CRI launches Green Label Plus for Cushion

DALTON, GA — The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), in conjunction with the Carpet Cushion Council, has launched the Green Label Plus program for carpet cushion products.

Currently, the Council participates in Green Label, CRI's original indoor air quality testing program, but not in the more recent and more comprehensive Green Label Plus.

Both programs measure compounds, including volatile organic compounds, but Green Label Plus is the more comprehensive of the two programs.

"Green Label Plus is the recognized leader for indoor air quality," according to CRI's Director of Regulatory Systems Jeff Carrier.

"This offers cushion manufacturers the opportunity to qualify their products according to these more stringent standards and provide additional assurance for consumers concerned about indoor air quality or potential VOC emissions."

The history of the Green Label programs dates back to the early 1990s, Carrier says, when the carpet industry and CRI established a program to test for compounds that may or may not be present in carpet, adhesives and cushion.

The initial goal was to help builders and specifiers identify products with very low emissions of VOCs.

In 2002, as California introduced its sweeping CA 01350 emissions standard test method, the carpet industry followed shortly afterwards with its CA 01350-compliant Green Label Plus program.

Preparations are underway to have the Green Label Plus program for cushion products accredited by the American National Standards Institute. That process is expected to take several months to complete, CRI officials say.