UL Environment Collaborates with Perkins+Will and Interface to Develop 'EPD Transparency Brief'

New tool enables specifiers, purchasers, and other EPD users to access critical product impact information quickly, easily, and consistently

MARIETTA, Ga., May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- UL Environment, a business unit of UL (Underwriters Laboratories), announced today the launch of its EPD Transparency Brief, an innovative, single-page supplement to the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) that provides an at-a-glance look at a product's most critical lifecycle-based environmental impact information.

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Developed with creative and technical input from architecture firm Perkins+Will, carpet tile manufacturer Interface, and a consortium of market-leading EPD users (including DPR Construction, Gensler, HOK, SERA, and Webcor Builders), UL Environment's EPD Transparency Brief is available for use by any manufacturer whose product has earned a UL Environment Certified EPD.

"We realized that what the marketplace needed wasn't just information -- but, rather, information that's easy to find, easy to understand, and easy to use. We call this notion 'accessible transparency,'" says Heather Gadonniex, part of the strategy and innovation team at UL Environment. "Our EPD Transparency Brief allows for accessible transparency by making it inherently simpler and quicker for specifiers and purchasers to glean key facts about a product's lifecycle-based impacts. And that helps them make more informed product choices."

Benefits of the EPD Transparency Brief
The result of many months of collaboration between UL Environment and a cross-section of experts in green building, design, products, and business, the EPD Transparency Brief:

• Condenses the complex information presented within the many pages of an EPD into a concise, easy-to-understand, "nutrition label-like" document that takes up no more than one page front-and-back
• Acts as a "quick reference guide" to a product's EPD, enabling specifiers to readily access the EPD's most relevant information -- thus saving time and effort
• Serves as a unique sales, marketing, and specification tool that -- in a single page, front to back -- discloses a product's most relevant environmental impacts while also showcasing a manufacturer's commitment to transparency

"Offering more information about the human and environmental health of materials and buildings will drive change in the marketplace," says Chris Youssef, designer at Perkins+Will. "At Perkins+Will, we have been working alongside partners such as Interface and UL Environment to help drive this change, and we are thrilled to see transparency taking root."

A Complementary Tool: The New UL Certified EPD Badge
To complement the EPD Transparency Brief, UL Environment has also introduced a new UL Certified Environmental Product Declaration badge -- an easily recognizable mark that manufacturers can use on marketing collateral to help further differentiate their products. The badge -- a green-colored, soft-cornered rectangle bearing a modified UL mark, a leaf, and the words CERTIFIED ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DECLARATION -- also helps specifiers identify products that have a trusted, third-party certified EPD.

Among the first manufacturers to receive the new EPD Transparency Brief and Certified Environmental Product Declaration badge are Kingspan, CertainTeed Saint-Gobain, and Interface.

"Interface is proud to continue our leadership in the transparency movement," says Lindsay James, director of strategic sustainability at Interface. "The 'accessible transparency' of the EPD Transparency Brief fills a critical need for busy specifiers who are eager to make choices based on lifecycle environmental impacts, with the reassurance of third-party verified data."

Both transparency tools will be on display at UL Environment's booth (#3717) at the AIA National Conference in Washington, D.C., which runs today through Saturday, May 19, 2012.

About UL Environment
UL Environment's mission is to advance global sustainability, environmental health, and safety by supporting the growth and development of environmentally preferable products, services, and organizations. We help companies achieve their sustainability goals -- and help purchasers, specifiers, retailers, governments, and consumers find products they can trust. UL Environment offers environmental claim validations, multi-attribute product certifications, environmental product declarations, indoor air quality certification, product emissions testing, organizational sustainability certification, and consulting. For more information, visit www.ul.com/environment.

About UL
UL is a premier global safety science company with more than 100 years of proven history. Employing nearly 9,000 professionals in 46 countries, UL is evolving the future of safety with five distinct business units – Product Safety, Environment, Life & Health, Verification and Knowledge Services – to meet the expanding needs of customers and the global public. For more information on UL's family of companies and network of 95 laboratory, testing, and certification facilities, go to www.UL.com.

SOURCE UL Environment