History of the SCS Indoor Advantage Program
Companies frequently make claims about the environmental or health benefits of their products; third-party certification programs—when they are based on sound scientific criteria and transparent and consistent procedures—offer a way to distinguish environmental claims.
Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) created its first indoor air quality standard, SCS-EC10, in 2004. The EC10 standard closely adhered to the requirements of the California Collaborative of High Performance Schools (CHPS) and to California Special Environmental Requirements Specification 01350. Many of the requirements of the International Organization of Standards (ISO) 9001-2000 Quality Management Systems for Process and Quality Control were also incorporated into the EC-10 Standard.
In 2006, the US Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers’ Association (BIFMA) Furniture Emission Standards would qualify for environmental quality credits under its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Also in 2006, the State of California Department of General Services adopted an indoor air quality specification for open panel office furniture.
SCS responded to these changes by incorporating both the BIFMA and new California criteria into its EC10 indoor air quality standard. The revised standard, SCS-EC10.2, was published in May of 2007 and became the basis for the SCS Indoor Advantage™ certification program. Just a few months later, in September of 2007, the BIFMA Furniture Emissions Standards received formal endorsement by the American National Standard Institute.