Languages: en fr de 

LEED 2012 - 4th public comment now open
LEED 2012 fourth round of public comments is open now. Revised version is expected for May 2012. Membership ballot is planned for June. You can see relevant links at www.eurofins.com/leed-2012.
Read more


VOC testing
Laboratory contact information


More information on VOC About VOC

VOC regulations

Low VOC labels

VOC in LEED

VOC testing

British BREEAM

British BREEAM (Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method) is an approach for promoting and certifying sustainable buildings.

Motivation for having BREEAM certification of a building is to achieve higher value of a building in balance, or better sales price or better rental price with sustainability as additional argument, or to promote public perception of the company operating a BREEAM certified building, or to promote environment and health.

Credits are awarded in ten categories according to performance. These credits are then added together to produce a single overall score on a scale of Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent and Outstanding.

BREEAM and products

Products cannot be BREEAM certified. Only buildings can.

Use of low emitting materials is helping to achieve points for improving indoor air quality. Motivation of product manufacturers to show that their product can support collecting BREEAM points ("BREEAM compliance") is that they can sell their products to those who want to achieve BREEAM certification of their building. But BREEAM does not foresee any type of "BREEAM compliance" attestation of a product.

Regarding indoor air quality, use of low emitting products inside the building will be helpful for achieving a point if the following specifications have been proved by testing:

  • Wooden products and any floorings:
    • E1 formaldehyde class applies, and no regulated wood preservatives are used.
  • Suspended ceiling tiles:
    • E1 formaldehyde class applies, and no asbestos is used.
  • Flooring adhesives:
    • No carcinogens and no sensitizers as defined in EN 13999-1 are emitted. As no testing schedule is defined in BREEAM documents, it can be assumed that this will require testing in test chamber after 1 day as specified in EN 13999 parts 2, 3, and 4, including determination of carcinogenic volatile compounds, volatile aldehydes, and volatile diisocyanates.
  • Wall coverings:
    • Low emissions of formaldehyde and of vinyl chloride monomer, complying with standards EN 233, EN 234, EN 259, EN 266.
    • Migration of heavy metals and other toxic substances comply with above mentioned standards.
  • Adhesive for hanging flexible wall coverings
    • No harmful substances, and preservatives used should be of minimum toxicity.
  • Decorative paints and varnishes

Further product rating

Products may qualify for good environmental rating in general with an Environmental Profile including a  Life Cycle Assessment. Such rating can lead to listing of a product in a database of BREEAM qualified products.

Eurofins does not offer support with LCA and suggests talking with PE International or Five Winds, but there are also other qualified opportunities in the market.

For further reading

Using synergies

If a manufacturer needs VOC emission testing for markets in several countries, then Eurofins can help saving money by combining all required testing into one test setup. This service is unique in whole world. No single other testing laboratory is approved for VOC emission chamber testing both for US purposes and for European labels such as Blue Angel, EMICODE and M1, combining this with a world-wide valid ISO 17025 accreditation.

Contact to VOC Testing Laboratories

Please see here contact information of Eurofins VOC testing laboratories in Europe, USA and China:
www.eurofins.com/voc-contacts.

Order forms and testing request forms are available for free download here.