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For Long-Lasting Floors, Choose The Right Design

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Floors , Design .

Hello. This is Greg Zimmerman, managing editor of Building Operating Management magazine.

Today’s topic is green product certifications.

Use green product certifications like Energy Star or Green Seal to be sure that the specific environmental claims made by manufacturers have been verified by third-party organizations. For instance, an Energy Star-labeled roofing product is one that has been tested by a third-part laboratory and certified to achieve a reflectance value of at least 65 percent. This means facility executives can be assured that they’re buying a roof that will reflect most of the suns rays and help them save money on cooling costs.

Many green certifications have strict rules about how and when their trademarks can be used in marketing, so if facility executives see a Greenguard logo, as one example, on a product’s marketing materials, they can be assured that that product truly has that certification body’s stamp of approval.

Green product certifications exist for everything from VOC emissions for paint to recycled content and other environmental attributes. Please check the November issue of Building Operating Management magazine for a list of third party certifying bodies and the manufacturers that have products certified by them.