Most of the Ecophon products have been granted the Nordic Swan eco-label and thereby meet the criteria and requirements of the Nordic Ecolabelling Board (NMN) regarding the entire product lifecycle, from raw material to recycling. The requirements include pollution and hazardous emissions, waste management, energy and resource consumption.
Most of Ecophon products and systems meet the emission requirements of RTS, Finland’s leading information centre for the construction sector. The emission classification of building materials has three emission classes. Products labelled M1 (signifying the best emission class) have the lowest emission values for many substances hazardous to health.
Most of Ecophon systems meet the highest requirements for the Danish Indeklima (Indoor climate) label. Indeklima looks for substances in construction materials that have been found to be potential allergens or irritants, and measures the length of time it takes after installation for these substances to subside to an acceptable level. In addition, a subjective smell test is performed to ascertain the presence of any remaining smells deriving from emissions.
Ecophon products are recommended by Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association. They have reviewed the components and properties of Ecophon’s sound absorbers and has reached to the conclusion that they can be recommended by the association. Products recommended by the Association have been assessed and found to be free from allergens, perfumes and irritating substances to a degree that no known, medically reported cases exist. The assessments are conducted by the Product Council of the Association (specialists in medicine, chemistry and technology) and are based on research results, analyses and the formula for the actual product. During the assessment a high degree of caution is observed. This means that any doubt is sufficient to warrant rejection.The Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association is a dedicated network that provides information about the prevention of diseases like asthma and allergies. It also puts pressure on the society to create better living conditions for people suffering from such illnesses.
Ecophon meets applied EU standards, which facilitates comparison between different makes and types of sound absorbers. The CE-marking covers criteria such as sound absorption, fire safety and certain emissions.
Ecophon’s sound absorbers are subjected to partial inspection by the Swedish Testing and Research Institute (SP) so that their sound absorption capacity can be P-labelled. This eliminates any doubt regarding more or less incomplete or “do-it-yourself” measurement values A P-labelled sound absorber meets the criteria of the Swedish Standards Institute (SIS).
It is estimated that as much as fifty per cent of the total negative environmental impact might be caused by construction, operation and administration of buildings. The Nordic countries have therefore introduced a wide-ranging legislative system, including measures to minimise hazardous chemicals in building products. Sweden is also leading the chemicals discussion in the EU for a toxin-free environment, and a decision has been made to implement a new set of regulations to control the use of chemicals. This system is called REACH, which stands for Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals. Together with the building industry’s and the customer’s own requirements, there is also comprehensive domestic monitoring of those of us who manufacture for the building sector.
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The glass wool used in Ecophon’s sound absorbers complies in full with the EU directive 97/69/EC.
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The glass wool used in Ecophons’s aborbers complies with the EU directive 97/69/EC. Several tests and investigations show that there is virtually no release of fibres during the usage period of Ecophon’s products This is why the products can be used in clean room classified environments subject to extremely strict requirements in terms of particle minimisation, such as operating theatres and facilities used for the manufacture of microelectronics |
The effect of mineral fibres (glass wool and stone wool) on humans has been thoroughly investigated by independent medical experts and researchers.Based on these findings, in 2001 the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer), which is a part of the WHO (the World Health Organization), classified mineral wool in group 3. This means that mineral wool is considered not classifiable as a human carcinogen. Other common substances and products classified in group 3 are caffeine, tea, coal dust, saccharin and hair colouring products.This classification by IARC is in line with EU directive 97/69/EC, which states that mineral wool fibres can be free of any suspicion of carcinogenicity if they are biosoluble.