NSF ANSI-336-2011 pdf download Sustainability assessment for commercial furnishings fabric
1 General
1.1 Purpose This voluntary assessment tool is to provide guidance to suppliers, manufacturers, purchasers, fabrica- tors, product specifiers, and users to assess the level of sustainability of commercial furnishings fabric. This Standard sets levels of conformance for commercial furnishings fabric to address environmental, economic and social responsibility elements of sustainaiity. This Standard may be applied throughout select aspects of the commercial furnishings fabric supply chain as the scope of each sustainability pa- rameter allows.
1.2 Scope This Standard provides pathways toward sustainability by establishing measurable criteria for multiple levels of achievement. It allows manufacturers flexibility in methods for conformance and certification. This Standard assesses product characteristics in the areas of material and component inputs, water and energy use, recycling practices and social accountability. This version of the Standard does not include specific criteria for calculating carbon footprint nor does it cover transportation. This Standard is applicable to commercial fabrics commonly used in public occupancy settings, such as office, hospitality, healthcare, and institutional interiors. These include but are not limited to upholstery, vertical fabric (furniture system, wall, drapery, and cubicle), and top of the bed fabrics. Fabrics may be formed by combining yarns, fibers, or filaments in a variety of ways including but not limited to woven, non-woven, knitted, bonded, felted, and composite materials.
This Standard is applicable to fabrics manu- factured in one or multiple facilities, in one or multiple countries. While this Standard may be useful for applications beyond the commercial furnishings here outlined, the Standard is not intended to address fabrics developed for automotive, apparel, bedding, napery, toweling, military, medical or technical textiles applications. A fabric in its final form is assessed according to this Standard. Any alterations made after the point of assessment, for example after-market treatments, will nullify the certification. This standard assumes compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
Some criteria in the standard address activities that are also subject to regulation by local, state, or federal authorities. However, the standard does not change the regulatory requirements nor does it prescribe how compliance is to be achieved. Documentation of compliance with certain key regulations may be included in some sections of the standard, but this in no way changes the underlying regulatory requirements.