Guest Column, Summer 2004

California's Healthy Schools Efforts Gain National Support

by Dana Papke

“We are about to experience an explosion in new school construction that is unprecedented,” said Stephan Castellanos, California State Architect and chair of the board of the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS). As California enters a $26 billion school construction effort, several resources have been developed to ensure that these schools will be high performance facilities. CHPS recently released a database of products that contribute to good indoor air quality. Several manufacturers provided laboratory test reports showing their products are low-emitting and meet the CHPS Criteria for Indoor Environmental Quality Credit 2: Low-Emitting Materials.

“Students need the best environment possible in which to learn and grow and become tomorrow’s leaders,” said Linda Moulton-Patterson, Chair of the California Integrated Waste Management Board, the state’s primary recycling agency. “Putting low-emission building materials into the construction of new classrooms is an excellent step toward providing a healthy learning environment for both school children and teachers. This is an effort the Board is excited to support.” Check out the Compliant Materials Table of low-emitting products that meet the indoor air testing protocols of Special Environmental Requirements specification Section 01350 on the CHPS website: www.chps.net/manual/lem_overvw.htm

The carpet industry supports this healthy building materials initiative and joined the effort through an enhancement of its own Green Label program. A collaborative effort between the California Department of Health Services (DHS), Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), and the California Integrated Waste Management Board was initiated to develop the new and improved CRI Green Label Plus program, available to view at: www.chps.net/manual/lem_table.htm.

A number of recycled-content carpet products are registered in the CRI “Green Label Plus” Carpet Testing Program Approved Products list. Products manufactured by C&A Floorcoverings, Inc., Interface, J&J Commercial, and Shaw Industries, Inc. contain varying amounts of recycled content. Information on the exact percentages can be obtained on the CIWMB Recycled Content Products database at www.ciwmb.ca.gov/RCP/.

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Last updated: August 01, 2008