What does Global GreenTag certification mean?

• It means you can trust certified to products deliver what the Certification and the Manufacturers claim about the product.
• Covering a range of issues including; sustainability overall, and health, climate, circular economy, ethical labour in supply chains and NaturePositive+ product outcomes individually, means product users have an easy and meaningful way to verify and measure products, their impacts and benefits.
• As an ACCC Approved Certification Mark, it means GreenTag can be trusted to cut through and eliminate 'Greenwash' in product claims
• It also means you can rely on Global GreenTag as an independent, unbiased, and highly trusted Type 1 (Third Party) Ecolabel or Trust Mark.
• You can have confidence in because it is underpinned by an externally audited and certified Quality Management System (ISO 9001) and externally verified as a compliant Conformance Assessment Body (ISO 17065) whose standards include strict Governance requirements about independence, conflict of interest, ethics and robust scientific standard setting processes.

How does Global GreenTag differ from other green building certifications?

• All GreenTag’s certifications are tiered to allow purchasers and specifiers to choose not just ‘good’ products, but ‘good, better best and world leading’ products, all cost competitive with comparative products.
• GreenTag’s variety of unique certifications enable purchasers and specifiers to make product choices based on personal issues or concerns of choice that no other scheme delivers, including:
  • Healthiness in use (Product Health Declarations or PHDs)
  • Asthma & Allergy Sensitive (PHDs)
  • Comparative Sustainability ratings (LCARate)
  • Modern Slavery Declaration- Risk Analysis and Data Quality (MSD)
  • Circular Economy and Nature Positive outcomes (NaturePositive+Declaration and Rating)

What are the benefits of using Global GreenTag certified products?

Using Global GreenTag certified products ensures more sustainable, healthier and ethical choices for buildings and consumers. This certification guarantees products meet strict environmental, health, and ethical standards, reducing carbon footprints and promoting responsible sourcing.

Key benefits include:

• It means you can trust certified to products deliver what the Certification and the Manufacturers claim about the product.
• Covering a range of issues including; sustainability overall, and health, climate, circular economy, ethical labour in supply chains and NaturePositive+ product outcomes individually, means product users have an easy and meaningful way to verify and measure products, their impacts and benefits.
• As an ACCC Approved Certification Mark, it means GreenTag can be trusted to cut through and eliminate 'Greenwash' in product claims
• It also means you can rely on Global GreenTag as an independent, unbiased, and highly trusted Type 1 (Third Party) Ecolabel or Trust Mark.
• You can have confidence in because it is underpinned by an externally audited and certified Quality Management System (ISO 9001) and externally verified as a compliant Conformance Assessment Body (ISO 17065) whose standards include strict Governance requirements about independence, conflict of interest, ethics and robust scientific standard setting processes.

Global GreenTag certification simplifies green product selection, boosting trust and sustainability efforts in construction, manufacturing, and procurement.

What are the requirements for Global GreenTag certification?

• There are different criteria for different certification types, but the key requirement is full transparency of ingredients after the signing of a Non-disclosure Agreement by GreenTag.
• Another common requirement for all products and schemes is compliance with the GreenTag Standards’ banned ingredients requirements for chemicals over 100ppm (0.01%).

How long does it take to receive Global GreenTag certification for a product?

There are different time frames for different certification types and they are dependent on the responsiveness of Applicants in relation to information requests, but indicatively:

• Product Health Declarations (PHDs) and Manufacturer Claim Verifications (McVs) and Modern Slavery Declaration (MSDs) -4-6 weeks after information provision is completed
• GreenRate - 10-14 weeks after information provision is completed
• Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)- 6-9 months after information provision is completed (peer review is required and external, so some variation is outside GGTI control)
• LCARate and CarbonRATE- 2-4 weeks after EPD provision
• NaturePositive+ Declarations - 4-6 weeks after PHD, EPD, and MSD completion

What criteria are used to determine Global GreenTag certification?

• There are different Standards, Processes and criteria for different certification types.
• GreenRate and LCARate are based on ‘whole-of-sustainability’ criteria including; Human and Ecological Health, Biodiversity, Resource Use and Recovery; Climate Impacts, and Corporate Social Responsibility (ethical labour sourcing);
• PHDs, HealthRATE, Asthma and Allergy Sensitive claims, and Best Environmental Practice PVC (BEP PVC) are all chemical hazards and risk-based analyses based on elimination of banned ingredients required by each standard and are all based on the Globally Harmonised System (GHS) for chemical safety adopted in Australia and globally;
• NaturePositive+ Declarations are based on the results of the same categories as in GreenRate and LCARate as well as PHDs, HealthRATE, LCA and EPDs and MSDs, plus Life Cycle Benefit Analysis, Social and Indigenous Benefits and Innovative practices;
• GreenTag Standards that are available on request from the GreenTag Team via this link https://www.globalgreentag.com/get/files/1044/ggti-standard-licence-agreement.pdf

Which types of products can be certified under Global GreenTag?

• Building Construction, Infrastructure, and Fitout,
• Furniture, Fixtures and Textiles
• Personal and Beauty Products
• Cleaning and Hygiene Products
• Paper and Packaging

How does Global GreenTag certification apply to building materials?

• All Global GreenTag certifications apply to one or all building materials.
• Likewise, one or more Global GreenTag certifications are recognised in all the major green building rating tools; Green Star, WELL, Infrastructure Sustainability, LEED and EarthCheck.
• GreenTag certifications are also integrated into key search functions and results in a range of industry product databases so certifying projects is made easier for the whole tea,

What makes Global GreenTag certification different from other sustainability certifications?

• The majority of Global GreenTag certifications are ratings that allow designers and specifiers to choose not only good products, but good, better, best and world leading products based on the level of certification.
• Whatsmore Global GreenTag has several certifications that are unique globally in how they assess, rate and deliver certifications no other scheme does:
  • PHDs’ HealthRATE for ‘Healthiness in Use’, and standards backed ‘Asthma and Allergy Sensitive’ claim;
  • LCARate that provides comparative life cycle analysis for scientifically valid whole product category comparisons between dissimilar products that provide the same functions;
  • Product level Modern Slavery Declarations;
  • NaturePositive+ Declarations – the world’s only certification that fully quantifies impacts and benefits and delivers truly nature positive product outcomes.

What is the difference between Global GreenTag Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum certifications?

• The rating outcomes of all Global GreenTag certifications vary with environmental, chemical safety, and ethical supply chain outcomes. The Bronze level indicates safe, eco-preferred products that contain no banned ingredients, are low in chemical risk, and healthy in use based on best known science and delivered through ethical supply chains.
• As the rating level increases, the products progressively improve on all fronts. Platinum products contain only naturally derived ingredients with no known health or environmental impacts and lead the world in all the other sustainability assessment criteria;
• LCARate delivers the mentioned Global GreenTag Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum ratings;
• PHDs’ HealthRATE (‘Healthiness in Use’) outcomes are BronzeHEALTH, SilverHEALTH, GoldHEALTH and PlatinumHEALTH and are based on similar progress criteria.

How does Global GreenTag assess the environmental impact of products?

• All certifications are covered by written Standards developed with wide Stakeholder engagement and with well-defined and fully documented processes that are peer reviewed and in some instances (PHDs, Life Cycle Analysis ie, LCA, and EPDs) externally peer reviewed by experts in the field before certification is issued;
• Depending on the Certification scheme:
  • Most use multi-criteria sustainability assessment criteria, risk analysis, and remote audits;
  • LCARate, LCA, EPDs and CarbonRATE are based on fully detailed Life Cycle Analysis based processes using remote and on-site audits.
• All Global GreenTag certification outcomes are additionally covered by an externally certified and annually audited ISO 9001 Quality Management System and Global GreenTag is externally verified as an ISO 17065 compliant Conformance Assessment Body.

What standards must building materials meet to be Global GreenTag certified?

There are different Standards and Processes for different certification types. They are all multi-criteria and contained in the various GreenTag Standards that are available on request from the GreenTag Team via this link https://www.globalgreentag.com/get/files/1044/ggti-standard-licence-agreement.pdf

How does Global GreenTag help reduce the carbon footprint of building projects?

Certification services like EPDs, CarbonRATE and NaturePositive+ Declarations use LCA in accordance with EN 15804 to deliver the cradle to gate upfront carbon data required by the various rating schemes and ECO Platform ECO EPD compliance requirements;

What are the environmental benefits of using Global GreenTag certified materials?

• Every Global GreenTag Certified product reduces the global toxicity load thereby not adding to, or minimising, air, soil and water quality and biodiversity loss and avoiding creating unhealthy buildings and spaces;
• They typically deliver lower environmental impact outcomes on climate, water, resource use and often, circular economy outcomes

What role does Global GreenTag play in the global green building sector?

Global GreenTag facilitates preferred product selection by securely accessing confidential manufacturer information not otherwise accessible by the industry and doing the deep scientific research and assessment of the information, ingredients, processes and finished products not otherwise able to be undertaken by the industry.

How is Global GreenTag helping construction and design professionals meet sustainability goals?

• By ensuring the products they specify or purchase are actually products that deliver the real sustainability outcomes they intend;
• By connecting certified products into product data and specification platforms like Archify and ArchiSpec and others like the Green Building Council’s Prequalified Green Products Database, we simplify, ease and speed up sustainable product selection and specifications, helping professionals’ deliver their sustainability deliverables cost, and time efficiently and mitigating risk;
• The different Global GreenTag certifications can be used to deliver focussed outcomes depending on the aims of any given project;

What is the relationship between Global GreenTag and other green building standards, such as Green Star, WELL, LEED or BREEAM?

Various Global GreenTag certifications are recognised in each of those (and other) rating tools, e.g. Global GreenTag Certifications have recognition in The Green Star ‘Buildings’ and ‘Fitouts’ rating tools. To see the full list of Certification Recognition and Rating Tool relevance, see https://www.globalgreentag.com/get-certified.html

What role does Global GreenTag play in the global green building sector?

• Adhesives, Fillers & Sealants
• Appliances
• Ceiling and Soffit (Systems and Finishes)
• Cleaning Products
• Concrete
• Ecosystem & Landscape Restoration
• External Wall Claddings, Facades and Systems
• External Works, Landscaping and Traffic
• Floor Finishes and Tiling
• Furniture and Loose Equipment
• Insulation, Barriers, Membranes
• Interior Equipment and Fittings
• Internal Wall Linings, Finishes and Partition Systems
• Joinery and Benchtop Materials and Systems
• Lubricants, Release Agents and Corrosion Inhibitor
• Masonry
• Other
• Packaging and Containers
• Paint & Applied Finishes
• Personal Products
• Raw Material
• Roof and Stormwater
• Structure and Structural Framing
• Substructure
• Suspended Floors
• Termite and Pest Control
• Textile and Upholstery
• Timber
• Utilities and Services (Mechanical, Hydraulic, Electrical, HVAC)
• Water Fitting
• Waterproofing
• Windows & Doors

Does Global GreenTag certification have different requirements in different regions or countries?

• Some certifications are useable globally while company name, product brand and factory remain consistent. They include; PHD, GreenRate, BEP PVC, and McVs;
• Where LCA is involved, and travel distances are included in calculations the certifications are regionally based even if company name, brand and factory remain consistent.

How does Global GreenTag align with regional sustainability and building standards?

• All products must be certified or proven to be ‘fit for use’ in the country/countries they are certified for. This includes them meeting local building standard requirements.
• Different regions use different international tools like Green Star, WELL, LEED and EarthCheck that each recognise Global GreenTag certifications;

Are there specific certifications tailored to different geographical markets under Global GreenTag?

Yes, some countries have their own rating tools that recognise Global GreenTag certifications, e.g., the LOTUS rating tool in Vietnam, and the MyHIJAU scheme in Malaysia.

How does Global GreenTag compare to other eco-labels like Energy Star or FSC?

• In general terms Global GreenTag is more holistic. e.g., Energy Star rates the performance of electric equipment and appliances and nothing else. Global GreenTag uses Energy Star as one assessment criteria in a range of other criteria. Likewise, with FSC, PEFC or Responsible Wood certifications. These are wood supply chain of custody certifications that look at how the wood is harvested, processed and prepared for use in the wood-based products that Global GreenTag certify.
• Each of these certifications also represent only one indicator in the range of sustainability indicators used in Global GreenTag certifying products that contain wood as an element or ingredient. As soon as wood is processed in any way, sustainability outcomes can vary depending on how and which processes, energy, transport, chemical treatments, glues, finishes etc., are used. It is these difference that Global GreenTag’s processes quantify and rate for environmental and health outcomes.

Is Global GreenTag certification more rigorous than other environmental certifications?

While the auditing process is likely as rigorous as other certifications, all Global GreenTag are qualified Lead Auditors under the Exemplar Global Certification system and the extent to which Global GreenTag goes to ensure external peer review and certification of processes, definitely and uniquely are more robust. Like wise some of the Global GreenTag standards are also more technically rigorous than many certifications in the industry.

What makes Global GreenTag a trusted label for sustainable building materials?

• The results of Global GreenTag’s customer surveys shows that Global GreenTag adds value to their brands. This is because of market trust in Global GreenTag.
• But the industry also voted to tell us that. Between 2017 and 2019 the A&D online magazine undertook the ‘Top 100 Most Trusted Brands’ survey. Users were asked to vote, and in each on the 3 surveys Global GreenTag was voted in the Top 100 progressing up the list in each survey.
• Whatsmore looking back at that list is can be seen that Global GreenTag now certifies over 30% of those Top 100 Brands including Weathertex that was the #1 Most Trusted Brand in the final survey,