GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association reports that the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Steering Committee has approved the level Certification Program as a 'USGBC Approved Program' for the LEED v4 Material & Resource, Building Product Disclosure and Optimization (Option 1) credit. 

It is another step forward in BIFMA's effort for overall recognition of level within the LEED rating system

level-certified products achieving Credit 7.5.1.3 of the ANSI-BIFMA e3-2014 Furniture Sustainability Standard (and Credit 7.4.1.3 in the 2012 version) will qualify once the announcement is published on April 1. This represents another step forward in BIFMA's effort for overall recognition of level within the LEED rating system. Along with this achievement, LEED and its Pilot Credits currently reference BIFMA standards and credits for emissions, ergonomics, social equity within the supply chain, and environmentally preferable interior furnishings.
Work is underway on the next version of the ANSI/BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustainability Standard that will allow even greater alignment with LEED and other leading programs. To participate in the current update to this standard, interested parties should contact Kianda Franklin of NSF at kfranklin@nsf.org or Brad Miller of BIFMA at bmiller@bifma.org to learn more about the process and opportunities for involvement.

BIFMA is the not-for-profit trade association for business and institutional furniture manufacturers. It sponsors the development and refining of standards, explain their importance and application, and translates them into more easily understood and implemented formats. It also monitors the state of the industry, serve as a forum for member cooperation and collaboration, interact with international counterparts, and advocate for regulatory conditions that foster value and innovation.