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The Lowdown on Eco-Labels: What Do They Really Mean?

As we try to travel in greener directions through the wild, wild west of the consumer market, there are plenty of markers along the way to guide us–in the form of eco-labels, those little green symbols printed and/or stuck on nearly everything you can buy these days. There are symbols indicating that a product is organic, chlorine-free or grown upside down without soil; that it was made by people paid a fair wage or by chickens allowed to go for walks in the sun. If there’s an environmental issue worth considering, there’s an eco-label related to it—which on one hand is fantastic, but on the other… Well, it gets to be a bit much. After a while, all the symbols seem to fade into a solicitous green haze with about as much meaning as the words “As seen on TV!” on the box of the latest trendy gadget. And what’s worse, some of the labels don’t even mean what they appear to. Who would guess that their “free range” chicken might have never even seen the open sky? And others don’t mean very much at all, like organic labels on fruits and vegetables that aren’t normally grown with pesticides to begin with.

But we’re not likely to see any fewer eco-labels anytime soon–we’ll probably only see more, and some of them are genuinely useful indicators of qualities you might actually care about. So with that in mind, here’s a brief run-down of a few of the most commonly seen eco-labels and what they mean, then a list of places where you can learn more about these online and look up the rest of them, too.

EnergyStar is probably the most often-seen eco-label. EnergyStar is a joint program of the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) and the U.S. Department of Energy, and it awards the EnergyStar label to household products, homes and nonresidential buildings that meet its energy efficiency requirements. Its standards are lower than those required for LEED certification, but it’s a decent start.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a program run by the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit organization with no government affiliation. LEED provides third-party verification that a building project followed green building procedures, meets energy efficient performance standards, and is a health place to live or work. The main criteria for evaluation are sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, the use of sustainable materials (e.g. low-VOC paint, green insulation) , and a healthy indoor environment. The program is based on a system that awards a silver, gold, or platinum certification level, based on the number of points a project was able to win by addressing the various criteria. Certification is entirely voluntary.

USDA Organic This label indicates that the product meets the National Organic Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s standards for using the word “organic” in its labeling. These standards vary for the different products that are eligible for the label, which include not only food but personal care products as well. But most require the absence of synthetic fertilizers, conventional pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones and sewage sludge in the production process. You can find a table outlining the different requirements for different products here.

Fair Trade This symbol indicates that the product has been certified by TransFair USA, which is the only U.S. member of FLO (Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International, the Germany-based umbrella organization for a group of 20 international fair trade certifying nonprofits). Fair Trade Certification standards help farmers and farm workers to lift themselves out of poverty by investing in their farms and communities, protecting the environment, and helping them developing the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace. The label signifies that the product was grown by small-scale farmers who are democratically organized, either in a co-ops or unions; that the buyer paid up to 60% of the cost of the raw materials in advance, that a fair wage was paid and no child labor was used in production, that none of the 10 worst pesticides were used in the growing process, and that the buyer paid additional premiums to go toward services to support and develop the farm community.

FSC The FSC label indicates, essentially, that a wood product was grown in a forest that is being managed responsibly and sustainably. The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), certifies forest managers and manufacturers of wood products that it determines are managing forests and using forest products responsibly and sustainably. Among their major concerns are not allowing logging practices to destroy forests, protecting the habitats of endangered wildlife, and making sure the profits from commercial forest endeavors are shared fairly with communities living in the forests. The FSC is not affiliated with any government, is a nonprofit organization, and certification is entirely voluntary.

For more info on these and literally hundreds more eco-labels, see these links:

Consumer Reports’ Greener Choices Eco-Label page

The Global Ecolabel Index

Inhabititat’s Eco Labels 101

Top image courtesy of Shutterstock

Healthy Paints: An Interview with Ivy Coatings

Part of being an environmentally- conscious consumer is knowing where, and from whom, we source our products. This week, we had the pleasure of speaking with Kevin Stasi, the sales manager of Ivy Coatings — one of Green Depot’s suppliers that produces low- and VOC-free paints. As we’ve written about before, “new paint smell” is actually the odor of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) offgassing into the air we breathe. VOCs can cause headaches and nausea, damage the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system, and some are known to be carcinogenic. For these and other reasons, we are glad to carry Ivy Coatings’ products and to have had the opportunity to speak with Kevin, who has been with Ivy Coatings since its very beginning.

Green Depot: To get started, we were wondering if you could tell us a little about Ivy Coatings – how you got started, and your outlook on the environmentally-friendly paints you supply.
Kevin Stasi: Well, Ivy Coatings has actually been around for a while – probably five to six years. Three or four years ago we began targeting commercial and residential customers, rather than governmental and institutional customers, who were our initial focus. From the very beginning, we were reaching out and searching for quality vendors, and as we’ve pushed out towards the mainstream – commercial and residential customers – we’ve continued searching for good partners.

GD: Was your goal when you began to produce specifically environmentally-friendly paints?
KS: When we began, our goal was to develop a good-quality paint first; then we focused on the VOC-free aspect of our product. We thought this out from the beginning. We didn’t want to rush to market with an inferior product, and to do the same thing as the big guys like Sherwin-Williams or Benjamin Moore – some of these companies have made improvements and produced elite VOC-free paints, but builders and designers complained that they were milky or chalky, and were using 30% more product to do the same job that standard paints would. So we started out with quality in mind.

Some of these elite environmental paints, as well, weren’t “true” VOC-free. They contained 30 to 60 grams of VOC per liter. This wasn’t what the consumer was really looking for.

GD: So you began with quality in mind; when did you begin to think more about the VOC content of your product?
KS: Our product has gone through some adjustment. When we were in a more institutional, rather than residential, phase, our product was good quality, so what we wanted to do was lower the VOC content and not lose any quality. The concept was to make the product appeal to architects, designers, and builders and be able to say it was good quality, as well as VOC-free.

But we not only wanted to say it was good quality, but that the price point was also good for homeowners. In the market, VOC-free paint can run up to forty, fifty, or sixty dollars per gallon. This was not good for institutional builders, who have to buy in huge amounts. For the customer, we wanted to be able to say that there would be no smell, and to wipe out the extra cost for VOC-free paint. We want to be distinct as a marketing decision, but also communicate our core reasons for the brand: quality that you can feel good about, with no offgassing.

GD: What do you consider to be some of the main benefits of choosing VOC-free paints over standard ones?
KS: Well, there is no smell when it’s applied. Of course, that’s very subjective and when you first open the can you might notice a slight odor. But when I take our product to trade shows and open a can at the booth, 99% of people can’t smell anything. When you apply the paint, though, there is no smell and you can’t even tell that the painters are painting. You know first thing when painters are using standard paints – but not with Ivy, even when it is wet, and even during application.

A huge benefit is that because there is no smell, there is a quick return to occupancy. A major drawback of standard paints, especially in commercial offices, is that people move out to avoid the fumes, and employees call out sick to avoid the odor. Some people are very sensitive to that smell. Ivy Coatings doesn’t have that.

GD: What do you consider the major environmental benefits of your paints?
KS: There’s a lot! From the immediate sensitivity to the health benefits alone. That’s for all VOC products. Anything that offgasses, including furniture and carpets, people are inhaling. This can lead to serious health conditions and even cancer.

Even if a paint stops smelling, they continue to offgas for years. So now, the office or even home, with a carpet, furniture, becomes a mixture or soup of offgassing. We always push to be as clean as possible. Knowing that the space you’re working in is healthy and is a properly-ventilated space can increase productivity, even in the home.

GD: You mentioned earlier that you want your product to be accessible to the mainstream. What’s your approach to that?
KS: Over the last five years, costs between standard and green products has begun to shrink. Ivy tries to make that gap as small as possible, but the gap has decreased across the board, especially for construction materials which are about the same now. Seven years ago, the emphasis for construction materials was on recycled materials, but then we realized being environmentally-conscious went beyond that to health – so new features, like daylighting and toxin-free products allow owners to lease at higher rates, to rent at higher rates, and to rent out fast. Customers see that by going green, their energy savings can be 20-30% less than standard. People are looking at their buildings, and seeing that financially, going green can help people save money, and that is what really is compelling.

GD: Thanks a lot for the opportunity to speak with you!

Ivy Coatings produces a full line of low-VOC and VOC-free paints. They showcase their products at Green Depot’s flagship store, at 222 Bowery in New York, NY.

Passive Buildings in the U.S. and Europe

In our series on passive houses this week, we’ve discussed the merits of saving energy by using condensing driers, of tightly insulating homes to achieve super-efficient energy standards, and we’ve talked about the general merits of building a passive house. One of the things we’re also interested in are examples of passive buildings – of homes built in the U.S., as well as passive homes, schools, and office buildings built around the world.

As the New York Times reports, there are currently 25,000 passive house-certified buildings in Europe. In the U.S., however, there are only 13. While passive design in Europe is well-established – tested by time, certainly (the first homes were built in 1990) – the standard has taken longer to catch on the in United States. Materials rated efficient enough for the standard are more difficult to find here, and designers who are certified in, and understand well, the criteria are few and far between.

This is not to say, however, that people in the United States haven’t risen to meet the challenge of passive house construction. Our mention of the Habitat for Humanity home proves as much. The Times article on the Landau home does, as well.

image courtest of root design build

One of the first homes in the U.S. built to the standard was Shift House, in Portland, Oregon. As the Williamette Week wrote last year, the Shift House was designed not only to meet the stringent standards of Passive House certification, but was also deliberately designed to be highly aesthetically-appealing. Another unique aspect of the Shift House was its use of an 8-inch-thick structural insulated panel, or SIP, that acts as the primary pressure envelope for the house. Even other passive houses in the U.S. don’t utilize this technology or this emphasis on design – proving that even for architects and contractors, there are a variety of materials and techniques available to build passive homes. Green Depot offers some of those materials in the green building materials department.

While in the U.S. we might only have 13 existing structures, in 1997 there were only ten passive houses in existence in Germany, where the standard was first invented. The current record of 25,000 European passive buildings then represents an enormous and astonishing leap forward. But in Europe, it is not only residential houses that have been built to the passive standard.

neue burse residential hall. image courtesy passiv haus institut.

Case in point: the Neue Burse residence hall, or dormitory, located at the University of Wuppertal in Wuppertal, Germany. The building, which was originally constructed in 1977, was deemed to be a massive energy sink that required significant amounts of energy to keep in operation. It was decided to refurbish and retrofit the building to passive standards. Construction was completed in 2003, and represents the largest residential building in Germany to comply with the passive house standard.

social housing in kassel marbachshoehe. image courtesy of passiv haus institut.

In Kassel-Marbachshohe, city officials undertook the ambitious project of ensuring that their next public housing development meet the passive standard. While building specific-user residential homes on empty lots provides the architect with a significant degree of free in designing a home for energy efficiency, designing in tight urban spaces offers new challenges. Despite this, however, 40 residential units in a multi-story complex were constructed using public funds, and the building was able to meet an 82% increase in energy efficiency over conventional construction (page in German).

office building sportplatzweg. image courtesy hermann-kaufmann architects.

In 1999, the German architecture firm Hermann-Kaufmann designed an architectural office space to passive standards (page in German). As described on their project page, the building experiments with new materials: the staircase is covered with fabric, and the base of the building is covered with painted oriented strand board (OSB). The Office Building Sportplatzweg, situated on an open expanse, is a brilliant example of how architectural design can be both ecologically-sound and blend beautifully with the surrounding landscape.

While these buildings do provide valuable examples of the tried-and-true design philosophy of passive house criteria, it is still somewhat disheartening that only thirteen examples exist in the United States. Consider, though, that presently 160 architects have been trained as passive-house designers, and that that number is expected to rise to 300 by the end of the year, and the picture looks less bleak.

The more awareness that is made of this certification system, and the more the government begins providing tax rebate incentives for passive house construction (in the same way the government already does for LEED or Energy Star construction), the brighter the future of truly energy-efficient passive buildings in the U.S. looks.

Visit Green Depot to get more ideas on building materials and green products to make your home more environmentally-friendly.

A Greener Way to Dry: Condensing Clothes Dryers

October 1st, 2010 | Posted by cramcharran in Green Building | Green Homes | Green Products | Living Green - (1 Comments)

A passive house in Austria. Image courtesy the Passive House Institute.

One of the main principles of passive house construction (read about this fantastic energy-saving way of building in this recent New York Times article) is making the building envelope as close to airtight as possible–to keep heat and cold from leaking in and out where they’re not supposed to. Several construction techniques unique to passive house design help achieve that goal, most notably the principle of keeping the inside and outermost layers of the house detached from the framework studs so they don’t have to be punctured for screws. But special construction techniques aren’t the only way to keep your house airtight: If you’re building from scratch, you can reconsider what appliances you’ll be installing, too.

Your clothes dryer (if you even use one) is especially important, because the exhaust vent leading to outdoors a traditional dryer requires typically allows far more air in and out of the house than just the hot air from the dryer. A more energy-conserving option is a condensing dryer. These dryers dispose of hot, damp air by turning the water in it into condensation and draining it away, then keeping the heat from the air to keep drying the clothes–as opposed to just sending the heat and moisture outside as waste, like a conventional dryer does. And since a condensing dryer doesn’t send anything outside, it doesn’t need a vent—so you don’t have to cut a leaky hole into your house for one!

And while you’re saving energy by installing a condensing dryer in your house, you can save it inside the machine, too. Wool Dryer Balls look like tennis balls, and dropping a few in the dryer with your clothes not only shortens drying time but reduces wrinkling, too. And there are countless green cleaning products for the wash. Among Green Depot’s favorites: Oxy-Boost is a fantastic alternative to chlorine bleach, and Charlie’s Soap Laundry Powder works like a charm without phosphates or fragrances–and comes in a nifty old-timey package, too.

condensing dryer, energy conservation, green laundry products, passive house

Passive Home Certification: Just How Efficient Are They?

courtesy Passive House Institute U.S.

Earlier this week we wrote about Habitat for Humanity’s first passive house being built in Vermont. While many readers are perhaps familiar with some of the building standards for LEED or Energy Star certification, we’re also interested in the exact criteria that go into building a passive home.

Passive house certification is certainly the highest energy standard for home building. A s the New York Times notes, a LEED-certified home can be certified as such with only a 15% improvement in efficiency over conventional construction; passive homes are capable of achieving 90% efficiency over conventional homes, and some are even able to return electricity into the grid, netting a negative energy consumption rate.

These homes are well-insulated (nearly air-tight) and heated by passive solar energy – like a greenhouse – and internal energy gains from human body heat or, for example, the heating of a tea kettle. Achieving this level of efficiency requires exacting design, including the very specific angle of construction towards the sun. Achieving passive house certification from the Passive House Institute U.S.A. requires a very rigorous evaluation of the home’s energy consumption and insulation. For a home to be passive, it must be determined to have:

1. a maximum annual heating requirement less than or equal to 15 kWh/(m²a)

2. a pressurization test result with a maximum of 0.6 h^-1

3. an entire specific primary energy demand less than or equal to 120 kWh/(m²a) including domestic energy consumption.

What this means is that the house cannot require heating or cooling demands beyond the specific thresholds detailed above. Accomplishing this requires super-tight insulation of the home. To be more specific, the pressure envelope of the home cannot exceed a loss of pressure of 0.6 air changes per hour (the number of times per hour that a room’s total air volume is exchanged with fresh air at 50 pascals), measured by blower-door test – only a minimal amount of air (heated air in the winter) is allowed to escape the home. This level of insulating efficiency reduces the heating requirement to below the aforementioned threshold, and reduces the level of electrical consumption needed to cool or heat the home.

To read more about passive house certification, you can read Passive House Institute U.S.’s performance characteristics, or read Passiv Haus Insititut’s residential criteria (PDF).

To read more about green insulation options here in the U.S., as well as green products, low-VOC paints, and other eco friendly building materials, you can always visit Green Depot’s homepage.

Walking the Green Walk: A Q&A With a Green Builder

While it’s one thing (and a great thing) to talk about green building, it’s not every day that we meet people who are actually doing it on a grand scale. So to bring a fresh dose of reality to the conversation, we tracked down someone who not only talks the green talk but is decidedly walking the green walk, too. Here’s a short Q&A session with Thom Woglom, a green contractor in Warwick, New York. Thom is a regular Green Depot customer, and with 25 years of experience as a general contractor, he is now the owner and president of Greenway Technologies of Warwick–a contracting company specializing in green building. He kindly took the time to answer some basic questions about the business for us.

Green Depot: Thom, what are some of the reasons your customers have given for choosing a green contractor and green building materials, as opposed to going the standard route?
Thom Woglom: Well, the community of Warwick is special in that it’s both very rural and is made up of a lot of progressive thinkers. So there’s a big emphasis on nature here, and preserving it. The environment is very much on people’s minds these days–there’s a huge amount of interest in green products. But beyond that, our company (my son is my lead foreman) is unique in that we also offer an electronics-recycling service to the community–and a lot of our green building customers come to us by way of that. We think the key to expanding the green movement lies within forming a sense of community around it, because the biggest changes are happening within communities and are growing from the ground up. So we provide a service for our community that helps it become more green-conscious, and as an added benefit, it brings our green business new interest and customers.

GD: What are some products you use often that you order from Green Depot?
TW: We use a lot of your National Fiber cellulose insulation, your Solatube ventilation and daylighting systems, and your Complete Radiant subflooring. We’re about to start working on a house that will have all of those products and many more–they client is going all-out, with a rainwater containment and reuse system, a freshwater swimming pool, wind power, and even a Permaculture site design.

GD: That’s fantastic! Hopefully one day every house will be like that… But are there any areas of the house where that client chose a non-green option? And if so, why?
TW: Well, one of the reasons we’ve heard most often from clients when they don’t want to go with a green choice is concerns about reliability. People haven’t seen most of these new green technologies in action over a long enough time to feel 100% comfortable relying on them yet. This client’s way of addressing those concerns was to have a backup to each of the major systems. So in addition to solar power and heating, he’s installing traditional fossil-fueled electricity and a furnace, too, just in case the greener systems fail (which, of course, we don’t believe they will). It’s an interesting approach. Many clients are also put off by the pricing for green systems, which are generally higher than what they find at a mass-market discount warehouse, but might not be too much higher than non-discounted traditional systems. But price isn’t the main concern for this particular client.

GD: What about the installation of green systems–is it any more difficult or easier than installing traditional heating, cooling and insulation?
TW: It’s all in how you think about it. Any new system requires learning something new, but the basic tools and techniques of building and installation stay the same. As it happens, some of the older workers who might be resistant to learning new methods are now aging out of the workforce, and we’re taking the opportunity to teach the new systems to the new generation of workers from the very beginning. But ultimately, regardless of age, if you’re willing to learn and read instructions, green building really isn’t any more difficult.

GD: Thanks for sharing your experience and expertise, Thom!

Thom Woglom and his company are currently building their area’s first interactive showroom for green building and landscaping, which will feature everything from super-insulated windows and low-flow toilets to compost makers and edible landscaping.