Bloom & Company

There are several things to look for when choosing green window treatments. First of all you will want to look for energy efficient treatments that will reduce your carbon foot print and save you money on your utility bills. Next, you will want to try to use treatments made from renewable materials. And lastly, you need to look at how the materials affect the air quality. Unfortunately, it may be hard to find window treatments that will do it all, so you may need to make some compromises.

Carbon Footprint

Carbon Footprint is a popular term these days, directly related to the amount of natural resources it takes to manufacture and deliver the product to its end user. Made in the U.S.A is a label that more and more American consumers are looking for today. Purchasing products made in the U.S.A from local sourced materials not only will drastically cut down your carbon footprint, it also helps the economy and helps to keep and create jobs in the U.S.A.

VOC’s - Volatile Organic Compounds

What is Off gassing?
Off gassing is the evaporation of volatile chemicals in non-metallic materials at normal atmospheric pressure. This means that building materials can release chemicals into the air through evaporation. This evaporation can continue for years after the products are initially installed which means you continue to breathe these chemicals as you work, sleep and relax in your home or office.

What Building Materials Offgass?
Materials such as paints, stains, varnishes, carpet, insulation, flooring, kitchen cabinets and countertops, plywood, particleboard, and paint strippers can produce significant off gassing in your home or office. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns about the health effects of poor Indoor Air Quality from the off gassing of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).

Can You Give Me an Example?
Everyone knows how badly most paints stains and varnishes smell; your instincts probably tell you the fumes are bad for you. Much of those fumes are from VOCs. But there are VOCs in less obvious products. For example, that film that accumulates on the windows on a new car. This film is the result of chemicals off gassing into the air and then condensing onto the windows to form the film. This same process is very likely going on in your home and workplace right now, and the chemicals are not only in the air and on the windows, they are in your lungs. Have you ever noticed how hard you have to rub to get that film off your windows?

(Courtesy of the EPA)

Below you will find a list of product that are Certified Green or have “Green” properties and links to the vendor’s websites for additional information. Some products like cellular shades may not be Green in the typical sense of the word but offer increased solar and thermal protection. Although the product itself may not be “green” other vendors like Graber make up for this with a strong company policy of environmental care including recycling 80% of all unused raw materials. Please contact us for further information on these products.

Graber U.S.A. - Green Product List

To view the Leed Certification and “green” information on these products please click the link below.
http://www.graberblinds.com/green/ourProducts.jsp

• Cellular Shades
• Aluminum Horizontal Blinds
• Composite Blinds
• Faux Wood Blinds
• Natural Shades
• Pleated Shades
• Roller Shades
• Roman Shades
• Solar Shades
• Vertical Blinds
• Wood Blinds
• Wood Shutters

Lafayette Venetian Blind Company

http://www.lafvb.com/greenprods.php

Lafayette Interior Fashions introduces GREENGUARD Certified Products. We introduced the industry’s first custom wood shutters and wood blinds that are GREENGUARD Certified. We will continue to be the leader in offering products that are GREENGUARD Certified.

GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certified®
GREENGUARD Children & School Certified®

The first GREENGUARD Certification was awarded in the fall of 2002. In 2005, GEI announced the GREENGUARD Children & Schools standard, which evaluates the sensitive nature of school populations combined with the unique building characteristics found in schools, and presents the most rigorous product emissions criteria to date.

Product emission testing is only useful, if the test results can be translated into real world scenarios. The most reliable and scientifically proven way to do so is through environmental chamber testing. Guidelines for measuring chemical emissions using environmental chambers were established by the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM). The standards, ASTM D5116-06 and D6670-01, are the foundation for all product-specific test protocols. Products are tested for formaldehyde, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), respirable particles, ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and carbon dioxide emissions.

GREENGUARD Certification Program:
Internationally recognized for evaluating product emissions and certifying building materials, furnishings, finishes and cleaning products and processes that meet stringent indoor air quality criteria defined by GEI. To verify consistent product quality and continuous compliance with GREENGUARD standards, products are tested on a regular basis.

GREENGUARD Certified products are recommended by leading sustainable building programs, including:

• U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Rating System.
• National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Green Building Guidelines.
• Green Guide for Health Care (GGHC).
• Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) Best Practices Manual.
• New York City Department of Design and Construction Sustainable Design Specifications, among others.

Indoor Air Quality

• Americans spend more than 90 percent of their time indoors.

• Indoor air is often four to five times more polluted than outside air. These pollutants pose serious environmental exposures to people.
  Better indoor air quality is achieved through reduction of airborne chemicals and indoor air pollution by selecting products with low chemical emissions.

• Woodland Harvest Shutters
• Woodland Harvest Wood Blinds
• Genesis Roller Shades
• Mahn Truc (Bamboo is a Natural Green Product)

Hunter Douglas

• Green Screen Solar Shading Fabrics (PVC-FREE! Roller Shade Fabrics)
• Duette Cellular Shades
• Applause Cellular Shades
• Provenance Woven Woods