CRI Gets ANSI Accreditation as Certification Body

Dalton, GA, June 2, 2008--The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) said that it is the first organization within the soft floorcovering sector to earn accreditation as a certification body for indoor air quality by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI), the premier source for international standardization and conformity assessment.

CRI’s Green Label and Green Label Plus programs, which test for and certify low emissions from carpet, carpet cushion and adhesive, comply with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Guide 65, General requirements for bodies operating product certification programs.

“CRI is proud to have the first and only ANSI-certified green carpet program in the United States,” said CRI President Werner Braun.

“We set the standard with the Green Label program, and now we are raising the bar with this prestigious ANSI certification that recognizes best practices for indoor air quality testing and certification.

“Architects, builders and specifiers can have full confidence that Green Label and Green Label Plus carpet is a desirable, attractive green building product. They can rest assured they are purchasing the very lowest emitting products on the market.”

CRI began the ANSI certification process in June 2006, which involved audits of the green carpet programs by Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute, as well as an ANSI team and CRI’s third party indoor laboratory, Air Quality Science of Atlanta.

In 1992, CRI launched the Green Label program to test carpet, cushions and adhesives for low-emitting volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The program was enhanced and named Green Label Plus in 2002 when California’s Indoor Air Quality Program and the Sustainable Building Task Force approved Green Label Plus certification.