Product-Specific EPDs, Transparency Catalog Make It Easier to Earn Green Building Credits

Construction and design professionals will likely have an easier time finding and using sustainable building materials thanks to efforts from two flooring manufacturers: a new product catalog by Tarkett and new product-specific environmental product declarations (EPDs) from Gerflor USA.

EPDs, which provide a comprehensive overview of a product’s environmental impact, are becoming increasingly important to construction industry professionals as they can help projects earn LEED v4 points toward green building certification.

Because of this, Gerflor has published product-specific EPDs for all of its commercial flooring brands including Mipolam, Taraflex, Taralay and Creation LVT. Product-specific EPDs will allow architects and designers to more quickly and efficiently earn a LEED v4 credit in the Materials & Resources category, the company says.

“We took quick and decisive action to develop and publish an EPD for each of our product ranges, as product-specific EPDs provide more specific and detailed information about the product’s lifecycle,” said Catherine del Vecchio, director of marketing for Gerflor USA. All of Gerflor USA’s products are 100 percent recyclable, REACH compliant, and FloorScore certified, meaning they have been independently third party certified to comply with strict volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions criteria, the company says.

Both industry EPDs and product-specific EPDs offer third-party verification. However, product-specific EPDs provide increased transparency and credibility by examining specific products rather than the average product by companies.

As the new LEED v4 green building standard continues to take hold, product-specific EPDs will be increasingly important; specifiers must use 20 different permanently installed products from five different manufacturers. Industry EPD products are valued as half a product, while product-specific EPD products are valued as one whole product.

In another move to make it easier for construction and architecture industry professionals to find environmental product transparency information on flooring products, Tarkett has partnered with Sustainable Minds to launch the SM Transparency Catalog. The catalog includes sustainability information on more than 850 Tarkett products across of its North American brands: Tandus Centiva, Johnsonite and Desso, among others.

Sustainable Minds is a B2B cloud provider of environmental product transparency applications, data and services.

“Transparency, along with the data to support it, is particularly important to project owners who are working to meet rating systems requirements,” said Diane Martel, vice president of sustainability for Tarkett. “Our efforts are helping these owners choose healthy products for healthy spaces.”

The SM Transparency Catalog is designed to help architecture, engineering, and construction professionals easily find products with transparency information that qualify for green building rating systems including: The Collaborative for High Performances Schools (CHPS), LEED v4, Green Globes, the Well Building Standard and the Living Building Challenge.