Judy Hollingworth, CEO of Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA), advocates for the independent ecolabelling of building products.
Ecolabelling is demonstrating, both in Australia and overseas, that it is the most reliable and effective method of promoting the choice of environmentally preferable products in the built environment. This is above all because the ecolabel builds market trust. That trust is based on three critical factors: first, the supplier has voluntarily submitted its wares to be tested; second, the test is conducted by an impartial third party; and third, the product and its claims have passed the test. The ecolabel’s method of certifying environmental and social performance contrasts with ‘green’ symbols or claims made by manufacturers and service providers. Such claims, whenthey are not independently proven, run the risk of amounting to no more than ‘greenwash’.
The ecolabel, on the other hand, is a ‘trust-mark’, awarded to products and services that meet lifecycle- based, environmental leadership criteria. The main purpose of an ecolabel is to assure specifiers and purchasers that the design, sourcing, manufacture, supply and disposal processes of a product or service are environmentally sound. For the supplier, of course, the aim is increasing sales of their better-performing product. Ultimately this can lead to changing social norms and expectations of products and how they are marketed. ‘SustainAbility’, a global think tank and strategy consultancy, explains in “Signed, Sealed... Delivered?” that many ecolabels have contributed significantly to raising awareness, changing what is expected of certain product categories, and creating a common language and framework around sustainability. A good example is low- VOC paints, now much more widely available and commonly used in commercial building. For a manufacturer which changes its processes to produce an environmentally preferable product, being recognised and rewarded by conscious specifiers, procurement professionals and consumers can be a powerful factor in driving innovation and change in design and production. Ecolabels help remove doubts about how to buy green for architects,specifiers and other built environment
professionals who want to choose products that are better for the environment.
The key is to find products that carry a robust and credible ecolabel, which employs these fundamental practices: third-party accreditation and verification systems; independence – including between the assessment and licensing bodies; and transparency and consistency in all their processes. Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) fulfills each of these criteria. Its standards have been recognised by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA), which is a world leader in green building practices. Within Australia, the GBCA has made our built environment the most progressive sector in sustainability - principally through generating incredible traction via its Green Star rating system. This is also reflected in their substantial global influence, particularly in South Africa, New Zealand and Israel. The GBCA’s Green Star Tools encourage and reward the use of environmentally preferable materials to drive healthier indoor environments and reduce consumption of resources by asking project owners to give preference to ecologically and health-preferable materials.
The GBCA state that: “Green Star Material credits aim to address and improve the environmental impacts of building products and materials by taking into consideration issues pertaining to the lifespan, lifecycle and approach towards the use of these resources within the building fabrics of Green Star certified projects.”
Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) is recognised under the GBCA’s ‘Assessment Framework for Product Certification Schemes’. GECA provides architects, manufacturers, designers and building industry professionals with an independent, reliable and convenient way to make environmentally preferable choices for interiors. TheGBCA rewards products that are certified against six of GECA’s standards with 100 per cent of Green Star points. By setting an environmental performance benchmark for products for office interiors,GBCA rewards products that are certified against six of GECA’s standards with 100 per cent of Green Star points. By setting an environmental performance benchmark for products for office interiors, GECA’s Furniture & Fittings, Flooring, Carpets, Panel Boards and Hard Surfacing standards drive its licensees to consider GECA’s Furniture & Fittings, Flooring, Carpets, Panel Boards and Hard Surfacing standards drive its licensees to considerthe entire life cycle of their product, from raw materials to packaging and beyond. Just as the Green Star rating system encourages industry to erect sustainable buildings, similarly the GECA ecolabel drives sustainable production within manufacturers’ operations. Each standard defines a best-practice environmental benchmark to reach, with a demand to the supplier: “Show us how you got there”. This reduces the demand on natural resources, and lowers risksto the community and the
environment. The GECA team continues to set and refine common definitions, guidelines and metrics for social and environmental impact. Active education programs and engagement with licensees and stakeholders will continue to take these messages to a wider audience.
