scope:

This Standard establishes a consistent approach to the evaluation and determination of environmentally preferable and sustainable resilient floor coverings. The Standard includes relevant criteria across the product(s) life cycle from raw material extraction through manufacturing, use, and end-of-life management.

As used in this Standard, "resilient floor coverings" includes, but is not limited to, vinyl tile, vinyl composition tile, sheet vinyl, rubber, polymeric, and linoleum flooring products in which the wearing surface is non-textile. Also included are flooring accessories such as wall base, moldings, and stair treads. The Standard is applicable to products manufactured in one facility or multiple facilities, one country or multiple countries.

Purpose

The overall purpose of this Standard is a thorough communication of information that is verifiable, accurate, and not misleading about environmental and social aspects associated with the production and use of resilient floor coverings. Such communication is expected to encourage the demand for and supply of products that cause less stress on the environment and society, thereby stimulating the potential for market-driven continuous improvement.

This Standard is intended to be science based, provide transparency, and offer credibility for manufacturers in making claims of environmental preferability and sustainability, and to harmonize the principles and procedures used to support such claims.

This Standard provides a practice for assessing the sustainability of resilient floor coverings. Sustainability-related information can inform a manufacturer's decisions about supply chain modifications, product(s) content changes, manufacturing adjustments, performance improvements, end-of-life options, and corporate governance, with the goal of producing more sustainable products.

This Standard addresses environmental performance and sustainability attributes (including social aspects) of products, and provides a means to track incremental changes to the products' sustainability profile. This Standard is intended to provide a consistent framework in which to compare and assess the sustainable nature of different products within the context of performing similar functions.

This Standard is intended to be used primarily by product(s) manufacturers interested in understanding the sustainability performance of their product(s). Independent auditors, certification bodies and environmental labeling organizations are also potential users of this Standard for its use in supporting market-based environmental and sustainability claims. This Standard may also be used by purchasers and consumers who wish to ensure that manufacturers are accurately declaring the sustainable nature of their products.