scope:

This Standard is intended to enable organizations throughout the carpet supply chain to apply performance requirements to achieve sustainable attributes and demonstrate compliance with levels of achievement through quantifiable metrics. The Standard is inclusive, is based on life cycle assessment (LCA) principles and provides benchmarks for continuous improvement and innovation.

This Standard is intended to allow inclusive participation and encourage the progressive movement of the carpet industry toward sustainability. This Standard identifies requirements of sustainable attribute performance and three levels of achievement by which carpet materials and products can be measured with respect to specific attributes that indicate progress toward sustainability.

While this Standard can be used on any carpet product, it is intended to be used for evaluation of commercial carpet products by providing a product evaluation methodology that is additive to emerging commercial green building standards.

This Standard does not apply to the packaging of sustainable carpets or to the adhesive or padding products used in the installation of carpet products.

This Standard is voluntary but emphasizes disclosure of information on both impacts and benefits of a carpet or carpet product from an environmental and sustainability perspective.

All products or processes can be found compliant to this Standard if they are able to achieve all prerequisites and score the minimum required for compliance as specified in Section 4.

Purpose and goals

The purpose of this Standard is to provide a market-based definition for a path to sustainable carpet, to establish performance requirements for public health and environment, and to address the triple bottom line, economic-environmental-social, throughout the supply chain.

The goals of this Standard are to:

- increase the economic value of sustainable carpet throughout the supply chain by enhancing market demand for sustainable carpet products;

- provide information that enables specifiers to sort out the complex information on sustainability attributes;

- identify other consensus-based standards relevant to sustainable carpet;

- educate and instruct all stakeholders in the carpet supply chain; and

- encourage competition between manufacturers and their suppliers to seek out or develop environmentally preferable processes, practices, power sources, and materials.

This Standard is intended to help raw material suppliers, converters, manufacturers, and end-users. Adherence to this Standard and achievement of high levels of sustainable attribute performance can or should result in:

- credits from LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for Commercial Interiors, e.g., Indoor Environmental Quality credit 4.3, Materials and Resources credit 4, Innovation and Design credit 1):

- design innovation;

- product differentiation;

- improved customer satisfaction;

- product innovation;

- improved indoor air quality and lower emissions;

- ecological restoration;

- enhanced health and safety for workers and consumers; and

- measurable reductions in total environmental impact.