Principles, experiences and new developments of the emission classification of building materials in Finland

A very important issue for all activities for better IAQ in Finland has been the introduction of theclassification guidelines for indoor air quality and climate. These guidelines, published by FISIAQ,including measurable target values, cleanliness requirements and emission criteria for buildingmaterials, have been in use in Finland since 1995 and were revised in 2001.An essential part of the successful IAQ classification has been the emission classification ofconstruction materials. The number of building and finishing materials accepted and labelled to thebest category, emission class M1, has already exceeded 600, providing a wide selection of productscovering all the major types of building materials. The scope of this classification has been widenedin 2001 to the cleanliness classification of ducts and other components of ventilation systems.To improve the IAQ in real conditions in a building also other sources of emission, than theconstruction materials and ventilation, must be under control. Such common sources of harmfulemissions are often the furniture, which are often strong source of chemical emissions, when new,and the various chemicals used for the cleaning, waxing and other treatment of the indoor surfaces,especially floors, in the buildings. Therefore, in Finland the emission classification of thesesubstances is planned to begin in 2003, with special testing requirements and emission criteriameant for this purpose. Principles for these new planned requirements and criteria will also bepresented and discussed in this paper.