In designing a project for LEED Certification, we are planning to specify two types of carpet tile: one type is manufactured in the U.S. and the other type is only manufactured in Europe. While the majority of our project utilizes domestic carpet tile which passes the CRI Green Label Plus indoor air quality emissions test, the small amount of European product we are using is not certified under this U.S. program. The European organization for textile floorcoverings, "GUT," offers an indoor air quality test which has similar intent and requirements of the CRI\'s Green Label Plus test, i.e. verification of low emissions. We believe that the GUT product test should be an alternative compliance path to meeting the requirements of LEED EQ Credit 4.3 Low Emitting Materials - Carpet. In the US, the Green Label Plus certification program from the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) allows carpet specifiers to choose carpets with very low VOC emissions in order to ensure good indoor air quality. In the European Union, a similar organization exists: Gemeinschaft Umweltfreundlicher Teppichboden (GUT). The GUT emissions test is a voluntary, independent certification program that tests and certifies textile floorcoverings for compliance with criteria adopted in the European Union for indoor air emissions of VOCs with potential health effects. The program uses a small-scale chamber test protocol (as in Green Label Plus) and incorporates VOC emissions criteria based on the European Collaborative Action (ECA) -18-system and compatible with the Committee for Health-related Evaluation of Building Products (Ausschuss zur gesundheitlichen Bewertung von Bauprodukten, or AgBB) evaluation system. Specifics of the GUT emissions test The results of the CRI Green Label Plus test and the GUT cannot be directly compared. CRI test results are reported as a rate of emission (mg/m2 hr), whereas GUT results are reported as a concentration of emissions in a volume (mg/m3) The GUT test-chamber method used for textile floorcoverings follows the test-chamber method developed within the framework of international standardization. Merchandise that has been freshly produced is supplied in packing without indication of the manufacturer\'s name and is conditioned in a test chamber for 72 hrs. The proportion between the textile floorcovering and the chamber volume conforms with the conditions encountered in practice and amounts to 0.4 m2/m3. In the test chamber there are constant climatic conditions (23
The project team has requested that an alternate compliance path be established for credit compliance. The proposed compliance path would establish equivalence for GUT (Gemeinschaft Umweltfreundlicher Teppichboden) rated carpeting products in meeting the credit requirements. Though the GUT rating system is clearly aimed towards certifying only low-emitting carpets, it is not equivalent to the standards of either the CRI Green Label Plus program, or the California Standard Practice for the Testing of Volatile Organic Emissions from Various Sources Using Small-Scale Environmental Chambers. In addition to the discrepancy between CRI\'s measuring the rate of emissions and GUT\'s measure of total emissions, there appear to be chemicals tested by CRI and CSPTVOEVS which are not included in GUT\'s testing. An alternate compliance path allowing the use of GUT certified carpets cannot be established at this time. Applicable Internationally.