ASTM International announced its new initiative as a program operator for Product Category Rules and Environmental Product Declarations.The goal of the program is to assist product manufacturers in developing PCRs and verifying EPDs.Also known as eco-labels,EPDs disclose the life cycle environmental performance of a product.The labels are similar to the nutritional labels for the food industry.Product Category Rules ensure everyone measuring the environmental impacts of a product does so in the same way.
In the glazing market,"Today eco-labeling is a differentiator.Tomorrow,it may be a ticket to play,"said Helen Sanders,vice president,technical business development,SAGE Electrochromics,during her presentation"Eco-labeling is Coming:Is the Glazing Industry Ready?"at GlassBuild America."In the future,you may not be able to sell a window without an eco-label,"she said.
Currently,the Department of Energy,through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory,is sponsoring the development of product category rules for windows,through a joint AAMA/GANA/IGMA/WDMA task group.
ASTM International's program"will provide scientifically based,quantifiable information about product parameters such as resource consumption and ozone depletion,which will give both businesses and consumers an understanding of a product's real impact on the environment,"said Timothy Brooke,vice president of certification,training and proficiency testing,ASTM International,in a release.
