Green Specification Draft Introduced

Edgetech's Tracy Rogers, who chairs the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) green and sustainability specification development task group, introduced the group's first draft of a possible specification document during this week's fall conference in San Antonio, Texas. While the draft was rough in form, according to Rogers, it details a list of the possible items for which an item might receive points under the green certification, and details a matrix in which a ratio is calculated, resulting in two final "green" scores-one for features and one for performance. Performance includes items such as air/water/structural performance, while features include such items as recyclability, recycled content, etc.

Much discussion ensued after the introduction of the document about what makes a product sustainable.

"I don't know how structural performance has anything to do with sustainability," said one attendee.

"It's because it affects the life cycle of the product," Rogers said.

The group also had some discussion about whether the glass and framing material should be considered separately when it comes to "recycled content" of the product, though no conclusion was reached. Many were concerned about the basics, such as what constitutes recycled content. Currently, the draft references FTC 260 for identifying what is considered recycled content.

The task group will hold a conference call in November to continue the discussion of the specification, and hopes to have the specification balloted early next year.

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