Underwriters Laboratories Announces New Environmental Services

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Nov 18, 2008

UL Brings a Century of Product Safety Testing and Certification Expertise to Environmentally Sustainable Products

NORTHBROOK, Ill. - Underwriters Laboratories, a world leader in product safety testing services, today announced it will launch two new environmental services: Environmental Claims Validation (ECV), a program aimed at providing validation by means of independent testing and assessments of environmental product claims, and a program that will certify to environmentally sustainable product standards. These industry-leading offerings take UL's commitment to safety one step further by protecting not just people, but the environment.

"UL's century-long legacy is one of safety, trust and leadership," said Marcello Manca, vice president of new business development for Underwriters Laboratories. "Today's announcement -- the launch of UL's environmental services -- marks the next chapter in that legacy in which UL will provide guidance and clarity around manufacturers' environmental claims."

As demand for environmentally sustainable products grew so did the need for claims validation. For example, the Federal Trade Commission passed Act 260, which specified environmental claims must be honest, non-deceptive and if possible, substantiated by a third-party. In response to this need, UL began developing the ECV program that would audit and test environmental claims made by manufacturers.

UL's ECV program will cover a wide range of environmental claims related to product attributes, such as energy efficiency, recycled content and volatile organic compound emissions and content, to name a few. In addition to ECV, UL will launch a certification program that will certify products to industry-accepted environmental standards.

"The green building industry has been at a cross road. Customers were demanding sustainable products, so manufacturers were responding with environmental claims-but there was no one validating those claims, nor certifying to published environmental product standards," said Manca. "We need organizations like UL to provide clarity and regulation that will ultimately help turn those claims into a competitive advantage."

UL representatives will be onsite at the Greenbuild Conference and Expo, November 19-21 in Boston, Mass. for interviews and discussions. For more information about UL's new environmental services, go to www.ulenvironment.com.

About Underwriters Laboratories
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is an independent product safety certification organization that has been testing products and writing Standards for Safety for over a century. UL evaluates more than 19,000 types of products, components, materials and systems annually with 21 billion UL Marks appearing on 72,000 manufacturers' products each year. UL's worldwide family of companies and network of service providers includes 63 laboratory, testing and certification facilities serving customers in 99 countries. For more information, visit www.ul.com/newsroom

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