For decades, the design and building industries have turned to MasterFormat to organize project data for commercial and institutional projects. The format, developed and maintained by the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), provides a uniform, standard framework that makes it easier for all participants in the design and construction process to clearly communicate information to each other. Now, CSI is working to bring those same benefits to green building products.

The new product, called GreenFormat, will help the design and construction industries meet the growing demand to incorporate sustainable products into projects. CSI has long recognized the importance of environmentally friendly building practices and improving the design and construction process.

GreenFormat will provide a standardized format to report the sustainable properties of building products online. It will help the design, construction and operations industries spend less time researching and analyzing sustainable products, because the metric-based system requires manufacturers to enter objective performance data and recognized certifications for their products. Architects, specifiers and building operators will be able to search for those products using various parameters. And, manufacturers will benefit from a clear questionnaire that allows them to share up-to-date data about their products to the industry.

• Categories 1-3 provide basic information, such as manufacturer’s name, product name and a concise description of a product’s use.
• Category 4 lists the regulatory programs (e.g., ENERGY STAR) that a product meets and its most recent approval date.
• Categories 5-7 address environmental standards and certifications, allowing users to verify a manufacturer’s claims.
• Categories 8-12 include information about different steps in the product’s life cycle and its total impact on the environment.
• Category 13 features environmental information not addressed elsewhere in the database.
• Category 14 asks the manufacturer to pledge that the information entered is accurate. This category also includes a technical contact at the company for more information.

GreenFormat is designed to be flexible so that it can adapt as sustainable technologies and practices change. New topics may be added and others may be removed as the industry evolves.

CSI is listening to input from every sector of the industry to help ensure that this new resource will be easy-to-use and cover all products and categories. As such, GreenFormat is being tested and refined before its official launch this year. CSI is being aided by several organizations during this process. In 2007, Charles Pankow Foundation bestowed a grant to CSI to continue developing GreenFormat.

For more information on how this new resource will support sustainable design, construction and operations, please visit the GreenFormat section at www.csinet.org. To learn when GreenFormat will become available, please sign up for the notification list at www.greenformat.com.