Wallcoverings industry releases product scorecards concerning sustainability

The wallcoverings industry has developed Product Certification Scorecards, a new sustainability tool.

The tool provides transparency into how products earned their NSF 342 certifications. Manufacturer and distributor performance are disclosed on the document that was developed by the Wallcoverings Association and NSF International.

Available from the wallcovering manufacturer or distributor, the scorecard shows how many points the product earned in each of the NSF 342 categories and associated criteria. These factors include sustainability in product manufacturing, durability, fire resistance, VOC emissions, and end-of-life management.

“NSF 342 is unique in the architecture and design industry in that both manufacturer and distributor must qualify for a product to carry the certification,” according to a Wallcoverings Association news release. “The manufacturer and distributor combine their total points to qualify for one of four levels of certification: Conformant, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.”

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.