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Operator Groups Ink Transparency Deal
Four key green-building stakeholder organizations have partnered to create the industry’s first Program Operator Consortium for Environmental Product Declarations and other product transparency tools.
ASTM International, ICC Evaluation Service, NSF International and Sustainable Minds signed the agreement Wednesday (Nov. 18) at Greenbuild 2015 in Washington.
‘Expert Resource’ in Transparency
According to the organizations, the consortium will serve as “an expert resource and advocate for creating product category rules (PCRs), reviewing life cycle assessment (LCA) reports, and verifying and publishing environmental product declarations (EPDs).”
The member organizations say they will pool resources; leverage existing relationships; jointly conduct outreach, marketing, education and communications; and promote the overall use of PCRs, LCAs and EPDs in the marketplace.
“When an architect or another specifier is choosing which products to use, ICC-ES and our partners in this effort want them to recognize that a high-profile group is now linked together, providing instantly recognizable value in the marketplace,” said Shahin Moinian, president, ICC Evaluation Service. “This partnership just makes sense.”
Dr. Lori Bestervelt, executive vice president and chief technology officer, NSF International, added that the collaboration will educate manufacturers and design professionals about the value of product transparency tools.
Reducing Confusion
The consortium will further reduce market confusion, according to Terry Swack, founder and CEO of Sustainable Minds, a cloud-based software and services company that provides greener product design and market solutions.
“With the proliferation of program operators, complex reporting requirements, and increased demand for these services, we saw the potential to deliver real and measurable value to manufacturers by launching this consortium,” said Swack.
ASTM executive vice president Kathie Morgan added, “All four of our organizations have a global reach, so we are collectively poised to act as a clearinghouse for best practices.”
The four Program Operators conform with ISO 14025-Environmental Labels and Declarations-Type III Environmental Declarations – Principles and Procedures.
