Standards & Compliance Briefing: CHAdeMO Seeks EU Inclusion; Laundry Products, Air Filters

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The CHAdeMO Association said it is disappointed that its EV charging standard has been left out of specs issued by the European Commission in its Clean Power for Transport package, AutoBlogGreen reports. The association said that there are more than 20,000 CHAdeMO-equipped vehicles on the road in Europe, and requested the European Commission consider a dual charging system for DC fast charging with CHAdeMO and CCS (combined charging system) that will allow use by the majority of current and future electric vehicles.

Green Seal has released two new standards to address the life cycle impacts of laundry care products – GS-48, for household laundry care products, and GS-51, for laundry products used in institutional and industrial settings. To receive certification under GS-48 or GS-51, laundry products cannot contain any components that are carcinogens, reproductive toxins, mutagens, neurotoxins/systemic toxins, endocrine disruptors, asthmagens, or respiratory or skin sensitizers. Certified products must not cause skin corrosion or eye damage, the certification body said.

A newly revised filtration standard from ASHRAE combines two standards aiming to improve the technical accuracy of filter testing. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 52.2-2012, Method of Testing General Ventilation Air-Cleaning Devices for Removal Efficiency by Particle Size, establishes a test procedure for evaluating the performance of air-cleaning devices as a function of particle size. The update incorporates the requirements of Standard 52.1, Gravimetric and Dust Spot Procedures for Testing Air Cleaning Devices Used in General Ventilation for Removing Particulate Matter, ASHRAE said.

Shorenstein Properties has received LEED Gold, Existing Building Operations and Maintenance certification for the Palisades Office Park in Atlanta, Ga. The 640,000-square-foot Class A office space is housed within four buildings on a 23-acre park. The buildings carry an Energy Star rating of 84. Features of the building operations include waste management practices with a 58 percent waste diversion rate and a water heater retrofit resulting in a 50 percent reduction in electricity use, the real estate firm said.

The Drywall Safety Act of 2012, signed into law this month cites ASTM standard C1264-11, Specification for Sampling, Inspection, Rejection, Certification, Packaging, Marking, Shipping, Handling and Storage of Gypsum Panel Products, in order to control the import of hazardous drywall material. The law requires the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to set regulations based on C1264, and the standard provides the CPSC, states, suppliers and consumers with a tool for supply chain communication by specifying that each gypsum panel product or package must be marked for thickness, producer or supplier name, brand name (if any) and the ASTM specification for the product, ASTM said.

ASHRAE has opened a third public comment period for changes in a proposed standard to prevent legionellosis associated with building water systems. Comments on Standard 188P, Prevention of Legionellosis Associated with Building Water Systems, will be accepted until March 11, ASHRAE said.

Sartorius Stedim Biotech, an equipment provider for the pharmaceutical industry, has earned LEED Platinum certification for its new 55,000-square-foot, $20 million facility in Yauco, Puerto Rico. Sartorius is the first company to have a LEED Platinum-certified manufacturing facility for the biopharmaceutical industry. The Yauco complex has been designed to save 85 percent of water consumed in comparison with conventional facilities, and a solar PV installation generates about 10 percent of the facility's energy needs, the company said.

NRG Energy, the Santa Clara Stadium Authority and the San Francisco 49ers have reached an agreement achieve LEED certification for the new Santa Clara Stadium. It will be the first professional football stadium to open with LEED certification. NRG will install a number solar elements, including three solar array-covered bridges, a solar canopy above the green roof on the suite tower portion of the stadium and solar panels over the 49ers training center. The stadium is also expected to be the first professional sports venue in California to achieve net-zero energy performance, the football team said.

Environment + Energy Leader