Greener Products
Related Links
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- Eco-Labeling Programs & Rating Tools
- Market Research
- Voluntary Standards
- Claims & Verification
- Institutional Purchasing
- Mandatory Greener Product Initiatives
- Key Multi-Stakeholder Greener Product Initiatives
- Measurement & Evaluation
- Select Research & International Initiatives
- Other
Eco-Labeling Programs & Rating Tools
EPA product eco-labeling programs
- U.S. EPA/DOE ENERGY STAR
- U.S. EPA Design for the Environment (DfE)
- U.S. EPA Smartway Vehicle Certification
- U.S. EPA WaterSense
- U.S. EPA Burnwise
Additional federal product eco-labeling programs
External, non-EPA, product eco-labels and standards addressing more than one major environmental issue
Please note that the EPA does not necessarily endorse these non-EPA eco-labeling programs and standards.
- BIFMA e-3 2008 standard for office furniture
- Ecologo program for many product categories .
- EPEAT tool for electronics products .
- FairTrade Certified for food and agricultural products .
- Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for forestry and wood products .
- GreenGuard
- GreenSeal program for many product categories.
- NSF-140 Sustainable Carpet Assessment Standard (PDF) (Other building product standards under-development).
- Level label for office furniture.
- Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for fisheries and seafood products.
- Rainforest Alliance for food and agricultural products.
- Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) for forestry and wood products.
Product eco-labeling program and standard finder tools
- Consumer Reports Greenerchoices
- Ecolabel Index
- Global Eco-Labeling Network
- International Trade Center's Standards Map
- ISEAL
- NRDC Label Lookup
- SELECT™ Eco-Label Manager, BASF
Web-based tools for rating public health and environmental impacts of products
- CHPS Products Database, Collaboration for High Performance Schools
- GSA Sustainable Facilities Tool
- GoodGuide
- Household Products Database of the National Library of Medicine
- GreenSpec Product Guide BuildingGreen, Inc
- Pharos (Healthy Building Network)
Market Research
- Report, Responsible Purchasing Trends, 2010 (PDF) by the Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN)
- Report, LOHAS Market Size: U.S. Consumer Sales Soar to Close to $300 Billion (PDF) by the Natural Marketing Institute
- Report Going Green: An Examination of the Green Trend and What it Means to Consumers and the CE Industry by Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
- Report, State of Green Business 2011 by GreenBiz Group
- Report, Finding the green in today's shoppers: Sustainability trends and new shopper insight (PDF) by Deloitte Consulting LLP
- Report, Capturing Shoppers with Effective In–Store Triggers: The "Green Scene" (PDF) by MillerZell
- Report, Green Technology Consumer by Forrester
- Report on green consumer behavior by the Gallop
- Report on market penetration of ENERGY STAR qualified products
Voluntary Standards
Background on Voluntary Standards
- Standards.gov
- National Institutes for Standards (NIST), ABC's of Standards Activities (PDF)
- National Institutes for Standards (NIST) Guide to Documentary Standards (PDF) (29 pp, 374K)
- National Institutes for Standards (NIST) on the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
- National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA)
- Federal Use and Participation in the Development of Voluntary Consensus Standards, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-119
- ANSI (American National Standards Institute) — The U.S. national standards body, non-profit, that accredits standards developing organizations as able to develop voluntary standards in accord with ANSI Essential Requirements for consensus and due process. ANSI is the official US member to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
- ANSI Essential Requirements, Due process requirements for American National Standards (PDF)
- ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) — A non-governmental organization that develops international standards for materials, products, systems and services used in construction, manufacturing and transportation.
- ISO (International Standards Organization) — A non-governmental organization that develops and publishes international standards, bridging the public and private sectors. ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 162 countries.
Standards for Life-cycle assessment of Products
- ISO 14040: 2006 Environmental management — Life-cycle assessment — Principles and framework
- ISO 14041: 1998 Environmental Management — Life-cycle assessment — Goal and Scope Definition and Inventory Analysis
- ISO 14042: 2000 Environmental Management — Life-cycle assessment — Life-Cycle Impact Assessment
- ISO 14044: 2006 Environmental management — Life-cycle assessment — Requirements and guidelines
- ISO 14043: 2000 Environmental Management — Life-cycle assessment — Life Cycle Interpretation
- ISO 14048 Environmental Management — Life-cycle assessment — life-cycle assessment Data Documentation Format
- ISO 14049: 2000 Environmental Management — Life-cycle assessment — Examples of Application of ISO 14041 to Goal and Scope Definition and Inventory Analysis
American National Standards for the environmental sustainability of products (Standards developed using ANSI-accredited process) (PDF)
- BIFMA e-3 standard for office furniture
- EPEAT / IEEE 1680 Family of Standards for Environmental Assessment of Electronic Products (Personal Computer Products, Imaging Equipment, and Television Standards)
- NSF International Sustainable Product and Service Certifications (Products & Services, Green Chemistry, Organic Certification, Water & Wastewater, etc.)
Standards under development by ANSI-accredited organizations (being developed with intent of becoming American National Standards (PDF)). Visit these Standard Developer’s websites for examples.
- AHAM/UL-E Appliance Standard
- BSR/NSF 357-200x standard for Cleaning Products Formulated for the Environment. Coming soon.
- BSR/NSF/GCI 355-200x standard for Green Chemicals (PDF) (2 pp, 187K)
- EcoLogo Program Standards In Development or Revision
- EPEAT / IEEE 1680 Family of Standards for Environmental Assessment of Electronic Products
- GREENGUARD Environmental Institute Draft Standards
- NSF International Sustainable Product and Service Certifications(Products & Services, Green Chemistry, Organic Certification, Water & Wastewater, etc.)
- UL-Environment Sustainable Product Certifications  (Building Products and Materials, Raw Materials, Lighting, Plastics, etc.)
- ASTM Standards Under Development or Review
Standards—Other publications supporting the development and use of product sustainability standards, labeling and declarations
- ANSI Workshop Toward Product Standards for Sustainability
- ISO Guide 64, Guide for addressing environmental issues in product standards
- ASTM Construction Standards: Supporting the Building Industry (PDF)
- ASTM WK23356 - New Specification for Product Category Rules for Use in Development of Environmental Declarations for Building Products and Systems
- ISEAL Standard-Setting Code
- ISO 14020 Second edition 2000-09-15 Environmental labels and declarations General principles
- ISO 14021 First edition 1999-09-15 Environmental labels and declarations Self-declared environmental claims (Type II environmental labelling)
- ISO 14024 First edition 1999-04-01 Environmental labels and declarations Type I environmental labelling Principles and procedures
- ISO 14025 First edition 2006-07-01 Environmental labels and declarations Type III environmental declarations Principles and procedures
- ISO 21930:2007 standard for Sustainability in building construction -- Environmental declaration of building products
- ISO/IEC 24700:2005 standard for Quality and performance of office equipment that contains reused components (PDF)
Claims & Verification
Environmental or "green" claims and "greenwashing."
- Current Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Guide for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims
- Planned update to the FTC Green Guides
- National Advertising Division
- National Advertising Review Council
- Greenwashing Index (University of Oregon- Forum on green marketing claims)
- Report, The Greenwash Guide, by Futerra Sustainability Communications (PDF)
- Report, Understanding and Preventing Greenwashing by the Business for Social Responsibility (PDF) - A business guide to understanding and preventing greenwash.
Verification of claims for environmental sustainability of products
- NIST resources on conformity assessment
- Article, Making the Confidence Connection, Conformity Assessment System Design
- Publication National Conformity Assessment Principles for the United States by ANSI (PDF)
- IAF (International Accreditation Forum)
- ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation)
- ISO resources on conformity assessment
- ISO/IEC 17011:2004 Conformity assessment -- General requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies
- ISO/IEC 17021:2006 Conformity assessment -- Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems
- ISO/IEC 17025:2005 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories
- ISO/IEC Guide 65:1996 General requirements for bodies operating product certification systems
- ANSI Product Certification Accreditation
Institutional Purchasing
Federal purchasing of greener products
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report: Environmental Considerations in Federal Procurement: An Overview of the Legal Authorities and Their Implementation (PDF) (27 pp, 316K)
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report: Green Procurement: An Overview of Issues for Congress (PDF)
- EPA Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program
- EPA Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC) Program
- EPA report, State and Local Government Pioneers How State and Local Governments Are Implementing Environmentally Purchasing Practices (PDF)
- ENERGY STAR Federal Purchasing
- EO 13514 Section 13 Working Group
- Federal Energy Management Program Energy Efficient Product Procurement, Department of Energy
- Federal "Green" Executive Order 13514 (PDF)
- Green Products Compilation Module, General Services Administration
- Sustainable Facilities Tool, General Services Administration
- White House Office of the Federal Environmental Executive
Other sources for institutional purchasing of more environmentally sustainable products
- Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating SystemTM (STARS)
- EU report, Green Public Procurement in Europe (PDF)
- Green Cleaning Network
- International Green Purchasing Network (IGPN)
- Japanese Ministry of the Environment, report, Establishing a sound material-cycle society Milestone toward a sound material-cycle society through changes in business and life styles (PDF)
- National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) Green Purchasing Guide
- National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP)
- Portland, Oregon sustainable procurement program
- Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN)
- Responsible Purchasing Trends report, 2010 (PDF) by the Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN)
- SF Approved Program
- Western States Contracting Alliance
Mandatory Greener Product Initiatives
Mandatory eco-labeling
- U.S. EPA, Vehicle Fuel Economy Label
- U.S. EPA Pesticide Labeling. Additional information on pesticide labeling can be found through
- U.S. EPA Pesticide Product Label System
- U.S. EPA Pesticide Label Review Manual
- U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Guide Label
Mandatory standards
Tax and other financial incentives
- Greener vehicle tax incentives. More information is also available through the U.S. Department of Energy.
- Rebates for ENERGY STAR products
Public Health & Environmental Impact of Products
- EPA report, Sustainable Materials Management, The Road Ahead (PDF)
- EPA website on Sustainable Materials Management
- EPA report Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Materials and Land Management Practices September 2009 (PDF)
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Household Products Database
Key Multi-Stakeholder Greener Product Initiatives
- Eco Index
- Field to Market
- Keystone Center's Green Products Roundtable (PDF)
- Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops
- The Sustainability Consortium (TSC)
- Sustainable Apparel Coalition
Measurement & Evaluation
Life-cycle analysis/assessment (LCA) of environmental sustainability of products
- EPA Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) Research
- EPA Region 10 Webinars on Life-cycle assessment and Environmental Product Declarations
- LCA Resources
- ISO 14040:2006 Environmental management -- Life-cycle assessment -- Principles and framework
- ISO 14044:2006 Environmental management -- Life-cycle assessment -- Requirements and guidelines
Tools for assessing cleaner ingredients in products
- CleanGredients is an online database of cleaning product ingredients that meet EPA Design for the Environment criteria.
Measuring the performance of and evaluating product sustainability initiatives
Results achieved by voluntary product sustainability programs
- USDA Economic Research Service. Organic Production Data Sets. Retrieved February 25, 2008 from http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/Organic/
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service (2002) Recent Growth Patterns in the U.S. Organic Foods Market . Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- Mitchell, Lorraine, Dolphin-Safe Tuna Labeling (PDF) . Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- Annual Reports of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
- Mario F. Teisl and Brian Roe, "Can Eco-Labels Tune a Market? Evidence from Dolphin-Safe Labeling", Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Volume 43, Issue 3 , May 2002, Pages 339-359
- EU Appliance Label Consumers, business and climate change from the Sustainable Consumption Institute at The University of Manchester.
- Marine Resources Assessment Group, et. al. (2006) Environmental benefits resulting from certification against MSC's Principles & Criteria for Sustainable Fishing (PDF) Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Organic Program . Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- Klonsky, K. and Richter, K. (2007). Statistical Review of California's Organic Agriculture: 2000-2005 (PDF) . Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- Klonsky, K. and Richter, K. (2007). Statistical Review of California's Organic Agriculture: 2005-2009 (PDF) . Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- M. C. Sanchez, R. E. Brown, C. Webber, and G. K. Homan (2008) "Savings estimates for the United States Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR voluntary product labeling program (PDF) ". Energy Policy Journal.
- Webber, C. A., Brown, R. E., McWhinney, M., and Koomey, J. (2002) "Status Report Savings Estimates for the ENERGY STAR® Voluntary Labeling Program ." Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- Nordman, B., Piette, M., Pon, B., and Kinney, K. (1998) "It's Midnight...Is Your Copier On?: ENERGY STAR Copier Performance (PDF) ." Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- Green Electronics Council (2007). "The Environmental Benefits of the Purchase or Sale of EPEAT Registered Products in 2006 ." Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (2006). "Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance Change A Light, Change The World 2005 Campaign Summary Report, Results and Lessons Learned (PDF) ." Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- See figure "The impact of the EU Appliance Label (A++ to G) on the market of cold appliances in EU-25 (PDF) " in Consumers, business and climate change from the Sustainable Consumption Institute at The University of Manchester.
- Resources for the Future (RFF) March 2010 DP 10-17 The Evidence Base for Environmental and Socioeconomic Impacts of "Sustainable" Certification by Allen Blackman and Jorge Rivera Discussion Paper.
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Select Research & International Initiatives
National Academy of Science reports related to Greener Products
- Achieving High-Performance Federal Facilities: Strategies and Approaches for Transformational Change: A Workshop Report
- Certifiably Sustainable?: The Role of Third-Party Certification Systems: Report of a Workshop
- Sustainability and the U.S. EPA
Resource for Finding International Product Eco-Labeling Programs
Voluntary Eco-Labeling
- Blue Angel eco-labeling program of Germany
- Ecologo eco-labeling program of the Canadian Government
- Eco Mark of Japan
- Flower eco-labeling program of the European Union
- Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN)
- Good Environmental Choice of Australia
- Environmental Choice of New Zealand
- Green Mark program of Chinese Taipei
- Hong Kong Green Label
- Nordic Swan eco-labeling program
- TCO Certified of Sweden
Reports on Eco-Labeling and Green Product Procurement
- The Direct and Indirect Benefits of the European Ecolabel – Final Report for DG Environment at the European Commission (PDF)
- Canadian Policy on Green Procurement
- Green Public Procurement and the European Ecolabel Toolkit developed for the European Commission by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, 2008 (PDF)
- Development and Implementation of Marketing Actions for the European eco-label in Belgium prepared for the European Commission – DG Environment (PDF)
- Japanese Ministry of the Environment, report, Establishing a sound material-cycle society Milestone toward a sound material-cycle society through changes in business and life styles (PDF)
- EU report, Green Public Procurement in Europe (PDF)
Mandatory Eco-Labeling
International green procurement
Mandatory standards
Research in the Environmental Impact of Products
- Report, Environmental Impact of Products (EIPRO) (PDF) : Analysis of the life-cycle environmental impacts related to the final consumption of the EU-25 by the European Commission Directorate-General Joint Research Centre, ESTO Network (the European Science and Technology Observatory), Institute for Prospective Policy Studies (IPPS)
- See figure "The impact of the EU Appliance Label (A++ to G) on the market of cold appliances in EU-25" in Consumers, business and climate change from the Sustainable Consumption Institute at The University of Manchester
Other
Federal Initiatives
Statements by senior federal government officials on product sustainability
- President Obama signs an Executive Order Focused on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance
- EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, Remarks at the National Press Club, As Prepared 03/08/2010
- GSA Administrator Martha Johnson on goal of Zero Environmental Footprint