Technical Updates

Stay up-to-date on all things wallcoverings through WA's quarterly Technical Update installments, provided by WA member Jeff Rezin.

Q1 2018: A Wallcovering Environmental Story - A Starting Point

Is it time to tell the Wallcovering Environmental Story? The very act of communicating the story needs to be determined. We have been hearing from speakers at annual meetings how information needs to be communicated to a different generation. So just telling a story in print may not be enough. Other mediums may be more effective for some audiences. Another difficulty is that the information we will discuss contains science terms. This is not easy for many people to wrap their arms around. However, the details are important and some scientific discussion is imperative to the story, so how do we keep an audience engaged as we plow through details? What makes this even more complicated is that science was used to justify past practices. So what makes our science better now than before? There are clear answers to this but we need to be prepared for questions that will be asked.

Q2 2018: A Wallcovering Environmental Story - Part II: How Did We Get Here?

Why are environmental components of an industry taking such a lead role in making wallcoverings? In the days of “business as usual,” the goal was to make a good product, sell it, make some more, repeat. Then global concerns began to grow around the impacts of chemicals on people and the environment. In the earlier days, chemistry was respected and perhaps unintended consequences were not predictable. Plastics were seen as solutions to manufacturing processes offering higher quality and longevity. They were also competitively economical to use. Their use grew to the point that we now see plastic applications everywhere. Vinyl wallcovering has a significant plastic component.

Q3 2018: Prop 65 – What You Need to Know 

Prop 65 is a complicated topic, and one that concerns many in the wallcoverings industry. Linked above is a summary of the proposition, along with answers to common questions. Below are resources that can help you navigate the proposition: 

·         Prop 65 - Questions and Answers for Businesses

·         Prop 65 - Expedited Cancer Potency Value and Proposed Regulatory Levels for Certain Prop 65 Carcinogens

·         Prop 65 – Hotel and Lodging Fact Sheet

·         Prop 65 – Significant Risk Levels

·         Are Your Products Prop 65 Compliant?

Q4 2018: W-101 Variation for Non-Vinyl Wallcovering Products

For almost two years, the Wallcovering Association’s Technical Committee has been responding to inquiries regarding specifications for Non-Vinyl Wallcovering Products. Learn about the implications here, as related to the W-101 specification. 

Q1 2019: Technical Discussion on Phthalates

In the Wallcovering Association’s efforts to understand sustainability based initiatives, our collective technical knowledge of raw material choices is crucial.  As we discussed at the WA 2019 Annual Meeting, we must become experts on all chemicals and chemistry of wallcovering products so that their use can be defended, when applicable, when questions are raised about their use in flexible vinyl wallcovering products.  With that goal in front of us, this information attempts to provide a summary of the phthalate issue facing manufacturing flexible vinyl wallcovering.  

Q2 2019: Updates for Technical Committee Work

The Wallcovering Technical Committee is filled with very talented individuals from key Wallcovering Association membership companies.  Last month’s meeting included representatives from these companies: J Josephson; York Wallcoverings; Len-Tex Wallcoverings; Omni WA Inc.; Roysons; Saint Gobain; Koroseal; and Versads; The work completed by this group is substantial. They contribute their insight and expertise on various topics that come in front of the Committee. Mark Rain provides his leadership as chairman, Mary O’Neil as Vice-chair.  The topics are usually complicated and require vision and foresight to determine appropriate detailed direction. All Wallcovering Association members receive benefits from the work completed within this active committee. We encourage all members to have representation.

Q3 2019: Green Building and Product Certifications Summary

There is now a proliferation of standards, rating, and certification programs in the marketplace to help guide, demonstrate, and document efforts to deliver sustainable, high-performance buildings. It is estimated that there are nearly 600 green product certifications in the world with nearly 100 in use in the U.S., and the numbers continue to grow. This document summarizes green building rating systems, guidelines, and codes so that our members can keep up with the evolving state of the art.

Contact info@wallcoverings.org with questions. 

Q1 2020: Embodied Carbon & EPDs

Each time new standards or regulations are developed, businesses often scramble to determine a response to adequately address the “new” environmental focus. This time though, WA’s advance work creating EPDs answers questions about embodied carbon before we were asked and before it became an environmental trend.