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Slideshow:
Looming Beauty |
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California
Gold
The Road to a Tough New Carpet Standard
Each year, California government agencies purchase enough carpet to cover
47 miles of four-lane freeway. By the end of August, at least four major
carpet suppliers will have products that meet the rigorous demands of the
new California carpet standard. Architects and contractors will be able to
choose from a wide range of styles in carpet tiles and broadloom. There's
no choice, however, when it comes to sustainability. As of September 1,
all carpets being installed in California state buildings will have to be
certified "California Gold."
The new standard puts California well ahead of even the new draft National
Standards (NSF)
carpet certification, now pursuing
ANSI (American National
Standards Institute) certification. How it all came about is a story of dedication, cooperation and
a strong desire on the part of government, the carpet industry, and
architects and designers to achieve optimal sustainability.
Taking the High Road
Five years ago, California legislators approved
Assembly Bill 498, calling
for the development of a manual of environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP)
best practices. An EPP task force was formed and within that task force a
working group was created to focus on carpet products and the development
of a standard that would help purchasers identify sustainable carpet.
The working group began the process of defining what such a standard
should encompass, and what it would take to get there. There were some
reference points. Dan Burgoyne, Sustainability Manager for the Department
of General Services (DGS), who spearheaded the effort, notes that other
carpet standards were already being developed. For example,
Scientific Certification Systems
(SCS)
had piloted a standard for a few years.
"We saw it and liked it. It needed a little tweaking and we started
working with them to do that," recalled Burgoyne. "It had a lot of the
aspects we wanted – recycled content, strict indoor air quality
requirements, a flexible menu-based system that allowed manufacturers to
demonstrate sustainability through a point system with many ways for
them to get points."
Yet another standard was being developed by
MTS (The Institute for Market
Transformation to Sustainability). Eventually both efforts were pulled
together under one unified standard that was supported by industry, government and the private sector into an NSF standard
titled NSF 140.
Burgoyne and his team soon realized that the NSF standard was not
stringent enough to comply with some of California's existing codes. A law
requiring state agencies to purchase products with a minimum level of PCRC
(post consumer recycled content) was already in place in California, for
example. The NSF standard did not have a mandate for PCRC.
"When and if the
ANSI standard certification process is completed, if it's stringent enough to meet our
standards, we will consider transitioning to it," said Burgoyne. "In the meantime we have
developed our own ‘Gold' standard which adds fourteen additional
prerequisites on top of the NSF criteria. They cover areas of recycled
content, indoor air quality, life cycle assessment and end of life recycling. Manufacturers must
also meet the requirements of
CARE (Carpet Area Recovery
Effort), a reclamation program that has established end-of-life
reclamation goals for the carpet industry."
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