Coming: Sustainability standard for home appliances

The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) will work with CSA Standards and UL Environment to jointly develop voluntary sustainability standards for home appliances.

This effort is intended to provide an objective and practical measurement tool to assist the public in evaluating the sustainability of home appliances. AHAM says it will use its expertise in the energy area to devise standards but will also employ a life cycle approach to identify and measure other significant environmental aspects of appliances. CSA Standards says cooperation among the three entities will help advance the scientific foundation for evaluating the sustainability performance of consumer products across their life cycle and help consumers make informed purchasing decisions. Five Winds International, a sustainability consulting firm, will serve as project manager for the AHAM project. More info: www.aham.orgwww.csa.cawww.ulenvironment.com