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Slideshow:
Looming Beauty
Photo courtesy of Interface.
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California
Gold
Working for a Common Goal
The sustainability and environmentally preferable purchasing
community is a loose network that includes government officials,
university researchers and purchasing agents, industry representatives and
private sector professionals. Its members tend to be idealistic and highly
motivated to improve the environment. In list-serves, blogs, telephone
calls and at conferences, they share information freely. As a force, they
are pushing the boundaries of innovation in sustainable technology.
“Have you ever met an ex-environmentalist?” quipped Ray Anderson, founder
and
CEO
of
Interface. “There’s no
such thing. Once people get it, they get it…There’s an inevitability that
this has to happen and will continue as more and more people get it.” Dan
Burgoyne of the California Department of General Services agrees. “We’re
all basically after the same thing, and we’re willing to pool our energy
to move forward.”
It is not possible to fully appreciate what a major
accomplishment the California Gold Carpet Standard is without
understanding the extent of the coordinated effort behind it. A number of
state agencies were involved and had input, including (but not limited to)
the California Integrated Waste Management Board, the Department of Health
Services, the Department of Toxic Substance Control, the Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the Air Resources Board. The
private sector, through architectural firms and consultants who donated
time and the standards organizations working on certification criteria
were also major players. Public meetings were attended by manufacturers
and representatives of the carpet industry and the private sector.
“I attended a couple of meetings where we worked on the Gold Standard,”
recalled Lynn Preston, Technical Environmental Manager for
Tandus. “It was
kind of a negotiation. There were a couple of requirements California
would have liked to have seen, but the industry said we weren’t quite
there yet. So we all agreed and settled on the standard as we know it
today.”
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