By Greg Sleter
GRAND RAPIDS, MI— The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) International has announced formal American National Standard Institute (ANSI) approval and release of the following two standards for volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from office furniture:

• ANSI/BIFMA M7.1-2014 “Standard Test Method for Determining VOC Emissions from Office Furniture Systems, Components and Seating”


• ANSI/BIFMA X7.1-2014 “Standard for Formaldehyde and TVOC Emissions of Low-emitting Office Furniture Systems and Seating”

These voluntary national standards provide manufactures, specifiers, and users with a basis for characterizing the initial release of various airborne chemicals emitted from a furniture workstation and seating. The standards are based upon the combined experience of the office furniture industry, build on all publicly available chamber testing documentation, leverage the technical expertise of multiple laboratories, and follow the technical leadership of leading chamber emissions testing experts in North America.

M7.1 contains detailed information regarding product sample selection and handling, the testing methods, air sample collection, and so forth, while X7.1 includes the conformance criteria defining “low-emitting” product.

“Receiving formal ANSI approval of these standards is the culmination of years of development, research and consensus building effort,” said Thomas Reardon, BIFMA’s Executive Director. “ANSI approval ensures that a broad and diverse group of stakeholders have had the opportunity to participate in the development and their comments have been appropriately addressed.”

The ANSI/BIFMA Furniture Emissions Standards have been adopted by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as part of the LEED for Commercial Interiors rating system, the Scientific Certification Systems Indoor Advantage program, the NSF International indoor air quality certification program, and partially adopted by the Greenguard Environmental Institute.

These standards are also included in the Whole Building Design Guide, Federal Green Construction Guide for Specifiers. The M7.1 test method has been adopted by the States of California and Minnesota as part of their state office purchase criteria for office furniture and is also currently being considered for inclusion within the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) Low Emitting Materials requirements.

“Harmonizing VOC emissions test standards with the latest open science provides a common platform to build upon,” said Randy Carter, Chairman of the BIFMA Furniture Emissions Subcommittee and a Principal Engineer at Steelcase Inc. “These standards have cascading benefits extending well beyond the office furniture industry”.