What is LEED®
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a voluntary, consensus-based national rating system for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. Developed by U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED addresses all building types and emphasizes state-of-the-art strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials and resources selection, and indoor environmental quality. LEED is a practical rating tool for green building design and construction that provides immediate and measurable results for building owners and occupants. LEED is the most widely accepted green building system.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non-profit organization committed to expanding sustainable building practices.
How does VT Industries assist with LEED certification?
Our products can help a customer who has a project seeking LEED certification. Only a project can achieve LEED certification. Our products are not LEED certified, they assist in achieving LEED certification for a building. Our products can help achieve points under Materials & Resources (MR) and Indoor Air Quality (EQ). Specifically to achieve points Recycled Content, Certified Wood, Rapidly Renewable, and Regional Materials under Materials & Resources. Also achieve points for Low-Emitting Materials under the Indoor Air Quality category.
Our products decrease the demand on forests for new wood materials by using recycled and rapidly renewable core materials, promote local economy and reduce transportation impacts by using local materials, support properly managed forestry - through FSC certification and create healthy indoor environments by using low-emitting products - not having known carcinogens present in large quantities in your building/home.
What does LEED certification mean to a building project?
A LEED building project has many benefits, below are a few:
Reduced negative environmental impacts associated with constructing a new buildingDecreased operating costs from efficient HVAC, lighting, and on site renewable energyHealthy indoor environments - increase worker productivity, reduce absenteeism from sickness, and reduce liability from indoor air quality problems Companies can use green workplace to recruit talented workers, by showing they are a progressive company that cares about their environment and their workforce Increases market presence with added press received from local/national mediaRecycling programs decrease landfill demandsDoes green building contribute to financing our project?
Many federal, state and county incentives are offered for incorporating green building strategies, including tax breaks and funding opportunities. Contact your local agency for more information about sustainable building incentive availability.
What does GREENGUARDTM mean?
The GREENGUARD Certification ProgramSM is an industry independent, third-party testing program for low-emitting products and materials. Their standards are among the most stringent indoor air quality standards in the world. GREENGUARD Certification performance based standards define goods with low chemical and particle emissions for use indoors, primarily building materials, interior furnishings, furniture, cleaning and maintenance products, electronic equipment, and personal care products. GREENGUARD Certification evaluates more than 75, 000 chemicals, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carcinogens and reproductive toxins.
For more information on the GREENGUARD Certification Program emission standards or to view VT compliance certificates visit www.greenguard.org.
Are VT Architectural Wood Doors GREENGUARD Certified?
VT wood doors have been GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certified® and GREENGUARD for Children & SchoolsSM Certified. VT wood door products are tested quarterly to make sure we meet certification standards. Our products are tested for individual VOC's, Formaldehyde, Styrene, Total Aldehydes, and Total VOC's. Children are more heavily exposed to environmental toxins than adults - they consume more food, water, and have higher inhalation exposure to young children with greater sensitivities Children & Schools standards are more stringent. GREENGUARD Certifications meet the standards of many green building programs, including: LEED for Schools, Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS), and GREEN Guide for Healthcare (GGHC).
What is Formaldehyde?
Formaldehyde is an important industrial chemical used to make other chemicals, building materials, and household products. Building products with formaldehyde resins can "off-gas" (emit) formaldehyde gas. There are two types of formaldehyde resins: urea formaldehyde (UF) and phenol formaldehyde (PF). Products made of urea formaldehyde can release formaldehyde gas; products made of phenol formaldehyde generally emit lower levels of gas.
In interior applications, the most significant sources of formaldehyde are likely to be pressed wood products made using adhesives that contain urea formaldehyde (UF) resins. Pressed wood products made for indoor use include particleboard, hardwood plywood, and medium density fiberboard.
Formaldehyde is normally present at low levels, usually less than 0.06 ppm (parts per million), in both outdoor and indoor air. When present in the air at levels at or above 0.1 ppm, acute health effects can occur including watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes, nose and throat; nausea; coughing; chest tightness; wheezing; skin rashes; and other irritating effects. The World Health Organization recommends that exposure should not exceed 0.05 ppm.
Does VT offer any urea-formaldehyde free core options?
No. We offer no added urea-formaldehyde options. A urea-formaldehyde free wood product is not possible, as urea-formaldehyde will always be present in a wood product. Most green building programs specify no added urea-formaldehyde composite wood or agrifiber products. This means that no extra urea-formaldehyde was added in the production of wood products. VT agrifiber and stave lumber cores, as well as our adhesives, contain no added urea-formaldehyde. Our particleboard is available with no added urea-formaldehyde upon request.
What is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)?
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests.
Environmentally appropriate forest management ensures that the harvest of timber and non-timber products maintains the forest's biodiversity, productivity and ecological processes.
Socially beneficial forest management helps both local people and society at large to enjoy long term benefits and also provides strong incentives to local people to sustain the forest resouces and adhere to long-term management plans.
Ecomomically viable forest management means that forest operations are structured and managed so as to be sufficiently profitable, without generating financial profit at the expense of the forest resources, the ecosystem or affected communities. The tension between the need to generate adequate financial returns and the principles of responsible forest operations can be reduced through efforts to market forest product for their best value.
What is a FSC Chain of Custody?
Chain of Custody (CoC) is the path taken by raw materials, processed materials and products, from the forest to the consumer, including all successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing, and distribution.
The main objective of FSC CoC certification is to ensure that the FSC certified material is tracked through the supply chain between operations and production processes within operations. Only FSC CoC certified operations are allowed to label products with the FSC trademarks.
A certified Chain of Custody up to the final point of sale enables end customers to identify and choose FSC certified products knowing there is a system in place to verify the sources of the wood used to manufacture the products. The FSC label thus provides the link between responsible production and consumption.
Operations that use certified materials or that purchase and sell Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified products can earn Chain of Custody (CoC) certification. CoC certification ensures that a product bearing the FSC label can be verified to contain sufficient quantities of FSC certified materials. CoC certification is awarded for a five-year period subject to successful completion of annual audits.
VT Chain of Custody number is SW-COC-00736.
What is SmartWood?
SmartWood is the Rain Forest Allaince's accredited certification body for the Forest Stewardship Council. VT Industries Chain of Custody is certified by the Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood program.
What is the difference between FSC pure and FSC mixed?
FSC pure products consist of 100% certified FSC materials. FSC mixed contains at least 10% FSC certified materials. Stave cores are available as an FSC pure material. Particleboard is available as a FSC mixed door core.
