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Green Building CouncilIn late June 2004, INSTYLE CONTRACT TEXTILES submitted feedback to the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) as part of the Green Star - Office Interiors rating tool stakeholder feedback process. The rating tool, launched 1st May 2005, attracted criticism due to the content of the Materials category, the stakeholder engagement process and the conflict of interest created during the development of the rating tool. The Materials category attempts to address the environmental impacts of fitout items such as chairs and workstations. The rating tool specifies eco-preferred content as either: • recycled (pre-consumer and post-consumer), INSTYLE was greatly concerned with the exclusion of other benign materials such as: rapidly-renewable content (certified organic is included although this accounts for a very small percentage of products) and locally-produced/Australian content in the Materials category. Rapidly-renewable and locally-produced content are recognised by the Centre for Design, Ecospecifier, and the US and the Canadian Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) system, many of which the GBCA consulted with in the development of the rating tool. In setting the above eco-preferred content, the GBCA was preferencing, in the case of textiles, textiles made from PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles, the only recycled-content textiles available in Australia. PET is produced overseas and contains hazardous substances such as antimony, arsenic, chromium, formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), cobalt, zinc, plasticisers and other questionable substances (McDonough & Braungart 2002). Upholstery abrades during normal use; therefore it is highly possible that these hazardous particles might be inhaled, swallowed and negatively affect indoor air quality. Moreover, whilst it is theoretically possible for recycled PET textiles to be recycled again, there is no infrastructure in Australia to do so, so the textile at the end of its useful life will end up in landfill. Such a narrow focused environmental approach eliminated the choice of better sustainable options. The outcome of this approach, in the case of textiles, preferences an imported recycled PET textile over superior Australian grown, eco wool textiles produced to strict environmental criteria by local manufacturers, that benefit indoor air quality and can be reused, recycled or will biodegrade in the right conditions. In February 2006, the GBCA revised the Green Stars - Office Interiors rating tool. Recycled content is no longer included on the list of options for Eco Preferred Content as the GBCA now recognises that, "recycled content does not guarantee a minimal impact on the environment". The Green Star Office Interiors rating tool has been revised so that only products with third-party certification are recognised as Eco Preferred Content by the GBCA. Unfortunately, the GBCA's new position is problematic because, for textiles, the only third-party certification available in Australia is through the Australian Environmental Labelling Association (AELA). AELA's Textile Standard certifies both natural and synthetic textiles; therefore it is possible for a 100% virgin polyester, acrylic or nylon textile to achieve third-party certification with AELA. These textiles should not be deemed as Eco Preferred as they fail to meet many sustainable design criteria over their lifecycle, are manufactured from a finite and non-renewable resource i.e. Petroleum and contain numerous hazardous substances. INSTYLE has written to the GBCA urging them to reconsider their position
and has recommended the GBCA to include: in the list of options for Eco Preferred Content. These options are recognised by the US and Canadian Green Building Councils, Ecospecifier and the Centre for Design (many of which the GBCA consulted with in the development of the rating tool). Correspondence between INSTYLE and the Green Building Council is provided for your information. GBCA - Instyle correspondence. 07-04-05 - INSTYLE
Letter Please contact Michael Fitzsimons on 02 9317 0250 or mfitzsimons@instyle.com.au
should you have any questions in relation to this correspondence. |
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