VI: Final PVC Report Set for Release by USGBC

Arlington, VA, February 26, 2007--The following is being issued by The Vinyl Institute:

The U.S. Green Building Council (USBGC) -- a private organization that promotes "green" building practices and materials -- has announced that on Feb. 26 it will release a final report on PVC from its Technical and Scientific Advisory Committee (TSAC), and it will announce the process and next steps for moving forward.

In 2002, the USGBC formed a Task Group to evaluate the environmental and health performance of PVC and competing building materials in several product areas: drain/waste/vent pipe; windows, siding and flooring. In 2004, after reviewing nearly 2,500 studies, the Task Group issued a draft report that concluded PVC was as acceptable as the competing materials in products for green buildings and, in fact, that discouraging use of PVC "could steer designers to use materials which performed worse over their

life cycles."

The USGBC sponsors the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system to certify green buildings. Under this system, credits can be awarded for use or avoidance of certain materials. The Task Group's draft report recommended that credits not be used to discourage use of PVC or any of the other materials studied.

The Vinyl Institute position: Since the Green Building Council's draft report was issued concluding that PVC is an acceptable material in green buildings, no new information

or studies have been submitted to the Council to warrant a change in this conclusion. To the contrary, the more recent evidence supports the original draft conclusion. For example California approved CPVC pipe for home building based on a positive, in-depth environmental impact review by the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the European Union released a comprehensive review of life-cycle assessments which found that PVC building products perform as well as or better than most competing

materials.