Home Green Design First Sustainable Wallcoverings Earn NSF Certification

First Sustainable Wallcoverings Earn NSF Certification

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ANN ARBOR, MICH.—NSF International, an independent global organization that writes standards, tests and certifies products for the green building, food, water and consumer goods industries, has certified the first sustainable wallcovering products and qualified three additional distributors to the NSF American National Standard for Sustainable Wallcoverings (NSF/ANSI 342). NSF International developed NSF/ANSI 342: Sustainability Assessment for Wallcovering Products to help architects, designers, retailers and consumers identify sustainable and environmentally preferable wallcoverings.

LSI Wallcovering is the first manufacturer to earn NSF/ANSI 342 product certification. The manufacturer certified their entire line of Type I and Type II standard and custom wallcoverings sold under the Versa Wallcovering, Cirqa, Plexus and Second-Look brands.

NSF International also has qualified four additional wallcovering distributors to the NSF American National Standard for Sustainable Wallcoverings—Colour & Design, Levey Industries, MDC Wallcoverings, and National Wallcovering. Commercial and residential designers and architects can now source NSF certified sustainable wallcoverings from these qualified distributors in addition to Dallas-based wallcovering distributor TRI-KES, which qualified last December.

Standards Recognized by Many

NSF/ANSI sustainability assessment standards are recognized by companies, organizations and governments alike as credible tools for identifying and specifying more sustainable products. For example, the U.S. Government Services Administration (GSA) through Executive Order 13514 has set a goal to ensure 95 percent of all new contracts require products and services with more sustainable attributes (e.g., energy and water efficient, recycled), many of which are identified as criteria in NSF/ANSI 342.

“The government, building and design communities are demanding sustainable wallcovering products,” said Phil Tarullo, CEO of LSI Wallcovering and immediate past president of the Wallcovering Assn. “Earning NSF certification for our sustainable wallcovering products is the most credible way of communicating to our customers that we are committed to minimizing the environmental impacts of our products and supplying them with the products they need to meet their sustainability goals.”

“NSF/ANSI 342 certification gives architects and designers a way of identifying and comparing sustainable products, while also providing manufacturers and distributors the framework they need to produce more sustainable products and operations over time,” said Tom Bruursema, general manager of NSF International’s Sustainability division. “It also favorably positions companies who choose to self regulate ahead of the competition, making them more attractive to organizations adopting sustainability purchasing practices like the U.S. Government Services Administration.”

Similar to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for buildings, NSF/ANSI 342 assigns point values in a number of categories. Unique to this standard is the requirement to combine points from both the manufacturer and distributor to determine the product certification level as Conformant, Silver, Gold or Platinum. Each organization is responsible for its own rating and applies individually.

NSF/ANSI 342 recognizes the important role distributors play in maintaining the sustainability of wallcovering products throughout their lifecycle. In order to qualify and distribute certified sustainable wallcoverings, distributors undergo a comprehensive and independent NSF assessment that evaluates the environmental and social impacts of their operations.

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