NSF International announces new standards for green products

NSF International announced this week at the Greenbuild 2010 International Conference and Expo that it has developed the Sustainable Product Assurance program to help increase consumer confidence in “green” products. According to a press release, the program will include the development of national standards and procedures to verify a product’s environmental or social claims. NSF will be able to independently verify claims made by products touting their environmental friendliness, and will award the NSF Sustainability Certified Mark to products that meet the national standards.

NSF also announced that it created an American National Standard to identify sustainable and environmentally friendly wall coverings. NSF/ANSI 342: Sustainability Assessment for Wallcovering Products helps verify a product’s environmental claims in terms of product design, manufacturing, long-term value, innovation and several other criteria. Products covered by the standard include textiles, vinyl, vinyl-coated, alternative polymer, alternative polymer-coated, paper and other natural fiber wall coverings.