The Pharos Project is a project of the Healthy Building Network. HBN is:

In Vermont:
Melissa Coffin, Bill Walsh

In California:
Tom Lent

In Washington, DC:
Larry Kilroy, Sarah Gilberg, Sarah Pickell, Susan Sabella

In Maine:
Jim Vallette

A NEW VOC STANDARD & NEW TOOLS FROM PHAROS TO HELP YOU GET THE VOCS OUT

 

There is good news from the VOC standard-setting world addressing a big toxic problem in homes. And, the Pharos team has just rolled out new tools to help you take advantage of this development to make all of your buildings healthier.

The problem: VOCs - the volatile organic compounds that offgas from paints, new carpets, wallboard, insulation and many other products - are responsible for a variety of health problems, ranging from asthma to cancer. Readers of HBN News may recall that during our research into formaldehyde insulation binders a couple of years ago, we identified problems with the way VOC standards were being applied in homes. The 01350 Specification standard, which guides the leading VOC certification programs (including CHPS, FloorScore, Indoor Advantage Gold, GreenLabel Plus, Greenguard Children and Schools, and others), determines if any measured VOC emissions from a product are at safe levels. This determination is based on whether the ventilation system dilutes emissions enough to bring them below safe thresholds, as established by State of California scientists.

The problem is that homes - which generally don’t have ventilation systems - have much slower “air change rates.” Therefore, VOCs released in residences will not get diluted as much or as quickly as the Section 01350 standard anticipates. In fact, a study of over 100 new homes in California found air change rates were just a fraction of those in offices, resulting in formaldehyde and other VOCs skyrocketing in these residential settings far beyond recommended levels.

The solution: Concerned that homebuilders and homeowners were getting a false sense of security from use of these 01350-based VOC labels on products, HBN alerted the designers of the 01350 Specification and worked with them to redesign the standard to be health protective in homes. Last month, the California Department of Public Health issued a revised Version 1.1 Standard Method for use with the 01350 specification, with two important changes:

• A “residential scenario” that effectively addresses the lower air change rate problem for building products to be used in homes, and
• A new lower threshold for formaldehyde emissions for all building types that is optional now and mandatory starting in 2012.

Pharos tools put this solution to use: To help you understand the health impacts of the revised 01350 specification and other VOC standards applied to building products, the Pharos team established a new scoring category this week, which is solely based on the VOC content in products and VOC emissions from products. The higher the score, the healthier the product is in terms of VOCs. Under the new scoring protocol, products that meet the regular school & office 01350-based VOC standards receive a 7 (one point lower than in previous Pharos scoring). Products at this level can contribute to meeting LEED credits (such as NC EQ Credit 4.3 for flooring).

The scoring now helps you to evaluate products beyond current LEED standards. Any product that meets the new 01350 formaldehyde standard gets an 8, and those that meet the new residential standard receive a score of 9. A product with a full report from an independent laboratory showing no detection of any VOCs also gets a 9, and if that report is third party certified, the product attains the top score of 10.

>We are now also providing you more information about the certifications to help you understand and use them more effectively. Check the VOC Scoring Chart in the Pharos Framework to see how different certification programs score against the Pharos VOC criteria. Click through on any certification link to learn more about the certification criteria, who runs the program, whether it is third party or industry sponsored, why Pharos scores them the way we do and where to get more information.

Take action: Now we need to get the new 01350 standard in wide use. Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) is the first certifier to confirm they are adding the new 01350 residential standard and the stricter formaldehyde standard to their Indoor Advantage Gold program. They expect to announce the first products that have passed the new standards in the next few weeks.

Other programs such as FloorScore, GreenLabel Plus, and Greenguard Children and Schools, however, are taking a wait-and-see attitude, watching for market demand. This is where Pharos users come in. Your inquiries to your sales reps asking for products that meet the new 01350 residential standard will help create the buzz that pushes the manufacturers and the certifiers to get on board. Insist on products that meet the new residential standard and the new formaldehyde standard, regardless of building type.

VOCs aren’t enough: While all the attention has been on VOCs, other not-so-volatile chemicals, that are equally harmful to health, can migrate out of building materials and into you through contact, dust, your food or other pathways. That’s why Pharos has an “IAQ & other Toxic User Exposure” wedge that scores by combining VOC data with information about the toxicity of other product contents. We’ll be talking more about halogenated flame retardants and other toxics in products in the coming weeks.

You can rely on Pharos to continue working to give you the most complete picture of chemical toxicity in building materials and refine our system to make it easier for you to use this information in your work. We look forward to your feedback on these new tools.

Tom Lent is a researcher with the Pharos Project and the policy director of the Healthy Building Network.

Comments

There is 1 comment.

  
Pharos team -- As usual you are right on top of the emerging details that help us all better understand the nuances of these complex issues. This one in particular will definitely come as a surprise to many in the residential housing industry, who have been relying on assumptions that will need to updated. It will be interesting to see how this affects the certifications. thanks -- Rick

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