CHICAGO – BIFMA level certified products may now be used toward LEED points under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Pilot Credit 80 program. The announcement was made at the annual meeting of the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association, held June 12 during NeoCon.

“BIFMA and the office furniture industry have been at the forefront of sustainability and transparency in product manufacturing and its willingness to engage with USGBC has created a uniquely collaborative process that is helping to encourage increasingly sustainable buildings,” said Scot Horst, senior vice president, LEED, USGBC, in making the announcement.

Posted in the LEED Pilot Credit Library on June 10, the USGBC’s Pilot 80: Environmentally Preferable Interior Finishes and Furnishings recognizes products that have been third-party certified to the ANSI/BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustainability Standard.

Under the new program, all level certified products may contribute to LEED certification credits with a sliding percentage scale based on level 1, level 2 or level 3 conformance. The program states projects must include at least five different third-party certified products, accounting for at least 50 percent of the total interior finishes and furnishings materials by cost.

Chuck Saylor, CEO and founder of izzy+ and president of BIFMA’s Board of Directors, said, “The full inclusion of level products in this LEED Pilot Credit is a huge win for an industry that has worked tirelessly to meet market demand for increasingly sustainable products.”