The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association International (BIFMA), along with NSF International, has developed product category rules (PCRs) for the furniture industry to help verify environmental product claims and to eliminate greenwashing. NSF’s National Center for Sustainability Standards will serve as program operator.
PCRs define how to conduct a life cycle assessment for a product group and what information to include in the resulting environmental product declaration (EPD). EPDs are ISO-compliant, third-party-verified documents that explain the data generated from an LCA. Together, PCRs and EDPs “will give customers a uniform way to evaluate the full array of environmental impacts of products,” says Thomas Reardon, executive director at BIFMA.
In a similar note to the BIFMA initiative, the National Center for Sustainability Standards is working with flooring trade associations to develop the first North American PCR for resilient, carpet, laminate, tile, and wood flooring products, according to a BIFMA release.
