In our project we have plan to make individual furniture components from laminated boards on site. The laminated boards which we have chosen have A class according to French legislation (test method ISO 16000-6: 2005 and ISO 16000-3: 2002). We know that for furniture, the testing standard is described in ANSI/BIFMA and certification program should be based on that. However, since the furniture are going to be made from laminated board (composite wood), we would like to ask, if the ISO 1600 standards in conjunction with French legislation wouldn’t be enough to document the compliance with EQ credit requirements? We would be very grateful for the answer.
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Reinhard Oppl
Independent consultant on VOC issuesformerly with Eurofins Product Testing A/S
329 thumbs up
October 31, 2017 - 11:29 am
Unfortunately, no European test method was accepted by LEED to show compliance with the furniture evaluation criteria in the EQ credit on low-emitting materials. ISO 16000 testing for French legislation alone is accepted for composite wood only (if class A+; class A is not sufficient then). But final furniture can contain additional adhesives and coatings, therefore a fufillment of the composite wood criteria alone is not good enough for furniture.
Larissa Oaks
Specialist, LEEDUSGBC
LEEDuser Expert
67 thumbs up
November 1, 2017 - 1:44 pm
Hi Agata,
Reinhard is correct that all new furniture and furnishing items must be tested per the furniture evaluation criteria. I am wondering for your case if you are describing something more like built-in cabinetry , which is treated differently than furniture and furnishings. In the reference guide, Table 5 we explain in more detail, but basically this includes all furniture-like items built on site that are typically procured by general contractor at earlier stage than furniture and furnishings. For built-in cabinetry, the composite wood used would need to meet the composite wood criteria and any site-applied finishes or adhesives would need to meet the general emissions evaluation and VOC content requirements for wet-applied products.