Green building materials: resin floor materials

Core Content of the Certification

The Green Building Materials Certification for Resin Flooring Materials revolves around the green performance of the product's entire lifecycle, focusing on the following four attribute dimensions:

• Resource Attributes: Includes indicators such as raw material consumption per unit product, fresh water usage, and comprehensive utilization rate of solid waste. Encourages enterprises to adopt environmentally friendly processes, reduce environmental impact in transportation through localized procurement, and requires the establishment of wastewater recycling systems to achieve reuse of production wastewater.
• Energy Attributes: Focuses on the comprehensive energy consumption indicator per unit product, tested and calculated according to GB/T 2589 "General Principles for Calculation of Total Production Energy Consumption". The comprehensive energy consumption during the production of resin flooring materials should meet the requirements of relevant energy consumption limit standards, including energy consumption control in processes like raw material preparation, mixing, dispersion, and filling. Three-Star certification requires production energy consumption to reach industry advanced levels.
• Environmental Attributes: Covers indicators such as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) content, benzene series content, formaldehyde content, free isocyanate content, Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC) emission, formaldehyde emission, heavy metal content, and phthalate content. Production enterprises must legally obtain a pollutant discharge permit and discharge pollutants according to its stipulations. The collection, storage, and disposal of general solid waste shall comply with the relevant provisions of GB 18599; the storage of hazardous waste shall comply with the relevant provisions of GB 18597.
• Quality Attributes: Based on relevant product standards, key performance indicators of resin flooring material products are tested, including impact resistance, abrasion resistance improvement rate, resistance to artificial climate aging, etc., ensuring the products possess excellent performance while meeting green requirements.

Certification Levels and Evaluation System

The graded certification for green building material products is based on the T/CECS 10046-2019 standard. According to the level of evaluation indicators met by the product, it is divided into three levels from low to high:

• One-Star: Meets basic green evaluation requirements and complies with national basic standards for green building materials. Enterprises must satisfy all control item requirements, with each evaluation indicator reaching the One-Star baseline value.
• Two-Star: Performs well in resource conservation, energy consumption, environmental protection, etc., reaching industry advanced levels. The requirements for each evaluation indicator are stricter than those for One-Star.
• Three-Star: Demonstrates excellent green performance with minimal impact on the ecological environment throughout the entire lifecycle, representing the highest grade of green building material product. Three-Star requires comprehensive energy consumption per unit product to meet advanced value standards, with the strictest requirements for each evaluation indicator.

The evaluation method also considers the application of bonus items, including: actively addressing environmental impacts throughout the lifecycle (conducting environmental declarations through scientific methods like LCA), using clean energy such as green electricity, completing energy management system certification, and establishing a green factory.

Certification Unit Division

The Green Building Materials Certification for Resin Flooring Materials is divided into three certification units based on product type:

• Water-based Resin Flooring Materials: Flooring materials formulated primarily with synthetic resins using water as the dispersion medium as the main cross-linking substance, combined with pigments, fillers, aggregates, and other additives.
• Water-based Polyurethane Mortar: Flooring materials formulated primarily with reactive synthetic resins and polyisocyanates using water as the dispersion medium as the main cross-linking substances, composite cementitious materials as active fillers, combined with pigments, fillers, aggregates, and other additives.
• Solvent-free Resin Flooring Materials: Flooring materials formulated primarily with synthetic resins using non-volatile organic compounds or volatile organic compounds that participate in chemical reactions as the dispersion medium as the main cross-linking substance, combined with pigments, fillers, aggregates, and other additives.

Basic Certification Requirements

Enterprises and products applying for the Green Building Materials Certification for Resin Flooring Materials must meet the following basic conditions:

• Compliance Requirements for Production and Operation: Production enterprises shall comply with applicable national standards, local standards, and environmental impact assessment approvals, obtain local government pollutant discharge permits, and have no major environmental pollution incidents or major safety accidents in the past three years. Production enterprises shall install effective particulate matter recovery devices and effective local or overall enclosed exhaust collection systems, which feed into a closed negative pressure waste gas treatment system operating normally.
• Solid Waste Disposal Requirements: The collection, storage, and disposal of general solid waste shall comply with the relevant provisions of GB 18599; the storage of hazardous waste shall comply with the relevant provisions of GB 18597 and shall subsequently be delivered to a unit holding a hazardous waste management license for disposal.
• Compliance of Production Equipment and Technology: Production enterprises shall adopt advanced technologies and processes encouraged by the state, and shall not use technologies, processes, equipment, or related substances that have been eliminated or prohibited by the state or relevant departments.
• Management System Requirements: Production enterprises shall establish and operate quality management systems and environmental management systems according to GB/T 19001 and GB/T 24001, respectively.
• Product Qualification Requirements: The basic performance of resin flooring materials shall comply with relevant regulations such as GB/T 22374 "Floor Coating Materials", HG/T 3829 "Floor Coatings", HG/T 5057 "Waterborne Epoxy Floor Coatings", JC/T 1015 "Epoxy Resin Floor Coating Materials", JC/T 2327 "Waterborne Polyurethane Flooring". Products must provide a valid type test report issued within one year.
• Safety Documentation Requirements: Production enterprises shall provide downstream users or other relevant parties with a product Safety Data Sheet (SDS) compliant with GB/T 16483 and product safety labels compliant with GB 15258.
• Packaging Requirements: Product packaging shall comply with GB/T 13491 and GB/T 16716.1 requirements, and the materials shall not contain polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or other plastics containing harmful substances.

Certification Process

The graded certification for green building material products implements the model of initial inspection + product sampling inspection + post-certification supervision:

• Certification Application: Submit application materials including the application form (specifying the applied green building material level), business license, product process flowchart, factory organization chart, key raw material filing list, valid product type test report within one year, management system related document catalog, etc. The applying enterprise must pass the audit by the certification body.
• Document Technical Review: The certification body reviews the completeness, suitability, and effectiveness of the application documents. Review conclusions are categorized as: meeting requirements and ready for on-site inspection, basically meeting but requiring supplementation/improvement, or not meeting requirements and unable to proceed to on-site inspection.
• Initial Factory Inspection: Includes factory assurance capability check, product consistency check, and verification of compliance with green evaluation requirements. The on-site inspection focuses on the operation of the enterprise's energy management system, production energy consumption control measures, wastewater recycling system operation status, pollutant emission control measures, solid waste disposal situation, etc.
• Product Sampling Inspection: Sampling inspection is completed by a laboratory with CMA accreditation determined by the certification body. Inspection items include Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) content, sum of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene content, formaldehyde content, free isocyanate content, Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC) emission, formaldehyde emission, heavy metal content, phthalate content, impact resistance, abrasion resistance, etc. Inspection reports meeting requirements issued by a CMA-accredited laboratory within the past 12 months may be accepted.
• Certification Result Evaluation and Approval: After the document technical review, on-site inspection, and product sampling inspection are all passed, the certification body conducts a comprehensive evaluation, approves the certification decision, and issues the certificate. The certification certificate is valid for five years.
• Post-Certification Supervision: Supervision is arranged after the enterprise obtains certification, with intervals not exceeding 1 year for each supervision. Supervision content includes factory assurance capability supervision check, product consistency supervision check, verification of ongoing compliance with green evaluation requirements, and product supervision inspection. For non-conformities found during supervision audits, the enterprise must complete corrective actions within the specified period.
• Re-certification Audit: A re-certification audit is conducted before the certificate expires to renew the certification qualification, typically with a five-year cycle.

Certification Value

• Enhance Product Market Competitiveness: Green building material product certification is a state-promoted voluntary product certification. Certified products can obtain priority procurement and application in government procurement, key projects, municipal public utilities, etc. The green building material procurement support policy jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology explicitly requires government procurement projects to prioritize green building materials. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has established a green building material procurement and application database; certified products will be prioritized in government-funded projects, green buildings, prefabricated buildings, and other construction projects.
• Enjoy Policy Support and Funding Subsidies: Many provinces and cities provide financial rewards or fiscal support to enterprises that pass green building material product certification. Certified enterprises can also enjoy preferential tax policies such as corporate income tax reduction. The government procurement support policy for green building materials has been implemented in 101 cities (municipal districts) including Chaoyang District, Beijing.
• Strengthen Bidding Competitiveness: The green building material certification certificate can serve as a bonus point in project bidding and procurement, enhancing the enterprise's differentiated bidding capability and establishing its technology and quality brand. Obtaining the green building material label is a necessary condition and bidding advantage for enterprises to participate in major projects, government-invested project tenders, and enter the qualified supplier lists of large clients.
• Meet Green Building Development Needs: With the implementation of the "Assessment Standard for Green Building" (GB/T 50378-2019) and the advancement of green building initiatives, the required application proportion of green building materials in new urban buildings is continuously increasing. As an important component of building decoration, certified resin flooring materials are more likely to enter the green building market.
• Address Dual Carbon Strategy Requirements: In the context of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, energy and construction have become main forces in achieving these goals. Green building material product certification requires enterprises to conduct carbon footprint accounting and Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), helping them address carbon emission control requirements and plan for low-carbon development in advance.
• Promote International Trade: Certification results can serve as a "green passport" for exports. Some standards have international mutual recognition, which helps reduce green trade barriers in exports.
• Establish Corporate Social Responsibility Image: Certification demonstrates the enterprise's commitment and actions in resource conservation and environmental protection, enhancing customer trust, improving brand reputation, and meeting consumer demand for green building materials.

Applicable Product Scope

The Green Building Materials Certification for Resin Flooring Materials is applicable to various resin flooring material products for buildings, including:

• Water-based Resin Flooring Materials: e.g., Water-based epoxy floor coatings, Water-based polyurethane floor coatings.
• Water-based Polyurethane Mortar: e.g., Water-based polyurethane cement mortar flooring materials.
• Solvent-free Resin Flooring Materials: e.g., Solvent-free epoxy floor coatings, Solvent-free polyurethane floor coatings.