City officials, Manufacturers and Designers are Recognized for Work on Developing the SMaRT Sustainable Product Standard

Click here to view the SMaRT orientation video

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - July 8, 2008 - Individuals representing the consensus membership who developed SMaRT (Sustainable Materials Rating Technology) were recently recognized for their years of dedication. The June 25, 2008 event held at TreePeople.org followed an orientation program on the SMaRT Sustainable Product Standard given by Mike Italiano, CEO of the Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability (MTS) the non-profit behind SMaRT.

Italiano presented awards to Dean Kubani, Environmental Programs Manager for the City of Santa Monica and the city's Councilman the Honorable Kevin McKeown. Said Kubani, "...these standards are incredibly rigorous and the fact that they have a Life Cycle Assessment gives us a full picture, we're very confident by requiring a SMaRT certification..." McKeown added, "What people don't see is the important stuff that we do day to day, that is procurement, our city budget is now up to 1/2 billion dollars a year."

The honored certified manufacturers who helped develop SMaRT included Forbo Flooring, Knoll Inc. and Milliken. They were all part of the voting process that made having a Life Cycle Assessment a requirement for certification. The LCA quantifies the environmental impact of 1300 chemicals on the air, soil, water and atmosphere across the product’s entire supply chain. SMaRT Certification also accounts for social responsibility.

Casey Johnson, the National Sales Manager for Forbo Flooring received the award on behalf of Forbo. Forbo's General Manager, Denny Darragh is a long supporter of MTS and champion of SMaRT's tough criteria. When describing sustainable standard formation, Denny has stated, "If everyone is totally happy, then the standard isn't high enough." Forbo's signature product, Marmoleum(C) flooring has been SMaRT Certified at the highest, Platinum level.

Lou Newett, Environmental Director for Knoll Inc. was honored with a leadership award as well. Afterwards he commented on why Knoll chose SMaRT for their Life Chair(C), "When we looked at the different standards, and we did look at other ones, none compared to SMaRT ... it was very robust and hit all the key areas and goals that Knoll had, and importantly, SMaRT has a heavy emphasis on Climate Change..." Knoll's Life Chair is SMaRT Certified at the Gold Level.

Western Team Leader, Rusty Lance of Milliken's Floor Covering Division received the award for Milliken's General Manager Bob Baird. Rusty noted later that besides Milliken offering a PVC free carpet that at his division, zero waste manufacturing is no longer a goal, they have achieved it. Milliken's third party certification standard criteria is the equivalent of SMaRT.

Claire Bonham-Carter, Director of Sustainable Development at DMJM H&N accepted the reward on behalf of Ray Landy President and CEO of DMJM H&N who was on a project in the Middle East. She reminded the audience of mostly designers and architects, "We as designers have a real responsibility to make sure everything we do and we design has a low impact..."

Ginny Dyson, DMJM H&M's Sustainable/LEED Manager also received recognition for her work in the SMaRT's Sustainable Product Standard's development going back to 2001. As an Officer of the SMaRT standards committee, Dyson was a witness to the 60 "negative" votes from the consensus process that had to be resolved before SMaRT could be approved. She said to the crowd, "I hope I represented you well in this process... as a designer, I just want to flip over the swatch, see a label and go back to designing. I'm not a chemist. SMaRT makes my job easier."

Click here to view the SMaRT orientation video