Shaw Early Adopter of Green Standard System

Chapel Hill, NC, Jan. 22, 2009--Shaw Industries has enrolled as an early adopter of The Green Standard Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) System.

The system is the first ISO-compliant EPD System in the U.S. 

Shaw Industries, a top commercial provider of flooring, broadloom carpets and modular carpet tiles, has initiated the first step in the process, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and is moving forward with the EPD reporting process in 2009.

An Environmental Product Declaration is the international gold standard for illustrating various aspects of a product's performance, such as life cycle impacts, human health concerns, hazardous substances and recycled content. To meet Standard 14025 of the International Standards Organization (ISO), an EPD must be based on product criteria rules that determine what data is to be captured and how it will be measured using life cycle assessment.

Steve Bradfield, Shaw's Corporate Director of Environmental Affairs, said, "Shaw became an early adopter of The Green Standard's EPD system because of our belief that EPDs are the best way to communicate environmental impacts with transparency and credibility," he states. 

By using The Green Standard EPD System, institutional and individual purchasers benefit from independent, impartial assurance of a corporation's environmental claims.  It provides them with a straightforward tool they can trust as the information has been validated by a qualified third party and posted by an established NGO. 

Related Topics:Shaw Industries Group, Inc.