The Green Roundtable / NEXUS, Boston, has launched a new organization known as the Green Product Association (GPA).
In a news release announcing the formation of the group, the Green Product Association is described as “an international association (designed) to represent the entire life cycle of products, from construction through operations.”
Xerox, CBC Flooring, Jandris & Sons, Bostik and Partners, UL Environment and the Real Estate Journal are among the founding members of the organization that describes its mission as “to lead an industry-wide market transformation so that building products meet a continuously increasing level of sustainability throughout their life cycle. The vision of GPA is that all products used in the built environment will be green, and that their performance criteria and metrics will be visible to all.”
GPA’s primary organizer NEXUS says that in 2009 it surveyed its 16,000 building industry subscribers, and the majority of respondents stated that “access to unbiased product information” was the predominant issue for making informed decisions.
“To meet this need and build on existing programs, The Green Product Association has established key partner relationships to fulfill its mission of market transformation,” says the news release announcing the GPA’s formation. “UL Environment, providing third-party product certification and validation, will help solve the issue troubling most designers: ‘How do I know it’s not ‘greenwash?’,” the news release states.
Edward Braulick, founding member CBC Flooring, says, “NEXUS and the newly established Green Product Association have helped us refine our goals and commitments to advance sustainability to ensure we’re sourcing the most environmentally friendly products available from all around the globe.”
The Green Roundtable/NEXUS is a non-profit organization that says its mission is “to mainstream green building through education, policy and technical assistance.” The NEXUS Resource Center is described as a 9,000-square-foot site in downtown Boston designed to provide free resources and information on green building and sustainable design to the building industry and the general public.
GPA is also planning a program calendar that will start on March 4, 2010, with a roundtable discussion at NEXUS titled “Transparency & Trends in Green Building Products.” The discussion “is for architects, designers, manufacturers, distributors and other professionals involved in the specification of green products,” says the group.
More information on that event can be found at www.nexusboston.org/events.