Armstrong Recognized for Contributing to Indoor Ai

Lancaster, PA, September 12, 2005--Armstrong commercial and residential resilient floor products, including vinyl sheet, vinyl tile, vinyl composition tile (VCT) and linoleum, all have been certified to meet stringent air quality requirements for low emitting building materials by FloorScore, a new voluntary certification program sponsored by the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI). FloorScore is a building materials emissions testing program that requires both independent laboratory testing and third-party certification to demonstrate compliance with California Section 01350 VOC emissions limits and includes certified site audit and documented control system requirements. This program follows a four-year review by resilient flooring manufacturers of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions through a product-testing program designed by third-party experts. “Healthy air contributes to better learning in schools, improved productivity and more comfortable indoor environments,” says Dominic Rice, vice president, Product Management-Commercial. “Indoor air quality in a building depends on many factors including: how well the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system and filters are maintained, how well and how often the rooms are cleaned; the people, activities and furnishings in the building, the outdoor environment, and VOC emissions from building materials.” The third-party certifier, Scientific Certification Systems, Inc. (SCS), reviews the results of the product VOC emissions report and also reviews raw material inputs and manufacturing processes to ensure that a product is consistently manufactured. It conducts site audits of manufacturing plants to ensure a quality management plan exists for continuing compliance of the product as defined in SCS-EC-10-2004 Environmental Certification Program – Indoor Air Quality Performance. To comply with the VOC emissions criteria of the California Section 01350 program, emissions tests must be performed by an independent test laboratory in accordance with the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) "Standard Practice for the Testing of Volatile Organic Emissions from Various Sources Using Small-Scale Environmental Chambers" (CA/DHS/EHLB/R-174). The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) adopted Section 01350 for schools in California. In addition, the California Department of General Services incorporated Section 01350 low VOC emitting criteria in its standard agreement for all professional architectural and engineering services. Section 01350 was developed by a California interagency task force on sustainable buildings. It includes maximum emission concentrations for more than 78 VOCs emitted from building materials in schools and office buildings. These emission concentrations are based on the Chronic Reference Exposure Levels for listed VOCs established by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. As products are certified for the FloorScore label, they will be listed at the RFCI website: www.rfci.com. Complete information on the FloorScore program can be found at the RFCI website www.rfci.com. For additional information on Armstrong certified products visit www.armstrong.com.