Question: What is GREENGUARD Certification?
Answer: The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute or GEI is an industry-independent,third-party,non-profit organization and offers three product certification programs and one building certification program.
The GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certification Program identifies low-emitting materials,finishes and products for indoor environments.
Performance-based,field-validated standards are used to define products and materials with low chemical and particle emissions for indoor use.Products are required to be tested annually for more than 10,000 individual volatile organic compounds(VOCs).
Architects,builders,designers and specifiers identify products and materials that meet stringent standards for chemical emissions by looking for a GREENGUARD Certification logo.
At present,over 225 manufacturers voluntarily participate in the program and more than 200,000 products are represented in the GREENGUARD Certification Program.To look for products that have GREENGUARD Certification,go to GREENGUARD's website.
In 2005,GEI developed a new standard and product certification for daycare,K-12 and healthcare facilities.This is an extension to the GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certification Program.
Called the GREENGUARD Children&SchoolsSM Certification Program,it was developed by evaluating chemical sensitivities of children along with unique building characteristics of schools.It presents the most stringent product emissions criteria to date for low-emitting materials.
All GREENGUARD Certification is broadly recognized and accepted by sustainable building programs and building codes worldwide.
GREENGUARD Environmental Institute was established by Air Quality Sciences,Inc,(AQS)which is an indoor air quality firm,in June 2001.
