Growing demand for carbon neutral products has led to the new exclusive partnership of NSF International and the Carbonfund.org Foundation, owner of the CarbonFree® Product Certification Program.

CarbonFree product certification is a credible, transparent way for companies to provide environmentally-friendly, carbon neutral products to their customers and is now offered through NSF International’s Sustainability division. The NSF and Carbonfund.org partnership leverages their combined expertise in product sustainability and NSF’s global certification management resources.

Driven by corporate responsibility, consumer demand, and potential government regulation, many companies want to quantify, reduce and offset the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the products they manufacture and supply. This growing market for eco-friendly products and consumer demand for transparent, credible and readily-accessible information at the point of purchase, makes carbon content labeling an important and a viable educational tool for consumers. The CarbonFree mark can be found on a variety of products today, including food, beverage, electronics and apparel.

“The CarbonFree Logo is widely recognized by consumers and companies throughout North America as a preferred mark that assures a comprehensive and high quality process was used to achieve carbon neutrality,” says Eric Carlson, president of Carbonfund.org. “More companies are recognizing the importance and value of offering carbon neutral products.”

To help meet this growing demand for carbon neutral products, Carbonfund.org, a leading nonprofit provider of climate solutions for individuals and businesses, developed the CarbonFree Product Certification program, the first carbon neutral product label in North America. NSF International was selected to administer the program through its NSF Sustainability division.

With more than 65 years experience in protecting public health and the environment, NSF International adds their technical expertise to the CarbonFree program as a global leader in standards development and third-party, independent product testing, auditing and certification worldwide. NSF Sustainability draws upon this expertise to help companies develop standardized, objective methods of measuring sustainability that instill marketplace confidence and promote acceptance of more sustainable products and services.

“The Carbonfree program is an excellent fit with NSF’s Sustainability services, and with NSF's mission of protecting and improving human health. Carbonfree certification provides current and new clients with another valuable tool to differentiate their products and provide more sustainable solutions for their customers,” says  Tom Bruursema, general manager of NSF Sustainability.

How the CarbonFree Product Certification Program Works

The CarbonFree product certification program uses Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) to determine the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over a product’s entire life cycle. GHG emissions (expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents) that cannot be reduced or eliminated from the products’ life cycle are offset or "neutralized" with third-party validated renewable energy, energy efficiency and forestry carbon offset projects.

  A carbon offset "credit" represents a reduction of carbon as a result of a clean technology (e.g. wind, solar) or carbon reduction (e.g. forestry) project. The units of carbon displaced or removed from the atmosphere as a result of these projects are translated into "credits." These credits can be purchased by companies that want to offset or neutralize the carbon produced as a result of producing and selling their product. Purchased credits are ‘retired’ so the carbon is essentially eliminated from use.

CarbonFree certified products earn the use of the CarbonFree mark along with being listed in the Carbonfund.org online product certification database. The CarbonFree mark can be found on a variety of products today, including food, beverage, electronics and apparel.

For additional information on the CarbonFree product Certification program, contact Dennis Gillan at dgillan@nsf.org, 734-476-2543, or visit www.nsfsustainability.org .