Teragren's LEED® IEQ 4.4
Enhanced program
This program allows you to special-order Teragren products made with formaldehyde-free manufacturing adhesives that qualify for IEQ Credit 4.4.*
IEQ Credit 4.4: Low-Emitting Materials
The U.S. Green Building Council's LEED® IEQ Credit 4: Low-Emitting Materials pertains to composite wood and agrifiber products, and contributes one point toward LEED® certification. The USGBC intends for this requirement to help "reduce the quantity of indoor air contaminants that are odorous, irritating and/or harmful to the comfort and wellbeing of installers and occupants."
Teragren products and changes in credit qualifications
For many years, our proprietary manufacturing adhesive allowed Teragren products to contribute to the USGBC's LEED® IEQ Credit 4.
However, we were advised in 2006 that the USGBC had modified its position and would no longer qualify products made with urea-formaldehyde-based adhesives (all Teragren products with the exception of Synergy flooring, panels, and veneer). Although our adhesive emits formaldehyde at levels less than or equal to 0.03 ppm—far below levels allowed by U.S. OSHA, European E0, CARB Phase 1 and Phase 2, and Japanese JIS/JAS (F****) emission standards—all of our flooring products with the exception of Synergy strand solid-strip bamboo no longer qualify. (Interestingly, IEQ Credit 4.4 does not mandate the maximum allowable quantity of formaldehyde that can be emitted by the adhesive, only that urea-formaldehyde adhesives cannot be used.)
Some Teragren products continue to qualify for this credit because their manufacturing adhesives are not urea-formaldehyde based. Our Synergy strand solid-strip bamboo flooring, strand panels and strand veneer qualify because they are made with phenol-formaldehyde adhesives. We use a formaldehyde-free adhesive in our butcher block countertops and tabletops, so those products also qualify for IEQ Credit 4.4.
The Teragren LEED IEQ 4.4 Enhanced program
All Teragren products qualify for LEED MR Credit 6: Rapidly Renewable Materials because bamboo is naturally a rapidly renewable resource. To ensure that our products also continue to qualify for LEED® IEQ Credit 4.4: Low-Emitting Materials, we have established our IEQ 4.4 Enhanced program. Under this program, you may special-order most Teragren products to be manufactured with a formaldehyde-free adhesive that meets the IEQ Credit 4.4 requirements.*
Special pricing applies to Teragren IEQ 4.4 Enhanced products. We do not routinely stock IEQ 4.4 Enhanced flooring, stair parts or trim, so please allow 10 to 14 weeks lead time when you special order these products from your local distributor.
Please call 800.929.6333 or email for details on our IEQ 4.4 Enhanced products program.
*Excludes Studio floating floor.