Building products impact not only the natural environment, but also the built environment where people spend up to 90% of their time. Interior products can emit hundreds of chemicals, called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), into the air that building occupants breathe. These chemicals can cause or exacerbate a number of health problems.
What does GREENGUARD Certified mean? It is the Testing and Certifying of interior products and materials for low chemical emissions, to minimize chemical exposure of indoor environments. GREENGUARD GOLD offers stricter certification criteria, considers safety factors to account for sensitive individuals (such as children and the elderly), and ensures that a product is acceptable for use in environments such as schools and healthcare facilities.
The GREENGUARD GOLD Certification requirements comply with the State of California’s Department of Public Health Services Standard Practice for Specification Section 01350 (California Section 01350) for testing chemical emissions from building products used in schools and other environments.
UL's chemical emissions testing division has evaluated over 70,000 products and cataloged the presence of more than 10,000 chemicals that those products emit. Their state of the art technology allows them to measure chemicals from a wide range of products, including furniture, construction materials, consumer products, electronics and appliances, with the utmost precision.
Pemko, an ASSA ABLOY Company, now have over 100 certifications of items tested to GREENGUARD GOLD UL2818, and 13 of which have an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) which state:
"ASSA ABLOY is committed to providing products and services that are environmentally sound throughout the entire production process and the product lifecycle. Our unconditional aim is to make sustainability a central part of our business philosophy and culture, but even more important is the job of integrating sustainability into our business strategy. The employment of EPDs will help architects, designers and LEED-APs select environmentally preferable door openings. The Pemko Perimeter Gasketing EPD provides detailed requirements with which to evaluate the environmental and human health impacts related to producing our door openings. ASSA ABLOY will continue our efforts to protect the environment and health of our customers/end users and will utilize the EPD as one means to document those efforts."
Certified Product Uses
Astragal
Door Bottom
Door Shoe
Automatic Door Bottom
Door Weatherstripping
Door Sound Seals
Door Smoke Seals
Sill Sweep
Thermal Barrier Threshold
Lipped Threshold
Certified Insert Material
Vinyl
Neoprene
PemkoPrene
Silicone
Nylon Brush
Product Mountings
Screw Applied
Mortised
Kerfed
Adhesive Applied
UL Environmental has a live database to search for the certifications of specific products. Click here for a Pemko Products search. It is a little confusing at first, only because it is the insert material that is certified. Many of the same inserts are used with multiple catalog items. Pemko is the only weatherstrip company with GREENGUARD certifications at this time.
Download for current Pemko Complete Catalog - this may be simpler, there is a GREENGUARD symbol next to the product.
A Useful pdf download is available showing the product(s), the certification number, with a web link to the certificate is available on our website: Pemko Greenguard Certified Products
Look for this Symbol on your next job for certified low chemical emission products:
