Underwriters Laboratories to Validate Environmental Claims

Extending its mission of product safety from people to the environment, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) will offer manufacturers two new programs to test and certify environmental product claims. Set to launch in January 2009, the Environmental Claims Validation (ECV) program will test and assess environmental product claims, and a second program will certify products to environmental standards.

With a 114-year history and one of the most recognizable product-safety logos in the U.S., UL could help address widespread confusion in the green products certification world. “Our customers have been asking us, ‘When are you going to get in and help us? We’re looking at a maze and we don’t see any power brand that can truly give us peace of mind,’” said Marcello Manca, vice-president for new business development at UL. Those customers include product manufacturers as well as retailers looking to market green products on their shelves, Manca said. He added, “The building industry needs something like LEED on the products side.”

UL’s two programs have distinct features. The first, for environmental product certification, will be “a classic certification program,” said Manca. It will identify relevant green product standards and test and certify products to those standards. Certified products will be able to display a UL-branded label that shows the relevant standard. According to Manca, UL will adopt industry accepted standards for various product areas and would add new standards when they become available.