GSA Sets Standard for Carpet Purchases

Ann Arbor, MI, April 28, 2011--The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) now requires gold level certification to NSF/ANSI 140 Sustainability Assessment for Carpet for all broadloom and carpet tile purchased through the GSA.

Current GSA carpet suppliers have until January 1, 2012 to certify their products to NSF/ANSI 140 Gold Level in order for their carpets to be considered for purchase.

NSF International developed the official American National Standard for Sustainable Carpet (NSF/ANSI 140) in order to establish sustainability performance requirements for evaluating a carpet product’s life-cycle and supply chain. The criteria includes evaluating the product’s social and environmental performance, including labor practices, human rights, product life cycle assessment, energy efficiency, environmental management, reclamation and end-of-product-life management.

GSA has required that broadloom carpet and carpet tile purchased by the government meet the Gold Level certification requirements of the NSF/ANSI 140 standard as part of the GSA’s overall Sustainable Acquisition Goals. GSA has mandated that 95 percent of all purchases made through the agency meet sustainability requirements by the end of 2011.

“GSA recognition of NSF’s American National Standard for Sustainable Carpet in their purchasing specifications reflects positively on all the stakeholders who came together, from regulatory, industry and consumer organizations, to develop NSF/ANSI 140,” said Jane Wilson, Director of Standards for NSF International. “NSF is honored that this carpet standard has served as a model for use in developing other sustainability assessment standards such as resilient flooring and wallcoverings.”