Standards recognition & assessment types

ecospecifier is a third party verifier and source of independent and unbiased assessment of information provided by manufacturers and other sources.

ecospecifier does not just 'tick boxes' using information provided by manufacturers.

It assesses products using known Australian and international standards, codes, eco-labels, Life Cycle Assessment methodologies, and Australian Green Building Rating Schemes. ecospecifier also reviews independent test data, third party research and/or expert opinion to test manufacturer declarations and claims, and seeks advice from a Group of Internationally renowned Experts who advise on Products Standards and Methodology.

All product claims are verified unless statements, such as 'according to manufacturer', 'manufacturer claim' or similar are shown. Note- the information will not be included, even with these disclaimers, unless the team in the ecospecifier product research hub have reasonable expectations it is likely to be true.

As noted in What are eco & health preferable products?, ecospecifier admits products to the database based on the premise that:

• They exhibit one or more unique eco or health preferable characteristic compared to other products in their category;
• They are a member of a category that is in itself an eco or health preferred category; and
• They should not contain ‘significant’ ecological or health damaging content.

However, ecospecifier does not as part of its standard services undertake on-site verification processes. ecospecifier relies on and refers to standards and performance data from many sources including government and non-government standards and ecolabels as well as scientific, academic and medical peer reviewed journals and papers.

Where available, Australian standards and ecolabel standards are used, provided they are at or near best practice standards. Improvements over and above these standards thresholds are also recognised.

Where rating schemes exist such as for electrical appliances, windows, skylight, water efficient appliances and fittings, etc., ecospecifier follows accepted practice and recognises the top 25% of market performers (e.g. the Australian Government Energy Allstars appliance rating website sets its ‘preferred performer’ standards so that the top 25% of products are listed).

For more information see Introduction to ecolabels

Assessment Types

Historically there have been a variety of listings available as outlined below.

ecospecifier presents 2 basic different types of assessment:

1.    Basic Listing Types:

a) Basic Listings (shown with no additional information after the product name): These assessments include up to 150 words and appear only in the subscriber-accessible section of ecospecifier.org. Basic Listings can be assessed using various levels of data quality (see Data Quality in Assessment Criteria) with the minimum level being ‘expert ecospecifier assessment’.

b) Basic Listing Plus [BLP]: These assessments include up to 200 words and one picture or logo and appear both in the public access and subscriber-accessible section. BLPs can be assessed using various levels of data quality (see Data Quality in Assessment Criteria with the minimum level being ‘Manufacturer Declaration’).

Any ‘Issues of Concern’ or ‘Red Flag’ issues not considered to be sufficient enough to warrant exclusion will be described in full in this section, and are not included in the word count.

2.    Enhanced Content Listing Types:

a) Enhanced Content [EC]: This level represents a full assessment of a product (without considering its relevance to specific green building rating systems). It is shown with [EC] after the product name and a grey background in the Product Search Results pages. These are highly detailed assessments and major product claims are verified based on test data or other third party or independently certified sources. EC products may include brochures or other downloads. EC full listings only appear in subscriber searches but also have BLP listing in public access searches.

b)    Enhanced Content plus GreenRate [ECG]: This level also represents a full assessment of a product, including its relevance to specific green building scheme credits. It is shown with [ECG] after the product name and a grey background in the Product Search Results pages. These are highly detailed, full assessments and major product claims are verified based on test data or other third party or independently certified sources. ECG products may also include brochures and other downloads and appear in the marketplace with ecospecifier approved logos and referral to ecospecifier.org for further information. ECG full listings only appear in subscriber searches but also have BLP listing in public access searches.

c) EC-Premium and ECG-Premium: These are the highest levels of ecological, health and technical assessments. The premium service responds to the critical need for products to be fully listed and clearly verified. EC-Premium and ECG-Premium listings are highly detailed with major product claims verified based on test data or other third party of independently certified sources. EC-Premium and ECG-Premium listings also include a Lead Enquiry. These detailed listings are available only to subscribers, however, every EC-Premium and ECG-Premium listing has a summary BLP listing that is available free to the public domain. ECG-Premium listings also assess a product's compatibility with green building rating systems, such as the Green Building Council’s Green Star™, NABERS and BASIX rating schemes.

Please note: The Data Assurance Level used in all product assessments is recognised explicitly in the ‘Other Vital Signs’ section of the Assessment Criteria Satisfied section of the product listing.

All Enhanced Content Listings are supported by both manufacturer declarations and verification of major manufacturer claims by sighting of independent test data and internal referencing of other data sources within the listing. Basic listing assessments can range from the equivalent of enhanced content to expert opinion based on research and third party verification of major claims.

For more information see Outcomes, Green Star™ credits & data assurance levels.