Using materials recovered from the waste stream typically results in less waste, pollution, and energy use than using virgin materials. From an environmental standpoint, post-consumer is typically considered preferable to pre-consumer recycled content because post-consumer recycled materials are more likely to have been diverted from landfills.
In some cases, we consider products with recycled content green but with some caveats regarding where they should be used. For example, rubber flooring made from recycled automobile tires should not be used in most fully enclosed indoor spaces due to the likelihood of VOC emissions.
Recycling can have downsides. For example, some studies show that curbside collection programs and some recycling processes use more energy than they save. Closed-loop recycling is generally preferable to “down-cycling,” in which a lower-grade material is produced—but due to contamination of waste streams and the difficulty of extracting high-value ingredients, down-cycling may be as good as it gets. At times recycling can re-introduce hazardous components. Some products, like copper and aluminum, include a high level of recycled content as a matter of course—which we applaud, but don’t consider justification for listing in GreenSpec. As more complete life-cycle information on recycled materials and processes becomes available, we use that to increase our scrutiny of recycled products.
InterfaceFLOR Carpet Tile with GlasBac RE
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Pre-consumer (also called “post-industrial”) recycling refers to the reuse of industrial by-products, as distinguished from material that has been in consumer use. The iron-ore slag used to make mineral wool insulation and the fly ash used to make concrete are examples of post-industrial recycled materials. While post-consumer recycled content is preferable, a product that uses pre-consumer content or recycles a seldom-used waste product, especially in an area where recycled products are hard to find, can be considered green.
Excluded from this category, by FTC definitions, is the use of scrap within the same manufacturing process from which it was generated—material that would typically have gone back into the manufacturing process anyway. -
Better information alone doesn’t make a product green, but it does make it a lot easier to see just how green that product actually is. We can make more informed purchasing decisions when we know what’s in a product, not just manufacturer’s claims about what it’s “free-of”; and when we know the actual environmental impacts of manufacturing the product relative to alternatives, not just a trade association’s claim that it’s “green.” Making information public can also help manufacturers get greener. It’s often the manufacturers that are already greener that are willing to share more information in the first place, but in the process of doing so they see where they still need to improve. Products with Environmental Product Declarations are included here, along with products with other forms of disclosure, such as products from companies that participate in the Global Reporting Initiative, or provide full disclosure of ingredients, potentially via the Health Product Declaration format. GreenSpec also lists products that help track buildings' energy and water performance, especially when those tracking tools can be used to publicly display or report energy and water usage.
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Just how low the VOC level needs to be for a given product to qualify for inclusion in GreenSpec depends on the product category. For most products, we require certification to California’s health-based emissions standard, CDPH Std Method v1.1 standard (also referred to as California Section 01350), which tests a product’s resultant VOC concentrations in the space after a given period of time. For wet-applied products like paints, caulks, and adhesives, we still also look for VOC content instead of, or in addition to, verified low emissions; this is because emissions testing doesn’t adequately test initial offgassing, and VOC content is currently the only widely available proxy.
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Alternative wastewater disposal systems reduce groundwater pollution by decomposing organic wastes or removing nutrients more effectively. Hand dryers reduce water and paper towel use, alternative treatments for cooling tower water reduce chemical use, and carpet tile allows modular replacement of worn areas. In screening products for this area, we focus on quantifiable environmental benefits and strong performance records.
All InterfaceFLOR carpet tiles with GlasBacRE recycled PVC backing contain at least 49% total recycled content and are certified to NSF 140-2007e Platinium. They are Green Label Plus certified, meet ASTM E2471, and were the industry's first carpet with post-consumer type 6,6 nylon fiber. InterfaceFLOR carpet tiles can also be selected using fibers that contain no perfluorinated compounds (PFC) surface treatments, chemicals that are commonly used as stain repellants on carpets but do not break down in the environment. GlasBacRE products can be installed using InterfaceFLOR's Green Label Plus-certified Grid-Set Green Glue 2000, Grid-Set 2500, or TacTiles low-emitting installation system.
Carpeting is ubiquitous in our homes, schools, and office buildings. Almost two billion square yards of carpeting are sold each year, nearly all of it made from petrochemicals.
Carpet is a good absorber of sound and impact, yielding a surface associated with comfort. Its absorbent nature, however, also makes it a good medium for holding moisture and harboring dirt, mold, and dust mites. This, along with potential offgassing from the carpet and its adhesive, has led to indoor air quality concerns. Modular carpet tiles are an environmentally preferable alternative to broadloom carpeting because damaged or stained tiles can be replaced individually without having to replace carpeting on an entire floor.
The carpet industry has come a long way toward improving the environmental profile of their products, but there has not been a robust, widely adopted standard for carpet sustainability until the NSF/ANSI 140-2007e Sustainable Carpet Assessment. This voluntary, point-based standard looks at the entire life cycle of carpet, from material selection to carpet recycling and certifies to three levels: silver, gold, and platinum.
Carpets meeting the NSF 140-2007e Platinum level must contain 10% post-consumer recycled content, must be certified by the Carpet and Rug Institute's Green Label Plus program or California's 01350 for indoor air quality, and must not contain polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants. The carpet must also undergo a life cycle assessment (LCA), and the manufacturers have to meet Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) recycling goals.
Carpet tiles listed in GreenSpec are certified to the platinum level of NSF 140-2007e. Note that antimicrobials and perfluorochemicals (PFCs) are added to most carpeting to inhibit mold and improve stain resistance, but the long-term environmental impact of these chemicals is unknown. Fibers are available that do not require PFCs.
Certifications
- NSF-140 Platinum
LEED Credits
EQc4.3: Low-Emitting Materials—Carpet Systems
IEQc4.3: Low-Emitting Materials—Flooring Systems
MRc4: Recycled Content
Ratings and Commentary
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The Construction Specification Institute's GreenFormat provides comprehensive information on the sustainability properties of a product via a standardized online questionnaire. Click here to leave BuildingGreen's site and go to the GreenFormat listing for this product.
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