FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 21, 2011
	CONTACT: Jackie Hirschhaut (336) 881-1016

Eco3Home Added to Ecolabel Index

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) announces that its Eco3Home label has been added to Ecolabel Index, the largest global directory of environmental labels.

The Ecolabel Index website is operated by Big Room Inc., a Vancouver-based company that profiles environmental labels from all over the world to help both buyers and sellers use them more effectively. More than 400 labels from 212 countries and 25 industry sectors are currently indexed on the site.

“We seek to provide the public, businesses, governments and purchasers with as much information as possible about various eco labels,” explains Andre Gailits of Big Room Inc.

A brief summary of each label is available at no charge to visitors to the Ecolabel Index website (www.ecolabelindex.com). Paid subscriptions give individuals access to more than 60 data points on each label, including information on how the label was developed and the specific environmental attributes measured or tracked. An advanced subscription provides additional tools for evaluating, comparing and monitoring specific labels.

AHFA’s Eco3Home label can only be used on products registered through the Eco3Home program. Registration requires companies to first complete the EFEC environmental management program in all domestic facilities, followed by the Sustainable by Design program, which extends sustainable practices throughout a company’s global supply chain. The final step is to provide detailed information on each product’s safety, health and environmental attributes to achieve product registration and license to use the Eco3Home hangtag.

The required safety and health information includes a list of all applicable mandatory and voluntary U.S. standards and evidence of compliance. In order to supply the environmental data, companies must perform multiple calculations designed to document the product’s complete “environmental footprint.” These include greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, energy consumption, solid waste to landfill and carbon dioxide emissions – all calculated per piece produced. (Estimates are based on production at a single manufacturing facility during a specified period of time.)

Further, companies using the Eco3Home label must provide an “article inventory” that lists all of that product’s components, the country source of those materials and any relevant certifications (such as wood or fabric certification).

Currently, the only products registered in the Eco3Home program are portions of Kincaid Furniture’s “Homecoming” collection.