Seven product sustainability assessment companies have partnered with the Health Product Declaration Collaborative to develop an official protocol for third-party verification of Health Product Declarations (HPDs).

The companies are: GreenCE, GreenCircle, NSF International, PE International, SCS Global Services, ToxServices and UL Environment.

The organizations say a similar process is underway to define expectations for quality assurance consulting.

HPDs offers a framework for manufacturers to list product ingredients and associated health information.

“Establishing common criteria for third-party verification and quality assurance consulting is critical to advance the collective knowledge of the building industry, particularly as questions move up the supply chain,” says Eden Brukman, technical director of the HPD Collaborative.

Alpar Architectural Products, ASSA ABLOY Door Security Solutions, Bradley Corporation, Cosentino Group, Forbo Flooring Systems, GAF, Interface, Mohawk Group, Nydree Flooring, PROSOCO and Teknion are already working with one or more of the provisional third-party verifiers and quality assurance consultants so that, when released in Spring 2014, the official protocols will be based on functional experience and the best standard of practice.

This initial discovery phase of documenting the necessary methodology, credentials and training will run through February 2014. The collaborative is encouraging additional manufacturers to participate as well.

In May, the International Living Future Institute and the HPD Collaborative said they will align their building products standards to simplify disclosure requirements for manufacturers.