Knauf Pipe Insulation earns GREENGUARD For Children and Schools certification

08/15/2006

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Knauf Pipe Insulation earns GREENGUARD For Children and Schools™ certification

(SHELBYVILLE, Ind., 08/15/2006)  Knauf Insulation and the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute today announced that Knauf’s 1000°Pipe Insulation with ASJ jacketing and self-sealing laps has earned the new GREENGUARD For Children & Schools™ certification.  GREENGUARD For Children & Schools establishes strict chemical emissions standards to accommodate the special health needs of children for indoor air quality (IAQ) in educational and daycare facilities.

Knauf 1000° Pipe Insulation joins the company’s Friendly-Feel Duct Wrap, batts and blowing insulations in meeting GREENGUARD For Children & Schools.  These products also meet the overall GREENGUARD Certification and California’s strict Section 01350 IAQ standard. With the latest GREENGUARD certification, Knauf offers a total IAQ solution for school projects, with products for the mechanical piping systems, ductwork and thermal/acoustical wall cavity applications.

“Indoor air quality is a growing concern in all buildings, and especially for our schools,” said Robert Claxton, Knauf’s president.  “We want administrators, specifiers and contractors to know that only Knauf can meet the highest IAQ standards—GREENGUARD, GREENGUARD Children & Schools, and California’s Section 01350—for insulating piping, ductwork and wall cavities.

“Our insulation cuts operating costs by saving energy, and makes classrooms quieter and more comfortable,” finished Claxton.  “Now, we can show that our products also contribute to a healthy indoor environment.” 

Poor IAQ in buildings is ranked as a top-five health threat by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the EPA further estimates that half of U.S. schools have IAQ problems. Children can be especially susceptible to the effects of poor IAQ, which can lead to conditions like asthma, allergies and endocrine disorders. Childhood asthma is on the rise, with 1 in 12 school-aged children suffering from the disease.

In 2005, the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute addressed this problem by creating its Children & Schools standard, tightening its already-strict indoor emissions standards for construction products and furnishings. GREENGUARD For Children & Schools allows no greater than 1/100^th of currently-published Threshold Limit Values or no more than ½ of California’s Chronic Reference Exposure Levels for volatile organic compounds, whichever is lower.  The Children & Schools standard also establishes limits on phthalates, a class of chemicals linked to asthma and developmental toxicity.

The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (http://www.greenguard.org/) is the world’s leading third-party authority on low-emitting building materials.  GREENGUARD uses a rigorous series of independent product and facility tests to provide independent assurance of indoor air quality (IAQ) excellence and compliance with the strictest industry standards on Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions, including formaldehyde.  Knauf was the first insulation manufacturer to earn GREENGUARD certification.