(ISO: Geneva) -- A new ISO standard will help to ensure that urbanization, a global trend, develops in an environmentally friendly manner. The building-construction industry is a major employer and responsible for generating a large amount of waste and pollution, approximately 40 percent of the waste in European countries. A major improvement has to take place in building industry, if the goals of the Rio and Kyoto Conferences are to be fulfilled.

“ISO 21930:2007—‘Sustainability in building construction—Environmental declaration of building products,’ will be a very helpful tool for the designers of buildings, manufacturers of building products, users of buildings, owners of buildings, and others active in the building and construction sector,” declares Jacques Lair, leader of the ISO team that developed the standard.

The new standard describes the principles and framework for environmental declarations of building products, taking into consideration the complete life cycle of a building. ISO 21930 is expected to form the basis for Type III environmental-declaration programs of building products as described in ISO 14025:2006—“Environmental labels and declarations—Type III environmental declarations—Principles and procedures.”

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