on the required documentation for USGBC's latest LEED revision, version 4 (v4)—updated with addenda in July 2018.

As with the previous version of LEED, there are credit challenges that building product manufacturers must navigate through. When LEED was first introduced, manufacturers had to play catch up, but now reporting recycled materials or VOC content is second nature. The credits in NSF/ANSI 347 can help give the manufacturer a leg up on the LEED v4 Material and Resources credits that require material chemistry disclosures and EPDs.

The Certified Multi-attribute Products and Materials credit began as a pilot credit in 2013. The pilot credit requires use of products from manufacturers who have validated multiple environmental attributes relevant to the product via independent, consensus-based, third-party certifications. In addition, the products must meet the life-cycle assessment credits within the certification.⁵

The chemicals of concern section of NSF/ANSI 347 help address the growing demand of material chemistry transparency, which is addressed in the Building Product Disclosure and Optimization – Material Ingredients credit. To fulfill the Chemicals of Concern NSF/ANSI 347 credits, the manufacturer creates an ingredient inventory of the product to 0.1 percent (1000 ppm). This inventory can then be entered into an HPD that analyzes the chemical hazards against 23 ”red lists” and complies with the LEED v4 credit.

HPDs, however, have been scrutinized by manufacturers and the chemical industry for only acknowledging chemical hazards and not focusing enough on risk. If a product contains a chemical with a hazard but does not pose any risk of exposure, do the manufacturers need to disclose that chemical? There have also been concerns over proprietary ingredients which can be a huge roadblock to the manufacturer if its supplier won't disclose full formulations. More recent versions of the HPD Open Standard have addressed these concerns. Information about exposure or risk specific to the product, as well as other issues that may be relevant to help further interpret information, is now documented in the notes and/or certifications sections of an HPD. Proprietary ingredients, whose chemical identity is not provided, cannot be labeled as identified and must be labeled as unknown, with an explanation. The latest version, HPD Open Standard V2.1.1, was released on July 2, 2018.

ANSI/ASHRAE/IES/USBGC Standard 189.1-2014, Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings

With all the green building and energy codes and standards, it can be confusing to figure out which codes apply to a project's location and how they impact green building rating systems. To help solve this issue ANSI, ASHRAE, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) and USGBC announced a memorandum to collaborate on the development of Standard 189.1, IgCC, and LEED. The goal of this unprecedented agreement is to “create a comprehensive framework for jurisdictions looking to implement and adopt green building regulations and codes and/or provide incentives for voluntary leadership programs such as LEED.”⁷ Standard 189.1 already recognizes the importance of multi-attribute sustainability assessments by integrating NSF/ANSI 347 certification in its Atmosphere, Materials and Resources section.

International Green Construction Code (IgCC)

The IgCC was the first model code to include sustainability measures for the entire construction project and its site—from design through construction, certificate of occupancy, and beyond. The 2015 version of the code was developed to make buildings more efficient, reduce waste, and have a positive impact on health, safety, and community welfare, and NSF/ANSI 347 is included as a sustainability standard in the IgCC.

While adoption of the 2015 IgCC faced challenges due to confusion within the building community over the various standards mentioned above, the 2018 IgCC, when released, will be a good example of cooperation between the various standards organizations, including ANSI, ASHRAE, IES, and USGBC Standard 189.1.

Conclusion

While the standard, code or rating system for sustainable building materials may evolve over time, the drive toward sustainable practices will likely continue on a strong trajectory with increasing market share. To prevent the watering down of both the science of sustainability and the perception of true and verifiable sustainability claims, more and more products will have strong third-party certifications.

Single-ply roofing membranes are now ahead of the green curve thanks to the NSF/ANSI 347 sustainability assessment. By paying attention to which roofing membranes that have earned a compliant, silver, gold or platinum rating, architects and specifiers can be one step closer to achieving their sustainability goals.

Endnotes


Known as the "World's Best Roof®," a Duro-Last® roof is perfect for any flat, low-sloped, new or retrofit application. Precision-fabricated accessories combined with prefabricated deck sheets or roll goods allow for a watertight roof that doesn’t sacrifice aesthetics. www.duro-last.com

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Originally published in July 2015

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