EFFICIENT PRODUCTS FEATURE


Understanding green building product labelling


Stakeholders are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental impacts of building products.


B


uildings account for a large amount of land use, energy and water


consumption, as well as air quality and atmosphere alteration. Reducing the volume of natural resources buildings consume, and the amount of pollution given off, is therefore seen as crucial for future sustainability. As a result, the environmental benefits of a manufacturer’s building products are now becoming a core element of their marketing strategy. Ecolabels are intended to educate and


increase stakeholder awareness of the environmental impacts of a building product. They should also encourage purchasers to buy building products with a lower environmental impact. The challenge, however, is how to identify and compare the most appropriate products.


BUILDING RATING SCHEMES There are country-specific Green Building rating schemes, each having their own ecolabel, which both product manufacturers and building developers can use to prove their green credentials. For example, standards and certifications include the following: • Beam (Hong Kong) – processes covering all building types, including mixed use complexes, both new and existing to assess, improve, certify, and label the environmental performance of buildings.


Beverly Quinn is an environmental engineer at TÜV SÜD, an international building services engineering consultancy, specialising in sustainable MEP (mechanical, electrical and public health), BIM (Building Information Modelling), lighting design, and vertical transportation


• CASBEE (Japan) – building assessment tools for pre-design, new construction, existing buildings being renovated.


• Energy Star (USA) – government certification using a benchmarking method.


• Green Globes (USA & Canada) – Green Building guidance and assessment programme for existing buildings and new construction.


• Green Star SA (South Africa) – Green Building rating system for office, retail and multi-unit residential.


• LEED (USA and globally recognised) – Green Building certification programme that recognises best-in-class building strategies and practices.


• Pearl Rating System for Estidama (Abu Dhabi) – Green Building rating system for community, buildings, villas, temporary buildings.


• Green Star (Australia) – benchmark for the environmental rating of the design,


Beverly Quinn, environmental engineer at


TÜV SÜD, guides us through Ecolabelling – what ecolabels are used for and why, and takes a look at the principles of ISO 14024


construction and operation of new buildings, fit-outs and communities.


• Well Certification (international) – framework to help improve the health and wellbeing for all building occupiers. In the UK, BREEAM is the property


industry’s recognised environmental assessment method for new and refurbished non-domestic buildings. The scheme contains a credit in relation to Environmental impacts from construction products, which is assessed through the review of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). The EPDs provide comparable environmental data for products across the industry. Although not all products have EPDs, it provides a standard for manufacturers to strive towards. With more than 65 building ecolabels


worldwide, stakeholders within the construction industry must determine which are most credible and applicable to their particular project. The most authentic and trustworthy certifications are those awarded by an independent third-party that has no business or monetary relationship with a product’s manufacturer, or a building’s contractor, designer or specifier. However, there is a lack of independent testing bodies and accredited certification bodies able to test and prove the compliance of products against the standards set by organisations promoting these ecolabels. ISO 14024 (Environmental labels and


declarations – Type I environmental labelling – Principles and procedures) provides world-class specifications for operating ecolabel schemes in an increasingly global market that has many different regional systems. It establishes the principles and procedures for developing environmental labelling programmes, for assessing and demonstrating compliance, and also establishes the certification procedures for awarding the label. As an example ISO 14024 has been adopted as a benchmark by the Global


/ ENERGYMANAGEMENT


Ecolabelling Network (GEN), a non- profit association of leading ecolabelling organisations worldwide, founded in 1994 to help protect the environment by improving, promoting, and developing the ecolabelling of green products and sustainable services. The principles of ISO 14024 include


the following stipulations: • Environmental labelling programmes should be voluntary.


• Compliance with environmental and other relevant legislation is required.


• The whole product life cycle must be taken into consideration when setting product.


• Environmental criteria, e.g. extraction of resources, manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal relating to relevant cross-media environmental indicators.


• Product environmental criteria need to be established to differentiate environmentally preferable products from others in the product category when these differences are significant.


ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY To gain a competitive advantage, manufacturers often use labelling and voluntarily provide environmental information. The challenge for purchasers is how they choose between the environmental footprint of different building products. As there is such a wide range of


ecolabels and certification options, you need substantive assurances from a manufacturer of their product’s environmental integrity. Products and processes that consistently comply with national and international standards help to maintain consumer confidence. You would also be advised to look for ecolabels that use the globally recognised ISO 14024 methodology, which provides world-class specifications for operating ecolabel schemes.


TÜV SÜD www.tuvsud.com/en-gb/real-estate


ENERGY MANAGEMENT | AUTUMN 2020 15


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