BIFMA Releases E3-2024 Furniture Sustainability Standard
BIFMA (the Building and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association) has released an update to the ANSI/BIFMA e3-2019 Furniture Sustainability Standard. The updated standard “seeks to promote increasingly more sustainable products by promoting the selection of responsible materials and considering manufacturing and human resource processes.” The standard contains three primary sections that assist in meeting this end: Environmental Impacts, Material Health Impacts, and Social Impacts. With these three sections BIFMA refines its level™ multi-attribute certification program with new tiering requirements in e3-2024.
MAS Certified Green ® clients will not see a noticeable change in efforts to demonstrate and certify that their furniture and furnishings products are low VOC-emitting materials. The Low Emitting Furniture criteria in Section 7.6 has changed only in the addition of four new target compounds -- MTBE, carbon tetrachloride, 1,1-dichloroethylene, and isophorone, and BIFMA made minor changes to the maximum concentrations and emissions factors of several other compounds. The target chemicals in ANSI/BIFMA e3-2024 now match the target chemicals in the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Standard Method v1.2 CREL list. Both the BIFMA and CDPH criteria are used by the MAS Certified Green ® Program as the base criteria for certifying furniture and building products.
MAS can test your furniture and furnishing products for BIFMA VOC emissions compliance and can also provide assistance with the Section 7.4 Chemical Assessment requirements via our Chemistry Group. Contact us for more information.
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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of thousands of "forever chemicals" that have been used in a wide variety of products since the 1950s. Generally, they are found in nonstick coatings on packaging and cookware, stain-resistant clothes and carpets, paints and coatings, firefighting foam, wire jackets, cosmetics and hygiene products, and many other products used daily.
If you manufacture and sell children's furniture or furnishings on Amazon, compliance is not optional. Amazon requires children's products intended for use by children up to 12 years of age to comply with applicable federal, state, and local regulations. But beyond meeting baseline legal requirements, today's parents and retail buyers want proof that the products their children use every day are genuinely safe.
Materials Analytical Services, LLC (MAS) and the MAS Certified Green ® Low VOC Materials Certification Program are excited to announce a professional services agreement with Sustainable Stewardship Private Limited of New Delhi, India. Under the agreement, Sustainable Partnership P.L. agrees to refer all of its clients seeking VOC emissions testing and certification to MAS for testing and to the MAS Certified Green ® Program for certification.
A recent Fox 4 News report highlighted a recall of countertop ovens due to a burn hazard, after consumers reported incidents involving hot contents and unexpected breakage or failure of components. Although the specific product and brand may change from recall to recall, the underlying message is consistent: product safety issues tied to materials, coatings or construction can quickly become public, expensive and damaging to a brand.
Sustainability has moved from a niche talking point to a central expectation in the furniture industry. Designers, manufacturers, retailers, and buyers are all rethinking what “good furniture” means – not just in terms of style and comfort, but in terms of materials, emissions, durability, and end‑of‑life impact.
MAS’s VOC testing program has been assisting manufacturers of building/construction products and furniture for over 20 years in meeting LEED requirements as a way to increase their sales to the green building market.
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Resources
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of thousands of "forever chemicals" that have been used in a wide variety of products since the 1950s. Generally, they are found in nonstick coatings on packaging and cookware, stain-resistant clothes and carpets, paints and coatings, firefighting foam, wire jackets, cosmetics and hygiene products, and many other products used daily.
If you manufacture and sell children's furniture or furnishings on Amazon, compliance is not optional. Amazon requires children's products intended for use by children up to 12 years of age to comply with applicable federal, state, and local regulations. But beyond meeting baseline legal requirements, today's parents and retail buyers want proof that the products their children use every day are genuinely safe.