Transpare, the free online purchasing resource from ISSA and its partner Ecoform, is now live at www.transpare.com. The online registry lists the environmental, health, and safety attributes of products, helping purchasers meet their sustainability goals. This resource uses uniform metrics, which can be sorted according to those criteria most important to the customer, while helping combat potential “greenwashing.”

Transpare allows suppliers to demonstrate the environmental profile of their products as well as their commitment to innovation and sustainable solutions.
 
“Transpare clearly represents the next generation of ecolabeling for the commercial cleaning industry that will help take green cleaning and sustainability to the next level,” says Stephen Ashkin, president of The Ashkin Group, LLC.
 
The tool was developed using a consensus-based process driven by the priorities of purchasers representing key market sectors, including health care, education, and government, plus environmental organizations and traditional ecolabel organizations. Experts involved in the development include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Design for the Environment, Green Seal, EcoLogo, State of Illinois, State of California, and Walmart.

The program is ISSA and Ecoform’s answer to an increased demand for what is called “radical transparency.” Transpare provides easy-to-use data that can help manufacturers and distributors better explain the differences between products as well as—for the first time—demonstrate why their products meet or exceed the criteria of traditional ecolabels.
 
How It Works
The Transpare registry provides clear and easy-to-understand explanations for each reported metric of a product’s environmental attributes and their impact on product users and building occupants. Users can customize product searches by using filters based upon:
• VOC content
• Concentrates delivered in closed-loop systems
• Skin sensitization
• Acute toxicity
• Biodegradability
• The absence of fragrances and dyes.

Transpare helps users identify products that meet the requirements of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Environmental & Energy Design for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (LEED-EBOM) green building rating system and helps ensure compliance with ISSA’s Cleaning Industry Management Standard for Green Buildings (CIMS-GB).