Indoor air is generally been found to be 2 to 10 times more polluted than the air outdoors, according to the US EPA. Airborne chemicals that come from elements such as building materials, mold and even furniture combined with poor ventilation result in unhealthy air quality levels within buildings. While these harmful chemicals often go undetected in many buildings, the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) was established to offer certification programs that ensure the efficacy of products in reducing emissions of these harmful chemicals. LG is proud to have its DUAL Vane Cassette to be the first industrial HVAC system to receive GREENGUARD Gold Certification. But what is GREENGUARD certification and how is it making our indoor environments healthier and safer? Let’s learn more about this organization and how the LG DUAL Vane Cassette was able to achieve certification.

The GEI was established by an indoor air quality advocate know as Air Quality Sciences in the early 2000s and acquired by UL Environment in 2001. The GREENGUARD Certification Program has established test methods that focus on 4 distinct groups of products: (1) Building materials, furniture and furnishings (2) Electronic equipment (3) cleaning and maintenance products (4) Medical devices for breathing gas pathways. Since 2002, the criteria for GREENGUARD certification have been used as the basis for LEED certification in low-emitting furniture. GREENGUARD Certification Standards are some of the most stringent in the world, so when a product is certified by the GEI, we can rest assured that it lives up to its claims as a healthier and safer product.

People spend approximately 90% of their time indoors and the majority of everyday exposure to airborne chemicals occurs in homes, schools, offices and other indoor environments. These airborne chemicals are commonly referred to as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In any given indoor environment, there may be anywhere from 50 to hundreds of individual VOCs present. The majority of these VOCs are not readily detectable, but they may cause irritation to the eyes, nose and throat, and can even be responsible for more serious chronic diseases, including cancer. This is why GREENGUARD Certification is so important in mitigating exposure to these chemicals. When using a GEI certified product, we create healthier indoor environments and GREENGUARD Certification is instrumental in raising the standard for indoor air quality.

As an industrial HVAC system, a product like the LG DUAL Vane cassette can not only make up a large percentage of energy consumption in a building, it can also contribute to the distribution of harmful chemicals in a space. But GREENGUARD Gold Certification ensures that the DUAL Vane Cassette has been thoroughly tested for the emission of harmful indoor air pollutants. The air conditioner unit was tested for VOC, particle and ozone emissions against the stringent standards of the GEI. The DUAL Vane Cassette was found to meet all the emission level criteria of the GREENGUARD Certification program for both short-term and long-term usage. As the first industrial HVAC to solution to receive GREENGUARD Certification, LG considers this a point of pride.