What is the BuildingGreen Approved filter?

The BuildingGreen Approved filter is an independent product vetting service for BuildingGreen members.

BuildingGreen has established stringent green criteria in almost 200 product categories. (See the full criteria on the BuildingGreen website.) Its independent team of experts then evaluates products against those criteria. Only products that meet or exceed the criteria appear in Designer Pages when the BuildingGreen Approved filter is “on.” Manufacturers don’t pay BuildingGreen to review or approve products.

The transparency filters used on Designer Pages overlap with, but are distinct from, the BuildingGreen Approved filter. See below for tips on using each filter.

Learn more about BuildingGreen on Designer Pages at http://pro.designerpages.com/building_green.php.

What is the Health Product Declaration (HPD) filter?

The Health Product Declaration (HPD) is used by product manufacturers as a standard format for disclosure of product contents, emissions, and health information. Designers look for HPDs to identify possible health concerns, and to earn LEED points.

There is no central database of HPDs, so we have done an exhaustive sweep and gathered all available HPDs. We have in turn matched those HPDs wherever possible with products in our platform. When the HPD filter is checked on a product category page, only products with HPDs will appear. To see the HPD itself, click through to the product and look under “Attachments.”

FOR BUILDINGGREEN SUBSCRIBERS

Products can have HPDs and still contain toxic chemicals. Also, not all HPDs are LEED v4 compliant.

BuildingGreen’s curated transparency Collections identify LEED-compliant HPDs, and BuildingGreen’s criteria use HPDs as one element in its screening process. Combine the HPD and the BuildingGreen Approved filters to find products with HPDs that also meet BuildingGreen criteria.

Learn more about BuildingGreen on Designer Pages at http://pro.designerpages.com/building_green.php.

What is the BIFMA Level filter?

The Business & Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) Level certification is a multi-attribute, third-party program with a wide range of credits in four main categories: materials; energy and atmosphere; human and ecosystem health; and social responsibility.

Designer Pages users can filter products to any BIFMA level certification. The level only applies to office furniture, so use this filter with applicable product categories.

FOR BUILDINGGREEN SUBSCRIBERS

There are a lot of furniture products available at the highest BIFMA level certification (Level 3). BuildingGreen approves products that attain that level, while also looking for indicators of health and sustainability such as forestry certifications for wood, and the absence of toxic flame retardants. Use the BuildingGreen Approved filter on furnishings to get a comprehensive view of what’s green.

Learn more about BuildingGreen on Designer Pages at http://pro.designerpages.com/building_green.php.

What is the Declare filter?

Declare, a program of the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), provides a database of building products with at least 99% of their ingredients fully disclosed. Declare is particularly useful for Living Building Challenge (LBC) projects, which are required to look for Declare-labeled products.

The Declare filter on Designer Pages identifies products in our database with the Declare label. There are three levels of Declare labels:

• Red List Free: These products avoid the use of anything on the LBC red list of chemicals to avoid.
• Living Building Challenge Compliant: These products may contain red-list chemicals, but still comply with LBC requirements due to a temporary exception to the rules.
• Declared Companies: These products can participate in the Declare label but not meet LBC criteria.

FOR BUILDINGGREEN SUBSCRIBERS

Declare is a growing program, but labeled products still number in the hundreds, so it can be hard to find them in any one product category. BuildingGreen has gathered all Declare products in Designer Pages in one place in its curated transparency Collections, and Declare certification also plays a role in a number of its BuildingGreen Approved criteria.

Learn more about BuildingGreen on Designer Pages at http://pro.designerpages.com/building_green.php.

What is the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) filter?

C2C is a third-party multi-attribute certification program that uses five categories to evaluate products based on the “cradle to cradle” manufacturing philosophy.

Designer Pages has flagged C2C-certified products in our database, which appear when the filter is activated.

FOR BUILDINGGREEN SUBSCRIBERS

Although C2C is an influential program, the number of C2C-certified products remains in the hundreds, and they are spread across many product categories. You might not find many C2C products in any one category. BuildingGreen has gathered all C2C products in Designer Pages in one place in its curated transparency Collections, and C2C certification also plays a role in a number of its BuildingGreen Approved criteria.

Learn more about BuildingGreen on Designer Pages at http://pro.designerpages.com/building_green.php.