Sustainability has become an increasingly important consideration for consumers when they are selecting the products and brands they choose to invest in. The sustainability industry has responded with an array of ecolabels to help guide buyers towards responsible choices; at the time of writing in July 2023, the Ecolabel Index, an online directory of global ecolabels, is tracking 456 different ecolabels in 199 countries, and 25 industry sectors.
One of the key goals of the LivingOn program is to share sustainability information about our products transparently and openly to help our customers make responsible choices. With this in mind, we thought it would be helpful to provide a guide to the ecolabels our products hold. To help, we have divided the ecolabels into two types: third party product rating and certification schemes, and single attribute certification schemes. Here, we dissect third party product ratings.
Third Party Product Rating & Certification Schemes
The purpose of a third party product rating scheme is to provide customers with a ‘whole of sustainability’ product assessment. That means the rating system assesses multiple sustainability attributes, including recycled content and recyclability, responsible sourcing, toxicity and air quality, water consumption, pollution, and energy use. Product rating schemes also consider social sustainability issues such as ethical labour practices, human health, and product safety. What’s more, these attributes are assessed right across the lifecycle of a product – often referred to as ‘cradle-to-grave’ – from raw material extraction to manufacturing, distribution, use, and end-of-life treatment.
For retail consumers, third party product rating schemes provide independent assurance that a product has a lower impact on the environment and human health and is ethically made and fit for purpose. For businesses, designers, and specifiers, third party product rating schemes also contribute towards building sustainability rating schemes, such as the Green Building Council of Australia’s Green Star® rating tools.
At Living Edge, our products are certified to four third party product rating schemes, three of which are recognised by GBCA’s Green Star Interiors v1.3 rating tool:
AFRDI Green Tick
The Australasian Furnishing Research and Development Institute (AFRDI) is an independent not-for-profit technical organisation that provides standards, testing, product certification and research for buyers and sellers of commercial furniture. Launched in 2009, AFRDI’s Green Tick scheme focuses on commercial furniture products and rates products against the AFRDI 150 sustainability standard.
A wide range of our market leading Herman Miller products have obtained the highest Green Tick Level A ‘platinum’ certification, which is recognised in the Green Star Interiors v1.3 rating tool.
GECA
Good Environmental Choice Australia’s ‘GECA Certified’ ecolabel follows the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 14024 standard for ‘type 1’ ecolabels, which is recognised globally as the most robust and credible form of sustainability label. GECA certify over 2,500 products, from furniture to construction and consumer products.
Our Derlot and Bloc+ ranges are certified to GECA’s Furniture, Fittings, Foam & Mattresses Level A standard, which is recognised in the Green Star Interiors v1.3 rating tool.
Global GreenTag
Australian based Global GreenTag is one of the world’s most robust, trusted and widely recognised ecolabels. Global GreenTag offers two certification schemes, GreenRate and LCARate. The GreenRate program is a whole sustainability assessment for green design, procurement, facilities management, and cleaning professionals seeking to achieve points under the GBCA’s Green Star building rating tools. The LCARate program is a world first, 'beyond LCA' Life Cycle Analysis for consumers and professionals who want to understand the overall sustainability of products compared to a worst case ‘Business as Usual’ product.
A number of key products from our HOWE and Muuto product ranges have achieved GreenRate and LCARate certification.
BIFMA LEVEL
Similar in profile to AFRDI, US based BIFMA is a not‐for-profit trade association for business and institutional furniture manufacturers. BIFMA’s LEVEL certification scheme uses third-party certifiers to evaluate products against multi-attribute criteria defined in the ANSI/BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustainability Standard. The LEVEL mark demonstrates that the product, the manufacturing facility, and the company responsible for the product brand, have achieved the necessary requirements for certification. Although not currently incorporated in the Green Star tool, the LEVEL mark is still a valuable guide for specifying commercial projects.
