What is Greenguard Gold Certification?

What is Green Guard Gold Certification?

When we shop for beds, furniture, or other home decors, the GreenGuard Gold Certifcation logo is popular on some products. It simply means that the product has been tested and certified for low chemical emissions. Usually, we get exposed to chemicals through the air we inhale, mostly indoor air.

The GreenGuard Environmental Institute (GEI), corporately tailored as GreenGuard, comes as an industry-independent, third-party, and non-profit association. Its main agenda is to help maintain low chemical emissions to the environment. Typically, GEI provides four major certification programs. Three of them deals with the products we purchase for our homes, institutions, and schools. One program involves building certification.

GEI was first formed in mid-2001 by Air Quality Sciences and operated as an indoor air quality company. Ten years later, it got acquired by the UL Environment. More importantly, all GreenGuard Gold Certifcation are globally known and acknowledged by viable programs and building codes.

What does GreenGuard Gold Certification mean?

A product that bears the GreenGuard Certification stamp means that it is best made for indoor uses. In other words, it has been scientifically tested for over 10,000 chemicals and proven to comply with the world’s most strict limits for chemical emissions standards. As a result, indoor air pollution and the risk of chemical exposure get reduced.

What’s the work of GreenGuard Gold Certifications?

According to GEI, the rate at which indoor air gets polluted is up to five times higher than that outside. Why? Well, it’s believed that airborne chemicals from furniture, building materials, flawed ventilation systems, and mold dirt contribute to this situation.

So, a product that bears the GreenGuard Gold Certification mark gets support from a third-party. Besides, all the claims are established by experiential scientific data. In other words, GEI ensures that all the interiors of a home are healthier and safe from toxic chemical emissions. Additionally, companies with GreenGuard Gold Certification are likely to get excellent credibility when making sustainable assertions.

Basically, the GreenGuard Indoor Air Quality Certification Program pin-points low-emission materials, finishes, and products. Therefore, it maintains quality, safe, and toxic-free indoor settings by reducing exposure to such pollutants. The program also outlines the most stringent guidelines to end the volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions.

How does the GreenGuard Gold Certification process gets conducted?

For a company to get this fantastic certification, its products must meet the field-authenticated and performance-based standards. As for the case of materials and products, they need to reveal the use of low chemical emission, although this may not be sufficient. That’s why GreenGuard Gold Certification comes in play. Its standards require that all products should be tested yearly for over 10,000 different volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

However, the certification process is meant for a diverse range of indoor items and specialists. This includes furniture, flooring underlayments, indoor products, architects, designers, specifiers for products and materials, and builders. All these must meet the rigorous standards for chemical emissions to get the GreenGuard Gold Certification logo.

Statistically, there are over 200 manufacturers who engage in this certification program willingly. Also, more than 200,000 products get presented in the GreenGuard program. You’ll find all the commodities tested in a well-structured dynamic environmental chamber with temperatures and humidity levels controlled. The products stay in the chamber for one day or a few weeks to understand how many chemicals are eliminated.

Education Facilities/School-related products

The GIE institute created a new standard and product certification process in 2005, which acts as an extension of the GreenGuard Indoor Air Quality Certification program. This program mainly focuses on products used at school, K-12, and healthcare institutions.

Children are more prone to allergies, headaches, and asthma, which may be due to exposure to VOCs. The furniture in classrooms, materials used for construction, and cleaning detergents are the primary sources of VOC emissions in schools.

So, the only practical and reliable way to maintain a healthy life for children is through this certification program. This is concerned with children’s health, attendance rate, test scores, and productivity.

That said, it is notable that the GreenGuard Gold Certification was initially referred to as the GreenGuard Children and Schools Certification Program. Typically, it was created by evaluating children’s sensitivity to chemicals and frame structure of schools. That’s why it delivers the most strict product emissions strategy to date for low-chemical emitting materials.

Why is GreenGuard Gold Certification important?

Often, chemical emissions come from furniture, cleaning supplies, and other indoor products. And these occur when volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in some products splits at room temperature conditions. Since these compounds are carbon-based, they quickly get converted to gases that disappear into the air.

Therefore, there are about 50 to 100 varieties of VOCs in our indoor spaces, which may be harmful to your health. Most importantly, the health of kids and the elderly in your home. To help prevent these effects on human life, the GreenGuard Gold Certification program is incredibly essential as follows:

  1. It limits the chemical emissions and VOCs from indoor products to the indoor air.
  2. Improves the quality of indoor air by getting rid of toxic elements and compounds.
  3. Ensures that facilities such as healthcare and schools with sensitive people are safe from indoor pollution.
  4. It is beneficial for companies intending to gain a reputation for producing quality and emission-free products.

Limitations of GreenGuard Gold Certification

The only challenge with this program it doesn’t always guarantee you 100% clean air. This is because some GreenGuard Gold certified products still emit certain levels of chemicals.

Therefore, always be sure to unpack your new furniture, mattresses, or other products in an open space to avoid indoor pollution. Please leave them in a place like a garage for a couple of days before you start using them.

Conclusion

The GreenGuard Gold certification exists as one of the most remarkable services in the world. It ensures that all the products you have in your home have low chemical emissions. So, choosing products with GreenGuard Gold certification gives you the easiest way to create a healthier indoor space for your office, home, healthcare facility, or institution. In other words, they limit the risk of chemical exposure to your kids and older people at home.

Want’s more, GreenGuard Gold certification standards are incredibly stringent and highly recognized in the world. Our QuietWarmth product is GeenGuard Gold Certified and therefore, you can always feel confident that these wonderful products meet the highest standards available in your home.

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