subject: How Green Building Standards And Codes Impact Indoor Building Products And Furniture [print this page] Building design and construction in the US has been radically transformed. This change has occurred as a result of a chain of events beginning with the energy shortages of the 1970s. Building energy and indoor air quality (IAQ) became recognized scientific disciplines around 1980. IAQ research was driven by the recognition that our society spends about 90% of its time, on average, inside buildings. When indoors, occupants are exposed to air pollutants released by building products, furnishings, consumer products, and various activities. Because ventilation of buildings with outdoor air consumes considerable energy, control of indoor pollutant sources was recognized by scientists and now generally by building professionals as the most efficient way to maintain acceptable IAQ.
The US Green Building Council was the first to significantly promote indoor pollutant source control with the release of the first voluntary green building standard in 2000. Known as LEED, this standard focuses on energy and sustainable building attributes, but also awards credits to projects that control building product and furniture sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The affected building products are paints and coatings, adhesives and sealants, flooring, and office furniture. Architects in their efforts to attain green building certification through LEED are demanding compliant, low VOC-emitting products. This demand has created opportunities for product manufacturers and has led to building product and furniture testing by qualified environmental laboratories.
The LEED rating system is undergoing major revision. The new standard, originally scheduled for 2012 roll out, has been postponed for a year to allow the marketplace to adjust to the changes. The proposed credit structure for low-emitting products extends the requirements to all major interior surfaces, i.e., floors, walls, ceilings, and furniture and raises the bar with respect to VOC emissions limits. The commercial furniture industry association, BIFMA, has been particularly proactive in keeping up with changes in LEED and generally with expectations regarding product performance, and has evolved its own furniture standards accordingly. Most furniture testing currently being conducted will be consistent with the new LEED, low-emitting, product requirements.
The principles championed by USGBC have become main stream and are now being adopted into building codes. In 2012, California introduced the first green building code, CALGreen. Like its voluntary standard predecessor, it incorporates requirements for low VOC-emitting building products. On a national scale, there are two competing green building codes, the International Green Construction Code and ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1. Again, both incorporate requirements for low VOC-emitting building products, and Standard 189.1 additionally has requirements for furniture. Clearly, the demand for VOC-compliant indoor building products and furniture is here to stay. The concepts initiated in science, then broadly adopted by building professionals, have made it into enforceable code language.
