ANSI Reports on Product Standards for Sustainability Workshop

Environment Standards

BSI BIP 2105
Environmental Management Report : Focus on climate change

BSI BS ISO 14064-1
Greenhouse gases Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals

BSI BS ISO 14064-2
Greenhouse gases Part 2: Specification with guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements

BSI BS ISO 14064-3
Greenhouse gases Part 3: Specification with guidance for the validation and verification of greenhouse gas assertions

ISO 14050
Environmental management — Vocabulary

ISO 16813
Building environment design Indoor environment General principle

ISO 14065
Greenhouse gases — Requirements for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition

UNI UNI/TR 11286
Greenhouse gases - Analysis of the potential use of the standards ISO 14064 and ISO/DIS 14065 in the field of GHG emissions, with specific reference to the provisions of Directive 2003/87/ EC

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ANSI Reports on Product Standards for Sustainability Workshop

July 23, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

Organized by ANSI, with the support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the workshop brought together industry experts and advocates to share information and develop recommendations on standards and criteria for sustainable products.

The report includes an overview of the workshop and offers a primer of the U.S. standards and conformity assessment system. It also includes details on the discussions and findings of the workshop.

Over the course of the workshop, participants reached several conclusions and offered take-away messages for further consideration:

Consistent and globally accepted terminology tops the list of needs. Until there is consensus, terms like "attribute" and "certification" may be interpreted differently by consumers, standards developers, government and industry.

Standards should be clearly written so they can be effectively used for reliable certification. The marketplace needs claims that can be substantiated so consumers can reward good performance with their purchasing power.

An overarching body should coordinate and guide the process going forward with input from the public and private sectors.

ANSI

www.ansi.org/events

"More than ever, Americans are shopping with sustainability in mind," said S. Joe Bhatia, ANSI president and CEO. "But when concepts like 'green' and 'socially responsible' can mean different things from one product to the next, consumers become confused and frustrated."

He said collaborating across sectors and building consensus through a partnership between government and industry will help establish uniform technical requirements, methods, processes and practices that address sustainability for products on store shelves nationwide.