Adhesives and sealants must meet the VOC limits defined by the SCAQMD Rule 1168 respectively the Green Seal Standard for Commercial Adhesives GS 36. These limits are given in g/l of the Substance.
However, in Europe almost none of the construction materials are provided with SCAQMD or Green Seal certificates. Instead, the European DECOPAINT and EMICODE certificates are very common for these products.
DECOPAINT:
• Like the SCAQMD or Green Seal certificates also the DECOPAINT certificate regulates the VOC-contents of coating materials in g/l (decorative, protecting or any other kind of functional coatings – including paints and sealants, but not adhesives).
• There are VOC-limits for water based and solvent based products. The VOC limits for water based products generally are between 30 and 200 g/l. The limits for the comparable product categories are equal or below the comparable VOC-limits defined by SCAQMD Rule 1168 (30 – 850 g/l) or Green Seal Standard GS 36.
• However the VOC-analyzing method for DECOPAINT follows European regulations (ISO11890-2 and ASTMD 2369) and therefore is not comparable to the US American standards defined by USEPA (USEPA Reference Method 24) or SCAQMD (Methods 304, 316-A and B).
EMICODE:
• Different than SCAQMD or Green Seal certificates, EMICODE evaluates VOC-emissions of primers, adhesives, grouts, and many other substances into ambient air (in µg/m³) but not VOC-contents in g/l.
• Emissions after 3 and 28 days are evaluated.
• However, a cardinal prerequisite of EMICODE is that certified substances do not contain more than 0.5 % by weight of solvents. This equals about 5 g/l which is far below the admissible VOC-contents defined by SCAQMD Rule 1168 (30 – 850 g/l) or Green Seal Standard GS 36.
Will USGBC accept DECOPAINT or EMICODE certificated products instead of SCAQMD or Green Seal certified products?
Reinhard Oppl
Independent consultant on VOC issuesformerly with Eurofins Product Testing A/S
329 thumbs up
February 14, 2011 - 7:24 am
Right now I do not see an acceptance of European low VOC labels by US GBC. Only Green Building Council Italia accepts EMICODE for EQc4.1, and EU Decopaint limits for EQc4.2, for LEED projects in Italy. But US GBC does not yet do so. Draft pilot credit PC 21 for LEED 2012 foresees an opening towards European schemes, but these still await final conclusion and decision.
You could try to apply for an ID credit 10.1 with EMICODE labeled products, because it limits VOC emissions not only VOC content, but I did not yet hear of any experience from projects doing so..