and The Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability (MTS) have reached an agreement to
promote their jointly developed Sustainable Carpet Assessment Standard as the preferred consensus
environmental standard for purchasers, specifiers, and users of carpet. The standard will be
administered by the not-for-profit NSF International and published as an American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) draft standard for trial use following registration. This will move the
standard into a well-established, transparent ANSI process that will refine and finalize the draft
through a consensus–based task force within the next three years. The task force will include many
of the MTS and CRI members that developed the standard.
“This new carpet standard is the direct result of the commitment and leadership by MTS to
assemble a broad consensus stakeholder group to create sustainable building product standards,”
said Russell Grizzle, Chairman of the CRI Board of Directors. The carpet standard began as part of
an overall sustainable textile standard and grew into a larger effort with active participation of
carpet manufacturers due to the well-developed environmental stewardship in the carpet industry and
the desire of several state governments to enact sustainable purchasing policies for carpet. MTS
and CRI recognized the need to move the Sustainable Carpet Assessment Standard into the market
quickly to meet the demand.
CRI and MTS cooperated in determining that NSF administration and ANSI designation was the
best solution to build stakeholder trust in this comprehensive global supply chain standard
underpinned by life cycle analysis (LCA). Both CRI and MTS believe the carpet standard will drive
progress toward sustainable product development and pave the way for future MTS product standards
and administration including product certification by Ernst & Young’s Global Sustainability
Audit Group.
“We are very proud to stand with CRI as both organizations donate all rights to the carpet
standard to a marketplace that is looking for ways to understand and evaluate products making
claims of sustainability,” said Denny Darragh, Chairman of the MTS Board of Directors. “This
important agreement with the carpet industry and the launching of the world’s first consensus
sustainable product Standard, provide great benefits for global sustainability consistent with MTS’
mission and activities, and further cements our joint dedication to environmental stewardship.”
These statements were reiterated by Russell Grizzle of CRI adding, “We expect to register the draft
carpet standard under ANSI requirements and get it published by NSF well before year-end. Carpet
manufacturers will begin to certify products under the draft standard very quickly.”
The certification arm of NSF and Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) are two highly
reputable certification firms prepared to begin the detailed data verification required by the
Sustainable Carpet Assessment Standard. Carpet companies previously certified under the SCS
Environmentally Preferable Carpet Standard will recertify under the new standard as their annual
SCS renewal date is reached. SCS was instrumental in developing the new carpet standard.
Press Release Courtesy of CRI
November 2005
