Composite Panels: Particleboard and Medium-Density Fiberboard
Formaldehyde emission limits established by the U.S. composites industry have played a major role in bringing emission levels down. In fact, the industry average is well below the voluntary ANSI standards for both particleboard and MDF. Some U.S. particleboard and MDF producers are also certified by third parties as meeting quality and environmental standards such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9000, ISO 14000, Scientific Certification Services (SCS), or the CPA's Environmentally Preferable Product (EPP) Certification Program.
Various overlays and surface treatments are also known to significantly reduce product emissions even further. Effective barriers can reduce emission levels by 95 percent or more. These barriers are most effective when all surfaces are treated, i.e., for maximum emission reduction, edges, notches, and holes also need to be edge banded, laminated, finished or covered with hardware. For additional information about emissions, see the CPA Technical Bulletin VOC Emission Barrier Effects.
U.S. and Canadian composite producers who are members of the CPA voluntarily meet the EPA and ANSI standards for formaldehyde emissions. They also use significant amounts (up to 100 percent) of recycled and/or recovered fiber as their raw material. Be aware, however, that safety and production standards vary from country to country, as do raw materials sourcing practices and requirements.
Oriented strandboard (OSB), plywood, and some specialty MDF products use phenol-formaldehyde. However, phenol-formaldehyde requires a different manufacturing process involving higher employee safety and manufacturing costs. Agri-board uses a third type of adhesive known as methyl diisocyanate adhesive, which also involves extremely complex and expensive employee safety precautions.
LEED Certification
As more owners become "green conscious" and seek certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environment (LEEDâ„¢), there is a growing interest on the part of architects to seek out products with lower VOC emissions. Some manufacturers are offering composite panels with no added urea formaldehyde in order to reduce formaldehyde emissions.
At present, the majority of potential points available from Particleboard and MDF products are in the category of materials and resources (see Table 5 online). For example, the use of typical Particleboard and MDF could help reach the goal of specifying 5 percent or 10 percent recycled content for the whole project (worth one point each). For a building in San Francisco, specifying composite panels manufactured locally (within 500 miles) in California or Oregon could help achieve the project's goal of using 20 percent locally manufactured materials (worth one point).
Specifying composite panels manufactured locally from raw materials harvested locally could potentially help earn another point. Other potential LEED points could be gained by specifying certain specialty composite panels, such as agri-board or formaldehyde-free MDF. However, designers need to be aware there may be difficulty sourcing these specialty products or meeting other specifications of the project.
Green Globes Rating
Green Globesâ„¢ is another "green" rating for commercial buildings, adopted in the U.S. in 2004 from a Canadian protocol of the same name. It is one of only two green building rating systems recommended by the Canadian government.
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