Resilient Flooring-Certified!  

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Looselay Stamford Oak Rigid Core LVT: Residential Application.

SUSTAINABLE CERTIFICATIONS AND DECLARATIONS

Sustainable certifications and declarations are not all the same. Some are focused on a specific criterion, such as volatile organic compounds that impact the air that occupants breathe within the indoor environment. Whereas others contain multiple attributes within their criteria, including environmental impacts, health and wellness impacts, and social impacts. The latter are often called multi-attribute or multiple-attribute certifications and are often developed utilizing an ANSI consensus process. This process is based on various stakeholders, typically including product manufacturers, product users and/or specifiers, and third-party stakeholders, such as government and academic representation.

Some also have a human health review component. The goal is to include stakeholders that would be part of a product life cycle, from raw material to the completed manufacture of a finished product, to establish balanced criteria for compliance.

There are also standards developed that include criteria for entire buildings across their full life cycle, such as ANSI/ASHRAE/ICC/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1. Various industries are included in the development of this building standard that powers the International Green Construction Code® (IgCC), including but not limited to product associations, architects, engineers, government representatives, regulators, academic representatives, researchers, and facility managers. The goal is to provide a balance of stakeholder input and build a consensus for the included requirements within the building code.

Resilient Flooring Certifications and Declarations

There are three primary resilient flooring certifications that are widely recognized. Each is based on a standard that was developed to address various sustainable attributes of resilient flooring products. As an industry, the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) has also completed Industry Wide Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).

FloorScore® Certification

FloorScore® is the most recognized indoor air quality (IAQ) certification standard for resilient flooring materials, adhesives, and underlayments. The standard was developed by SCS Global Services with the Resilient Floor Covering Institute entitled Indoor Air Quality Product Performance Standard for Building Interiors – SCS-EC10.3.2014 V4.1 March 2022.

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FloorScore® Certification: www.scsglobalservices.com/services/floorscore.

Volatile organic compounds or VOCs is the primary term relevant in understanding IAQ requirements in standards criteria. Per the US Environmental Protection Agency VOCs are compounds that have a high vapor pressure and low water solubility and include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. VOC content provides the amount of volatile organic compounds in a substance, whereas VOC emissions are measured based on a number of specific volatile organic compounds that a product emits.

For building rating systems, such as LEED v4.1 BD+C and ID+C and Green Globes – New Construction (NC), limits are applied to both content as applicable to adhesives, paints, sealers, etc., and emissions based on testing of products, such as flooring and adhesives.

For VOC emissions, resilient flooring and adhesives have to be tested according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Standard Method for the Testing and Evaluation of Volatile Organic Chemical Emissions from Indoor Sources using Environmental Chambers v1.2-2017, shortened to CDPH Standard Method v1.2-2017 for easier reference. There are two model scenarios used in the testing method – products tested in schools and classrooms and all others, which must use the private office scenario outlined in CDPH Standard Method v1.2. In addition, content limits for adhesives follow the regulation, South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Rule 1168 required by building rating systems and provided in the standard for a product to be FloorScore® certified.

Targeted VOC limits are established using a list of chemicals from the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). The Chronic Reference Exposure Levels (CRELs) are inhalation concentrations to which the general population, including sensitive individuals, may be exposed for long periods of time without the likelihood of serious adverse systemic effects. The VOCs and allowable concentrations included in building rating systems and FloorScore® certified products are found in Table 4-1 of the CDPH Standard Method v1.2-2017.

FloorScore® certified products can contribute to specific credits for compliance with LEED v4.1 BD+C and ID+C – Indoor Environmental Quality Section – Low Emitting Materials Credit. The criteria include at least 90% of all flooring, by cost or surface area, is required to meet the VOC emissions requirements. At least 75% of all adhesives, by volume or surface area, meet the VOC emissions evaluation and 100% meet the VOC content evaluation.

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Example of FloorScore® Certified Product: Holly Hill Hospital, Raleigh, N.C.

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Educational Flooring Solution: FloorScore® Certified.

For Green Globes – NC, Source Control and Measurement of Indoor Pollutants, Volatile Organic Compounds 6.2.1.3 (ANSI #11.2.1.3) the following credits in question format can benefit from specifying FloorScore® certified products. These include: Do 90% by area of the below interior products comply with prescribed limits of product VOC emissions? Specific Section 6.2.1.3.1 (ANSI #11.21.1.3.1) Floors/floor coverings. FloorScore® is referenced as documentation that contributes to compliance with this requirement. Flooring adhesives fall under Section 6.2.1.1 (ANSI #11.2.1.1) – Do adhesives and sealants (not including carpet adhesives) that are applied on site within, or part of, the building envelope’s continuous plane of air tightness comply with the following? FloorScore® is referenced as documentation that contributes to compliance with this requirement for adhesives.

Both LEED® v4.1 and Green Globes – NC references the CDPH Standard Method v1.2-2017 and SCAQMD Rule 1168 in the requirements for VOC content and VOC emissions. These are also the standards and methods referenced in the International Green Construction Code powered by ANSI/ASHRAE/ICC/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1 for indoor air quality as relevant to VOC content and emissions. Certifications, like FloorScore® that follow the building rating system requirements, provide an easier process for specifying products by the design professional, because the correlation of the regulations and related test methods are accommodated as part of the ecolabel. This saves time in having to further research the VOC content and emissions compliance of resilient floor covering products.

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AVA – Retail Installation, FloorScore® Certified.

ASSURE™ Certified

ASSURE™ Certified was conceived and developed by the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) in conjunction with SCS Global as means for establishing uniform standards of quality for all rigid core luxury vinyl flooring products sold in North America; regardless of where they are manufactured. The ASSURE™ certified standard applies to both SPC, which stands for Stone Plastic (or Polymer) Composite featuring a core typically comprised of around 60% calcium carbonate (limestone), polyvinyl chloride and plasticizers, and WPC, which stands for Wood Plastic (or Polymer) Composite. WPC’s core typically comprised of polyvinyl chloride, calcium carbonate, plasticizers, a foaming agent, and wood-like or wood materials, e.g., wood flour. Both types of rigid core are durable and stable, however, SPC is denser overall due to its limestone composition. WPC is softer and quieter underfoot, while SPC offers better resistance from scratches or dents. Both are used in commercial and residential interior spaces.

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ASSURE™ Certified logo for rigid core flooring.

ASSURE™ Certified WPC and SPC rigid core products meet the requirements in the Resilient Floor Covering Institute’s Rigid Core Flooring Certification Standard – SCS-0011, Version 1-0, May 1, 2020. Meeting the criteria, completion of testing as a requirement, and certification by SCS Global is the basis for this third-party verified ecolabel. Rigid core luxury vinyl products that are ASSURE™ Certified meet all requirements for indoor air quality and rigorous performance and are tested for heavy metals and ortho-phthalates content. The indoor air quality requirements are the same as outlined in the FloorScore® criteria and in the various building rating systems, standards, and the IgCC. The alignment of various requirements provides extra assurance for the specifier that products comply with building rating systems and their relevant criteria.

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SPC Rigid Core Flooring Diagram.

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WPC Rigid Core Flooring Diagram.

Environmental Product Declarations

Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) can be a powerful tool to use when choosing materials for commercial projects. Per definition from the Sustainable Facilities Tool (SF Tool) developed by the General Services Administration, “Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are a way for manufacturers to take comprehensive, third-party-verified Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), which are quite complex, and turn them into standardized declaration labels for their products.” Type III EPDs follow ISO 14025 and provide information about certain life cycle impacts of a product and are independently verified and made publicly available on various databases and websites. The EPDs are based on industry-standard product category rules, or PCRs, that are regularly updated with the stakeholders involved in a particular category. The third-party verifiers of Type III EPDs are called Program Operators, which include but are not limited to ASTM International, NSF International, SCS Global, UL Environment, and Smart EPD.

There are two types of Environmental Product Declarations that are used and referenced in building rating systems, e.g., LEED v4.1 BD+C and ID+C Materials and Resources Credits under Environmental Product Declarations and Green Globes Materials Credits under Product Life Cycle sections, respectively.

An Industry Wide EPD includes data that is aggregated from multiple manufacturers to complete a Life Cycle Assessment using the same PCR. These are typically completed through trade associations that have members that are all manufacturing the same product types. For resilient flooring, product category types that can be included to develop an Industry Wide EPD include Solid Vinyl Tile, Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT), Rigid Core (SPC/WPC), Heterogeneous Sheet Vinyl, Homogeneous Sheet Vinyl, Rubber, Linoleum, and Cork.

Product Specific EPDs are developed for an individual product from a specific manufacturer within a specific category. For example, Brand ABC Luxury Vinyl Tile product or Brand XYZ of Heterogeneous Sheet Vinyl product.

Why Are EPDs Important?

One question that is often asked is why are EPDs important, and what do they specifically convey about a product? The most recognizable impact that is provided in an EPD is Global Warming Potential (GWP) which impacts climate change. GWP is based on carbon dioxide emissions and makes up the vast majority of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. For products, this is referred to as embodied carbon, and GWP is measured in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents (kg of CO2 eq) per functional unit, which for flooring is one square meter. Reducing GWP is one way to combat climate change when specifying products. The goal for optimizing reductions is through measurement and baseline data. If an Industry Wide EPD uses the same Life Cycle Assessment methodology, PCR, functional unit, and product service life, it can be used as a baseline for evaluation of the various impact categories in a Product Specific EPD. The ISO Standards do not directly support comparison; however, comparisons are being used as part of criteria in building rating systems between Industry Wide and Product Specific EPD data. Another baseline being referenced in LEED v4.1 BD+C and ID+C is the comparison between two Product Specific EPDs. The purpose of the comparison is to demonstrate continual improvement of a specific product by a manufacturer, who takes steps to reduce GWP over time.

Typically, there are five additional impact categories evaluated through an LCA and documented in an EPD. These include ozone depletion potential (ODP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), smog formation potential (SFP), and abiotic depletion potential (fossil fuel). There are additional impacts that can be included within Life Cycle Assessments, however replicable methods and results for measurement are still under development for some other impacts, such as human toxicity.

For compliance with building rating systems, LEED v4.1 BD+C and ID+C and Green Globes – NC, it is encouraged to minimally document products that have either Industry Wide or Product Specific EPDs. Products that evaluate the life cycle stages minimally from Cradle to Gate all garner points within these systems as well as comply with the International Green Construction Code requirements. For additional points, Cradle to Grave garners additional points within Green Globes–NC and comparison of products can garner additional points within LEED v4.1. Evaluating product embodied carbon is one attribute of many that need to be considered, however, there is a direct correlation with evaluating data found in EPDs and reducing Global Warming Potential. Specific information on products and embodied carbon can be found on Building Transparency’s website for the Embodied Carbon Construction Calculator – or EC3. Note that a specifier will find two values for embodied carbon. One is directly from the EPD–Industry Wide or Product Specific and a second value that is calculated based on uncertainty factors, such as grid used, as an EC3 value. The less uncertainty, the better for evaluating a range of GWP for a product.

Photo courtesy of Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI)

Industry Wide Environmental Product Declaration: Rubber Flooring.

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Product Specific Environmental Product Declaration: Rubber Flooring: ABPure®.

NSF/ANSI 332 – 2022 Sustainability Assessment for Resilient Floor Coverings

Multi-attribute standards for product certification include requirements for the product manufacturer, the evaluation of supply chain, and the product itself. For resilient flooring, the other certification criteria and EPDs are required within the standard and, in many ways, would be considered a standard that is additive─collecting information from various certifications and declarations to demonstrate a wholistic approach to understanding a product’s baseline and subsequent continuous improvement.

Photo courtesy of Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI)

NSF/ANSI 332-2022 Sustainability Assessment for Resilient Floor Coverings.

In October 2022, the NSF/ANSI 332 Sustainability Assessment for Resilient Floor Coverings (NSF/ANSI 332) standard revision was published for use by resilient floor covering manufacturers. There are three program operators that certify products to this multi-attribute standard – UL, SCS Global, and NSF. The latest version of the standard includes criteria in three impact areas – environmental, health and wellness, and social impacts. The flooring standard can be used for all types of resilient floor covering products.

There are two levels of compliance; Level 1, which includes all criteria to be met to become certified, and Level 2, which requires all Level 1 criteria plus optional criteria with minimum requirements within the three impact areas. These include three Level 2 criteria for environmental impacts, two additional Level 2 criteria for health and wellness impacts, three additional Level 2 criteria for social impacts, and one additional Level 2 criteria from any of the impact areas. If a manufacturer chooses to complete additional Level 2 criteria above and beyond the requirements, they could use this to demonstrate continual improvement in the various impact areas.

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Envire®: Lab Installation: Certified to NSF/ANSI 332 Standard.

Environmental Impacts

The purpose of this section is to understand the Environmental Impacts of ingredients, constituents, chemicals, and the product for use by specifiers to minimize the impacts of sourcing and producing resilient floor coverings. This section highlights requirements for a Type III Industry Wide or Product Specific EPD, a documented Environmental Management System (EMS) to demonstrate that continuous environmental performance targets are met by the manufacturer, water and energy resources utilization plans, a waste minimization management plan, and for those products including vinyl as a feedstock, procurement best practices are required. Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) for Scope 1 and Scope 2 are required, and product service life according to performance standards are to be provided. Product end-of-life and recycling are addressed through extended producer responsibility criteria along with other additional requirements in the above sections that support a Level 2 certification.

Health and Wellness Impacts

The purpose of this section is intended to demonstrate that when in compliance with the standard requirements, flooring does not pose a health risk when installed, used, and maintained per the product manufacturer’s recommendation. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emissions and content follow the same requirements in the FloorScore® Certification and subsequently are the same requirements found in building rating systems and the IgCC. Total VOCs are part of Level 2 criteria. Product ingredient transparency is provided through the requirement to provide an ingredient disclosure report that declares a minimum of 1,000 parts per million (ppm). There is also information required on no intentionally added heavy metals for all products and on no intentionally added orthophthalates for vinyl products, which aligns with requirements in the ASSURE™ certification program. Level 2 criteria include identifying raw material chemical hazard classifications, completion of a product risk assessment, and ingredient optimization.

Social Impacts

The purpose of this section is intended to incorporate social responsibility in providing a desirable, just, and fair workplace for the product manufacturer and the organization seeking certification. In some cases, the physical point of product manufacture and organizations seeking certification may be one and the same. Policies are required that address community outreach programs, prevention of discrimination policy, prohibitions on forced labor policy, and prohibitions on child labor policy. For organizational assessments, completing an Impact Assessment utilizing the B Impact Assessment is required (not requiring third-party certification). Additional Level 2 criteria address transparency and social hotspots through supply chain social responsibility policies, additional third-party verifications, and a supplier social responsibility audit.

It is important for specifiers and design professionals to realize that there is far more depth to a multi-attribute certification and the rigor of the compliance documentation and process that is based on a consensus based standard. If a resilient flooring product is certified to the NSF/ANSI 332 Standard, the manufacturer has established meeting FloorScore® certification requirements, attributes of the ASSURE™ Certification that are applicable to other types of resilient flooring (in addition to rigid core flooring), such as addressing heavy metals and utilization of an alternative plasticizer(s) that are not orthophthalates, and has completed a Product Specific Type III EPD and/or has participated in providing data to complete an Industry Wide Type III EPD. Overall, knowing a resilient floor covering product has met criteria for Level 1 or Level 2 Certification provides assurance and demonstrates to the specifier the proactive approach to environmental, health and wellness, and social impacts as related to resilient floor covering products.

ADDITIONAL ECOLABELS FOR RESILIENT FLOORING

In addition to the certifications and environmental product declarations, there are additional certifications and ecolabels that are utilized within the resilient floor covering product sector.

Cradle to Cradle Certified®

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute leads the certification program Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Certified®. The certification is a multi-attribute certification program that focuses on material health, product circularity, clean air and climate protection, water and soil stewardship, and social fairness requirements. There are four different levels of certification, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum; with higher levels of recognition provided as increased environmental performance is sustained, supply chain transparency increases, circular economy is reinforced, and for the highest Platinum level, a manufacturer has incorporated environmental objectives into employee performance evaluations as an active way to achieve organizational goals. Cradle to Cradle Certified® Product Standard Version 4.0 is the current standard and launched in April 2021. There is a reporting documentation template available to use to demonstrate cradle-to-cradle circularity called the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Circularity Data Report–meaning that the product starts out being manufactured, is sold, distributed, and installed, has a useful service life, and then is recycled to provide feedstock for the same product type. Note that this covers all the life cycle stages evaluated in a Life Cycle Assessment as documented in an Environmental Product Declaration.

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Cradle to Cradle Certification.

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Cradle-to-Cradle circularity diagram. Cradle-to-cradle life cycle assessments look at the end-of-life stage as an opportunity to recycle or reuse a product as a feedstock back into the same resilient flooring product.

Declare Label and Health Product Declarations

Transparent reporting of ingredients or feedstocks in a product can be conveyed to specifiers through a Declare Label or a Health Product Declaration®(HPD). These can be utilized to fulfill requirements within the NSF/ANSI 332 Standard in the Health and Wellness Impact Section.

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Declare Label Example.

The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) is the organization that developed the criteria for the Declare Label, which is a nutritional label for products that includes intentionally added ingredients that are at or above 100 parts per million. Toxnot, now part of 3E, is the software system utilized to create Declare Labels as well as other types of reporting, such as Digital Product Passports. Manufacturers can also have their Declare Label third party verified through assessors designated by ILFI.

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Declare Label and HPD Product Example.

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Health Product Declaration Example.

The Health Product Declaration® (HPD) has a standard that was developed by the HPD Collaborative (HPDC). The HPD Open Standard provides a standardized format for reporting material contents of a building product and associated material health, transparency, and environmental impact information. Product manufacturers have to comply with requirements in the HPD Open Standard and there is an optional HPDC Third Party Verification Program available, similar to the Declare Label.

For LEED v4.1 BD+C and ID+C both Declare Labels and HPDs are utilized to meet the Material Ingredients credit. For Green Globes – NC, the information provided in Declare Labels and HPDs can be used to contribute to Product Risk Assessment and Sustainable Materials Attributes credits as outlined in the Green Globes – NC Technical Reference Manual and HPDs can be used to contribute to the Materials Renovations and Procurement – Cycle Renovations credits as outlined in the Green Globes – Existing Building Technical Reference Manual.

THE "EASY" BUTTON: FINDING CERTIFICATIONS, ECOLABELS, AND DECLARATIONS FOR RESILIENT FLOOR COVERING

One of the challenges to specifiers and subcontractors is easily finding the various documentation to meet building rating systems, including LEED v4.1 and Green Globes-NC. As a result, the Resilient Floor Covering Institute has created a dedicated ecomedes database site for resilient floor covering.

A user can create a “project” and then add products and relevant sustainable and material health documentation to the “project." This provides all of the various certifications required by the building rating systems that would be needed for resilient floor covering products. The provision of a “one stop shop” approach to easily correlate the information that would take much longer if going to each database provided by each different label and/or certification body. Information is regularly updated by connecting to the reporting and certification organizations, so that data and documentation are current.

In addition, ecomedes is also the database that powers mindful Materials (mM) and provides search filters for Product Category, Brand, Certifications and Ecolabels, and Rating System, and an additional filter for the mM Common Materials Framework. This includes Human Health, Climate Health, Ecosystem Health, Social Health and Equity, and Circularity.

For convenience the same login used for the main ecomedes database, the RFCI ecomedes database, and mindfulMaterials can all be the same, in addition to other specialized databases for the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), and the General Services Administration (GSA) Sustainable Facilities Tool (SFTool) product database utilized for finding EPA recommended specifications, standards, and ecolabels and compliance with Federal Programs.

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RFCI ecomedes resilient floor covering database: https://rfci.ecomedes.com.

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mindful Materials portal powered by ecomedes: https://portal.mindfulmaterials.com.

CONCLUSION

It is important to understand how certifications, ecolabels, and declarations can fulfill building rating system criteria for LEED v4.1 and Green Globes certification systems. Both material and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) credits can be fulfilled through recognizing applicable products and their environmental and material health attributes. Product categories that have aligned their product certifications with the building certification systems provide an opportunity for specifiers to be assured that if products have various labels, then they meet the criteria required by building rating systems and have been rigorously evaluated by third-party program operators and/or certification bodies. This is a collaborative process that correlates various requirements into easy-to-identify labels and certifications through “behind the scenes” intentional coordination efforts by manufacturers, such as those providing resilient floor covering solutions, and trade associations, such as the Resilient Floor Covering Institute, to verify compliance and integration of reporting for ease of use by specifiers. Utilizing ecomedes provides an efficient and easy way for design professionals and building contractors to find documentation on an open-source database to meet their project needs.

Jane M. Rohde, AIA, FIIDA, ASID, CHID, ACHA, LEED AP BD+C, GGA – EB, GGF, EDAC , is a healthcare architect and sustainability consultant and sits on various healthcare and sustainability committees supporting research, advocacy, and humanistic approaches to design. www.jsrassociates.net