(ISO: Geneva) -- A new ISO standard will help to ensure that urbanization, a global trend, develops in an environmentally friendly manner. The building-construction industry is a major employer and responsible for generating a large amount of waste and pollution, approximately 40 percent of the waste in European countries. A major improvement has to take place in building industry, if the goals of the Rio and Kyoto Conferences are to be fulfilled.

“ISO 21930:2007—‘Sustainability in building construction—Environmental declaration of building products,’ will be a very helpful tool for the designers of buildings, manufacturers of building products, users of buildings, owners of buildings, and others active in the building and construction sector,” declares Jacques Lair, leader of the ISO team that developed the standard.

The new standard describes the principles and framework for environmental declarations of building products, taking into consideration the complete life cycle of a building. ISO 21930 is expected to form the basis for Type III environmental-declaration programs of building products as described in ISO 14025:2006—“Environmental labels and declarations—Type III environmental declarations—Principles and procedures.”

The overall goal of environmental declarations in this sector is to encourage the demand for, and supply of, building products that cause less stress on the environment through communication of verifiable and accurate information that is not misleading on environmental aspects of those building products, thereby stimulating the potential for market-driven, continual environmental improvement.

Because the users of these products expect unbiased information, it is essential to establish uniformity and consistency in the way environmental product declarations are made.

ISO 21930 has been developed to provide this consistency and to ensure the transparency of the methodology applied for developing environmental product declarations for building products. The methodology should be consistent, scientifically robust, and should ensure that all environmental effects are completely accounted for.

ISO 21930:2007 was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 59—“Building construction,” subcommittee SC 17—“Sustainability in building construction,” and is one of a suite of international standards addressing this issue.

ISO 21930:2007 costs 108 Swiss francs and is available from ISO national member institutes and from ISO Central Secretariat through the ISO Store or by contacting the marketing & communication department.

For more information, visit http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1087.