Dur-A-Flex Inc. announced that they have completed the testing of air quality emissions from their seamless resinous flooring systems and have been deemed compliant with CA Section 01350.
Commonly referred to as CA Section 01350, it is the specification to which numerous air quality certifying groups work to. The spec was originally prepared by the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) and titled, "Special Environmental Requirements." It is the only health-based building material specification that covers environmental and public health considerations for building projects. While originally focused on schools, it is now finding its way into municipal and healthcare projects.
“We focused primarily on the indoor air quality requirements of the specification, more specifically, the emissions of our flooring systems after they have been installed,” says Ron Phillips, product manager for Dur-A-Flex. “CA Section 01350 includes a list of nearly eighty ‘chemicals of concern’ and has set specific emission limits for each of them. By passing the testing, we are able to demonstrate that our products are within the limits and can be safely specified in building projects where the spec is called out,” he concludes.
Phillips points out conformance with CA Section 01350 allows Dur-A-Flex to also claim the LEED IEQ Credit 4.3 for low emitting materials, a critical credit for school and public use projects.
To meet the requirements of CA Section 01350, Dur-A-Flex’s flooring systems were monitored for emissions of TVOC, individual VOCs, formaldehyde and other aldehydes over a 96-hour test period. Measurements were made and predicted exposures were calculated according to the specification protocol. As specified, the results at 96 hours, after 10 days of conditioning, were compared to one-half the current Chronic Reference Exposure Levels as adopted from the California OEHHA list. All identified VOCs were also compared to the California-EPA OEHHA Proposition 65 list and the California-EPA Air Resource Board list of Toxic Air Contaminants.
