GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The ANSI/BIFMA e3-2012 Furniture Sustainability Standard now includes an additional point for furniture products that meet a new, lower formaldehyde emissions limit. The e3 Standard represents a structured methodology to holistically evaluate the environmental and social attributes of furniture products and constitutes the technical criteria of the level® product certification program.

“This new revision further strengthens the health basis of e3 by incorporating the most stringent formaldehyde emissions limit established by the State of California Department of Public Health,” said Randy Carter, Manager, Global Codes & Approvals at Steelcase and Chair of the BIFMA Furniture Emissions Sub-Committee.

Modeled after the LEED rating system, the e3 standard includes six prerequisites and numerous optional credit criteria. As a product is determined to conform to the various optional criteria, points are accumulated toward an ultimate score and corresponding conformance tier. A minimum of 32 points (of the 91 total now available) must be achieved in order to reach the first conformance threshold. The updated standard is the result of an extraordinary amount of collaboration on the part of numerous stakeholders representing a broad cross section of disciplines, backgrounds, and perspectives.

Contact BIFMA for copies of the standard at [email protected] or 616.285.3963. Standards can also be ordered online at the BIFMA website. https://bifma.org/secure/orderform.html

Source: BIFMA