We are talking with a Wood manufacturer for CLT and Glulam and we have gone through the painful process of CoC for Legal Wood and now have started looking into the formaldehyde emissions. They meet ANSI PRG 320 and ANSI A190.1 respectively. But the glues for the Glulams have formaldehyde in them. I started looking into the standards and they discuss the structural aspects of the wood but not emissions. Since they meet ANSI PRG 320 and ANSI A190.1 do they automatically pass the Low Emitting Criteria despite the content of the glue/adhesive?
The Credit Language reads, products must meet one of the following:
"Formaldehyde emissions evaluation
Lauren Breckenridge
Green BadgerFebruary 12, 2024 - 4:29 pm
Hi Summer,
Regarding the CoC for the wood, that is only going to help with the credit Sourcing of Raw Materials. You would need the FSC certificate and the orginal invoice. I would like to point you to this blog post resource by Green Badger that goes into detail about this. Regarding low emitting materials, if you are pursing the composite wood product category it will need a ULEF or NAF certifcate. Here is a link to our ebook specifically page 7 will guide you on this.
Adrienne Lynn
Sustainability ManagerClark Builders
9 thumbs up
May 3, 2024 - 4:05 pm
Hey Lauren, the ULEF and NAF certificate requirements is applicable to composite wood products, which only includes particleboard, medium density fiberboard (both medium density and thin), hardwood plywood with veneer, composite or combination core. Summer’s inquiry is related to structural wood products; e.g. CLT (cross-laminated timber) and Glulam (glue-laminated timber), this is addressed by the 4th bullet in beta guide under Formaldehyde emissions evaluation and quoted in Summer’s post above. The ULEF and NAF requirement does not apply to CLT or Glulam products.
My question is similar to Summer’s.
We are working with a mass timber trade partner, where the Glulam is being manufactured to CSA-0122/CSA-086 instead of ANSI A190.1, as our project is in Canada. However, in reading the ANSI A190.1 Standard in Section 8 it states “Adhesives required by this Standard shall conform to the requirements of ANSI 405.” The adhesive that our trade partner is using states it “has been independently tested and demonstrated to meet the requirements of ANSI 405”. Therefore, I’m wondering if these Glulam products (manufactured to CSA 0122) would be considered compliant, with the LEM Composite Wood category, as the adhesive being used has been manufactured to the same standard required by ANSI A190.1…which is ANSI 405. (Lost anyone yet? lol)
Similarly to Summer’s inquiry, I’m especially curious if the adhesive / glue / resin are the only concerns when it comes to the FEE requirements…if so then I imagine our Glulam would be compliant. However, the adhesive our trade partner is using, which is compliant with ANSI 405 (as required by ANSI A190.1), does indicate it is a liquid melamine formaldehyde resin. Furthermore, the adheisve product is also GREENGUARD Gold certified, even though we don't need to track it in the A&S category, since it's used in the factory...but this could be a bonus as well.
The question, does anyone know if these Glulam products would be compliant?