Products Certification Project (PCP)

Background

As a result of ongoing dialogue with Green Star stakeholders and feedback from manufacturers and building industry professionals, a revision to the terms under which the GBCA recognises third party product certification schemes has commenced. Stakeholders have requested broader avenues of independent third-party environmental assessment of products and materials than those currently applicable.

The outcomes of the Product Certification Project are intended to be limited to the Material Calculators of the following Green Star Rating Tools:

• Green Star - Office Interiors v1.1 and the upcoming v2 (Mat-1 to Mat-7)
• Green Star - Education v1 (Mat-11 to Mat-13)
• Green Star - Healthcare PILOT (Mat-9 to Mat-12)
• Green Star - Multi Unit Residential PILOT (Mat-9)

The proposal

The aim of the Product Certification Project (PCP) is to develop an assessment framework by which third party, environmental performance-based, product certification schemes can be equitably and transparently assessed for an appropriate level of recognition within Green Star rating tools by the GBCA. This will enable products and materials which are certified by GBCA-recognised certification bodies greater access to the 'deemed to satisfy' compliance status within the material calculators. Two important outcomes of the PCP are: 1) simplification of the documentation process for Green Star - Office Interiors submissions; and 2) assurance that the product certification schemes recognised by the GBCA require the products which they certify to meet a high level of environmental performance throughout the product's lifecycle.

The process

The process of this revision will follow the established Green Star Stakeholder Engagement Process and involve regular progress updates. Please see the 'Process updates' and 'Latest update' sections below for a historical record and an up to date account of this project's status.

View the Green Star Stakeholder Engagement Process flow diagram

Process updates

In this section you can find any Products Certification Project (PCP) related materials as they become available:

Proposed Project Timeline

Product Certification Project Expert Reference Panel (PCP-ERP) Participants List

Request for nominations to the Third Party Certification Expert Reference Panel.

Latest update

3rd December - Second PCP-ERP meeting held in Sydney, Methodology and Assessment Criteria discussed and refined.

6th November - First PCP-ERP meeting held in Sydney. All participants in attendance.

24th October - Meeting agenda and briefing documents distributed to PCP- ERP.

16th October 2008- Expert Reference Panel participants accept nominations, logistics of first meeting confirmed with participants.

2nd October 2008- Invitations and Terms of Reference documents issued to selected Expert Reference Panel participants, along with Confidentiality Agreements.

Week 29th September - Communication with the Australian Furniture Research and Development Institute (AFRDI) to provide update on status of project.

25th September - Meeting with Carpet Institute of Australia (CIA) to provide project update.

16th September - PCP ERP participant selection complete; GBCA Technical Steering Committee Approval sought.

25th August - Meeting with Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) to provide update on status of the project.

July - August - Revision of nomination and selection processes for ERP Participants undertaken by GBCA to ensure that all ERP's are representative of the GBCA's membership and of each part of the green building supply chain without reinforcing any single stakeholder's interests.

7th July - Meeting with Ecospecifier to provide update on status of project.

1st July 2008 - Nomination period for the Expert Reference Panel ends; GBCA collates and assesses nominations.

11th June 2008 - Progress update on product certification project (PCP) sent to the Industry Reference Group (IRG), other known stake holders and relevant GBCA Member organisations via the GBCA website, newsletter and email; PCP Expert Reference Panel (ERP) nominations period begins; Stakeholders requested to nominate subject matter experts that meet the ERP selection criteria.

April - June 2008 - Background Paper and Draft Assessment Methodology developed by GBCA; RMIT conducts peer review.