Environmental consciousness is no longer a fad. It is a trend, and consciousness is a necessity. LEED is a “green” building certification program, and the products ELEMENTS represents can only have a small impact. Through other environmental certifications, practices, and ratings specific to manufacturers’ products, ELEMENTS can make a dramatic impact on the environment and do our part. ELEMENTS represents and promotes manufacturers’ products that have secured these somewhat exclusive ratings. In addition to LEED, information on each is listed below.
LEED
LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party
verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at
improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency,
CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources
and sensitivity to their impacts.
GREENGUARD
The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) is an industry-independent, non-profit
organization that oversees the GREENGUARD Certification Program. As an ANSI Authorized
Standards Developer, GEI establishes acceptable indoor air standards for indoor products,
furniture, environments, and buildings. GEI’s mission is to improve public health and quality
of life through programs that improve indoor air.
Cradle to Cradle
MBDC is articulating and putting into practice a new design paradigm; what Time calls “a unified
philosophy that—in demonstrable and practical ways—is changing the design of the world.”
Instead of designing cradle-to-grave products, dumped in landfills at the end of their ‘life,’
MBDC transforms industry by creating products for cradle-to-cradle cycles, whose materials are
perpetually circulated in closed loops. Maintaining materials in closed loops maximizes material
value without damaging ecosystems.
SMaRT
SMaRT is distinguished from other certification programs because it is transparent,
consensus-based and quantified. In addition, SMaRT requires a full Life Cycle Assessment
(LCA), which is a measurement of a product’s environmental benefits from throughout the
global supply chain. SMaRT was developed by The Institute for Market Transformation to
Sustainability (MTS), a non-profit group that brings together a coalition of sustainable product manufacturers,
environmental groups and key state and local government leaders with the goal of increasing the sale and
market share of sustainable products.
http://mts.sustainableproducts.com/standards.htm
FSC – Forest Stewardship Council
In many forests around the world, logging still contributes to habitat destruction, water pollution,
displacement of indigenous peoples, and violence against people who work in the forest and
the wildlife that dwells there. Many consumers of wood and paper, and many forest products
companies believe that the link between logging and these negative impacts can be broken, and that forests
can be managed and protected at the same time. Forest Stewardship Council certification is one way to improve
the practice of forestry.
The Forest Stewardship Council was created to change the dialogue about and the practice of sustainable forestry worldwide. FSC sets forth principles, criteria, and standards that span economic, social, and environmental concerns. The FSC standards represent the world’s strongest system for guiding forest management toward sustainable outcomes. The FSC standards for forest management have now been applied in over 57 countries around the world.
