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Looking to get your project off the ground and want to check that ‘Green Box”, but not sure where to start. We’ve put together a step-by-step guide on navigating the world of sustainability and all the certifications that go with it.

Option 1: Decide if your Workspace (facility) is going to be certified

This is important as it can take away some of the choices up front, it is however the most expensive of the options discussed as it requires additional expertise and costs associated with certifying the facility.

LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) circa 2000 - LEED’s focus has been on looking at the planet's long-term health and protecting the resources used for future generations.  

The WELL Building Standard circa 2016 - WELL’s focus has been on measuring, certifying & monitoring the performance of building features that impact health and well-being.

The two options above are the most popular in the region and have countless resources and experts to pursue them. Other certifications not covered in this article are:

- Estidama - United Arab Emirates
- Three Star - China
- Green Star - Australia
- BREEAM - United Kingdom
- Living Building Challenge - United States

LEED & WELL both have stringent requirements and consultants to help you gather the points required to get certified

- Certified (LEED)
- Silver (LEED / WELL)
- Gold (LEED / WELL)
- Platinum (LEED / WELL)


Option 2: I’m not certifying my facility but I want to choose responsibly.

This is the less expensive option as you are now only focused on the 14% of the certification related to product sustainability (mentioned above) rather than the entire facility. There are again two options here, you can either pick a multi-attributed certification or a single-attributed certification:

Single Attributed Labels
- GREENGUARD
- FSC
- SAN
- Indoor Air Advantage

Multi attributed Labels
- Level
- Cradle to Cradle

Transparency Protocols
- EPD
- HPD
- DECLARE


Single Attributed Labels are Focused on Very Specific Achievements:

Greenguard is certified by UL & Indoor Air Advantage is certified by SCS Global (add links to each of these names) each focuses on measuring the amount of toxins your product emits after the product is produced. These toxins include formaldehyde & other chemicals that are present in paints, sealants & glues. These toxins can be odorless and extremely harmful to your well-being.

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)

A certification that ensures your product is sourced from sustainably managed forests and the chain of custody runs right across the supply chain until the completion of manufacturing. This is a key label to look out for if you are particularly concerned about the rate of deforestation in the world.

SAN (Sustainable Agriculture Standard)

Covers biobased materials to ensure they are farmed in a manner that is climate-smart, deforestation and pollinator-friendly. SAN is by far the newest certification of the Single Attributed ones with its launch in 2017

If you are particularly passionate about one or all of the above, you can carefully pick your products or manufacturers that have attained these certifications.

Multi Attributed Labels have a Matrix of Requirements that need to be Achieved.

These certifications can cover not just the product but the facility it is produced in and the manufacturer’s social responsibility to its people, community and the product’s end-of-life options.

Level certification by BIFMA covers these elements:
- Materials
- Energy & Atmosphere
- Human & Ecosystem Health
- Social Responsibility

While considering Product, Facility & Organization across the four elements. The number of points gained by the product allows it to be rated between Levels 1, 2 & 3 (Level 3 being the highest achievable certification).

Cradle to Cradle
This multi-attributed certification covers five elements:

- Material health
- Material reutilization
- Renewable energy
- Carbon management
- Water Stewardship
- Social fairness.

Simply put this covers the raw materials, manufacturing process, and the organization that produces these products. Like LEVEL above, all products are not equal and are ranked in a tier format based on the points they achieve and can be seen as ranked. Unlike LEVEL, you can only achieve Silver if all the requirements in Basic & Bronze are achieved

- Basic
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Platinum (the highest rank)

Transparency Protocols

Transparency protocols focus on the ingredients of the product, its supply chain, recyclable content, chemical composition, and its end-of-life use. They don’t evaluate the product but present information similar to a nutrition label on a food item and leave the consumer to come to their conclusions.

Declare (International Living Future Institute)

Declare is an ingredients initiative for building products that are designed to shape a greener, healthier environment for construction workers, business employees, and customers alike.

Declare products disclose 100% of product ingredients plus residuals present at or above 100 ppm (0.01%) in the final product, but contain one or more Red List chemicals (https://living-future.org/red-list/).

HPD's (Health Product Declaration)

HPD provides a chemical inventory of a building product and characterizes the level of concern about each ingredient. HPDs can be created by a product manufacturer or can be created by a third-party consultant.

EPD’s (Environmental Product Declaration)

An EPD is a declaration that considers the full Life Cycle Assessment of a product. It’s based on the standard ISO 14025 and can be verified by a third party (Type 1) or self-declared (Type 2) EPD’s generally cover information on the raw materials required to make the product, the carbon footprint of the product (Cradle to Grave) and in some cases will inform you of it’s ability to disassemble ready for its second life.

What is the final verdict?

Each of the certifications above gives you a deeper understanding of the efforts manufacturers go through to not just develop a more environmentally sustainable product but behave in a socially responsible way too.

Going for Step 1? (Project Certification) is a larger undertaking, however, provides a more holistic approach to a healthy & environmentally sustainable space. At The Total Office, we work with project teams to deliver certified projects often and can help you with this task. You will need a LEED or WELL Consultant to put together the ways on how you can achieve the certification level you decider (Platinum / Golder / Silver / Certified).

Once you’ve determined what your goals are, the consultant will put together a team of stakeholders who are familiar with delivering these goals (Contractors / Suppliers / Designers). Once you’ve communicated these goals to the team of stakeholders you’ve gathered, you can proceed with a legal tender process to work out timelines and costs associated with delivering this.

If you do choose Step 2 - Picking products with multi-attributed labels like Level or EPD’s are likely to be a better choice, where they take into consideration Carbon footprints and environmental practices that go beyond the product. Should you choose a single attributed label, be sure to pick FSC products when picking a wood base product along with a low VOC product certification like Greenguard, Indoor Air Advantage or Clean Air to ensure your products are virtually free of VOC toxicity.

No matter the choice, picking sustainable products is as important as communicating the importance of it within your facility, to ensure that responsible decisions continue in operating the facility and day 2 purchases. If you are unsure whether the products meet the requirements or need help deciding between form, function and sustainability, don’t hesitate to reach out to us to help you with your project.