Leveraging Your NSF Certification: Now that you've received NSF Certification ... why not leverage the Mark to your advantage.
Everyone from manufacturers to consumers are looking for ways to communicate the environmental performance of green products and services in the marketplace. NSF Sustainability provides independent, science-based verification of environmental claims achieving the highest levels of transparency. Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) offer an international standard of communication to compare and describe a product's environmental impact throughout its entire life cycle from cradle to grave.
Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) is an ISO 14025/TR standardized report of data collected in the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as specified by the Product Category Rules (PCRs). EPDs enable comparison of a category of products on environmental impacts and can be verified by an independent third party. NSF EPD verification proves that the data was collected in accordance with the applicable PCR and meets all ISO requirements.
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For more information please contact NSF Sustainability at sustainability@nsf.org
The NSF Sustainability Team provides third party verification of EPDs while assisting with the development of PCRs for your industry. Support services are also available to help develop LCA's and EPD's using NSF's network of experts, along with education on the overall process and role of EPDs in your business and markets. Contact NSF Sustainability at sustainability@nsf.org for further questions about the program.
With over 65 years of testing and certifying products for safety, health and the environment, NSF International is dedicated to developing sustainability assessment standards through the National Center for Sustainability Standards (NCSS). As a program operator, NSF can assist your company in developing Product Category Rules (PCRs) for industries such as flooring products and institutional furniture and provide Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) verification across multiple product groups and industries.
For more information about developing PCRs and verifying EPDs, please contact NSF Sustainability at sustainability@nsf.org or call 734-476-2543. You can also learn about NSF's full scope of service offerings via nsfsustainability.org
Product Category Rules are defined in ISO 14025 – Environmental Labels and Declarations – Type III Environmental Declarations. According to ISO 14025, a PCR is a set of specific rules, requirements and guidelines for developing Type III environmental declarations for one or more product categories. The PCRs define the type of data that should be collected, measured and reported in a life cycle analysis. PCRs include instructions for gathering data about the consumption of resources, including energy, water and renewable resources, and emissions to air, water and soil.
The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analyzes the data specified in the PCR. The LCA measures inputs, outputs and environmental impacts of a product across its lifespan from cradle to grave. LCAs use scientifically accepted methods to analyze product life stages including: