ISO Focus The Magazine of the International Organization for Standardization Volume 5, No. 1, January 2008, ISSN 1729-8709

Office and home comforts

Furniture maker Kinnarps builds on ISO standards • ISO pack for food safety •

Contents

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ISO Focus is published 11 times a year (single issue : July-August). It is available in English.

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Comment Alan Bryden, Secretary-General of ISO,

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World Scene

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ISO Scene

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Guest View

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Main Focus

ISO – the “ power house ” of positive globalization

Highlights of events from around the world Highlights of news and developments from ISO members Henry Jarlsson, CEO of Kinnarps, Sweden

Office and home comforts

+ 41 22 749 01 11 + 41 22 733 34 30 [email protected] www.iso.org

Manager : Roger Frost Editor : Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis Assistant Editor : Maria Lazarte Artwork : Pascal Krieger and Pierre Granier ISO Update : Dominique Chevaux Subscription enquiries : Sonia Rosas Friot ISO Central Secretariat Telephone + 41 22 749 03 36 Fax + 41 22 749 09 47 E-mail [email protected] © ISO, 2007. All rights reserved. The contents of ISO Focus are copyright and may not, whether in whole or in part, be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without written permission of the Editor. The articles in ISO Focus express the views of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of ISO or of any of its members.

ISSN 1729-8709 Printed in Switzerland Cover photo : ISO ISO Focus January 2008

• Low energy use in buildings and a good indoor climate go hand in hand • Improving indoor air quality • Quiet as a mouse • Furniture trends • Pathways between worlds • Glass standards address quality and performance • Ceramic tile – New standards for an ancient product • Why it isn’t just a floor • Supply standards : Past and future • A user-friendly approach to visual displays • Stand out from the crowd with telebiometrics

32 Developments and Initiatives

Bali Conference • ISO/TC leaders conference • Twinning for TC 8 Secretariat

35 New on the shelf

Oil and gas • Food safety • Public information symbols

37 Coming up

Comment ISO – the “ power house ” of positive globalization W ith the globalization of trade and of many other issues such as climate change, security, health or the deployment of new technologies, international standards have never been in such great demand as today. But what is an international standard and what makes a standard globally relevant and a pillar of sustainability? In the second triennial review of its Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, the World Trade Organization (WTO) defined six criteria which should characterize the development of those international standards recommended for use in order to avoid unnecessary obstacles to trade : • transparency,

we provide a comprehensive toolbox of standards relating to conformity assessment practices and recognition. This explains why ISO’s brand name and added value are widely recognized and appreciated. Consequently, our monthly production has reached a sustained level of 100 new or revised ISO International Standards and our scope is broadening at a rapid pace.

“ Our standards are based on a double level of consensus – amongst stakeholders and amongst countries.”

• openness, • impartiality and consensus, • effectiveness and relevance, • coherence, and • the development dimension.

Wisely, the WTO did not embark on any form of recognition of organizations producing such standards. Therefore, claims of compliance with these criteria are through self-declaration and, in case of dispute, open to challenge. ISO has no difficulty in claiming such compliance. Our standards are based on a double level of consensus – amongst stakeholders and amongst countries. This is achieved through our procedures, our network of 157 national standards bodies committed to our Code of Ethics, our partnerships and liaisons with some 700 international and regional organizations, our action plans for developing countries and for the involvement of consumer interests in standardization, and our policy for global relevance. In addition, we ensure the consistency and maintenance of our standards across our multi-sector scope ; we encourage the national adoption of our standards to facilitate, when relevant, their use in the context of regulations, and

Illustrations of this in 2007 or early 2008 have been our publications on such diverse and important issues as water services, ship recycling, incident preparedness and operational continuity management, sustainable building, food safety and greenhouse gas accounting and verification. ISO was involved in several key events in 2007, from the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference in Bali, as well as in the World Energy Congress in Rome, the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in Geneva and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Forum on “ Innovation, growth and equity ” in Paris. Our cooperation with the International Energy Agency, in the context of the preparation of the G8 Summit in Heiligendam, has enabled ISO to highlight the contribution that international standards of the type we produce should increasingly bring to the promotion of energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy. ISO is now well positioned and engaged to produce the international standards needed to support the “ energy

revolution” that will enable us to cope with the foreseeable exhaustion of fossil fuels and the global climate change challenge. Major emerging economies, such as China, India and Brazil, who will join the ISO Council in 2008, are becoming increasingly involved and express their support to the ISO system so that our standards may assist in enabling and speeding up international cooperation to tackle global challenges. ISO is a “ power house ” of globalization and is expected to provide solutions to make sure that globalization has positive effects on economic growth, environmental integrity and societal equity – the three components of sustainable development. This requires us to make sure that we are adequately “ wired ” for this task. Let me wish all the very best for 2008 – another busy year ahead for ISO – to our members, our numerous partners, and to the millions of users of our standards worldwide. I also extend my warm greetings and thanks to the delegates and the experts who contribute to making us a topical and appreciated international standard setter.

Alan Bryden, Secretary-General of ISO

ISO Focus January 2008

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World Scene try-based certification bodies of some 37 countries and operates various schemes of mutual recognition based on peer assessment.

Consumers International targets corporate responsibility “Holding Corporations to Account” was the theme of the 18th Consumers International triennial World Congress, which was held in Sydney, Australia, from 29 October through 1 November 2007. The Congress brought together some 400 speakers and delegates from over 80 countries. At this Congress, CI aimed to pressure corporations to respect consumer demands for greater accountability, transparency and integrity in business, especially regarding unethical marketing practices.

The Chair of ISO COPOLCO, Ms. Jai Ok Kim, also presided over a fringe event where some 50 delegates heard presentations and participated in discussions on “ Social responsibility and the global market : what partnership for consumers and standards ? ” More information, including video clips and presentations, is available on CI’s Web site : www.consumersinternational. org (see 2007 World Congress).

IQNET focusses on sustainability through innovation

In addition to the continued success of certification to ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 management systems standards, the members of IQNET develop third party certification to many other ISO reference standards – such as ISO 22000 on food safety, ISO/IEC 20000 on IT services or ISO/IEC 27001 on information security. ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden addressed participants on ISO’s contribution to sustainable development and underlined the need for ensuring that certification is based on sound practices. He highlighted the current migration to ISO/IEC 17021:2006 for certification to management systems, which requires some adjustments and calls for more clarity on the separation between certification and consultancy.

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ISO Focus January 2008

(From left) Mr. René Wasmer, President, IQNet ; Mr. Jorge Marques dos Santos, President, IPQ ; Mr. Alan Bryden, ISO Secretary-General ; Mr. Fernando Caldeira dos Santos, President, APCER ; Mr. José Leitão, CEO, APCER. IQNet held its 19th General Assembly in Porto, Portugal, in October 2007, at the invitation of its Portuguese member, APCER. The debates focussed on sustainability through innovation, and the support that certification may bring to achieving this goal. IQNET groups leading coun-

The 12 th General Conference of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), held in Vienna in December 2007, focussed on “ Industrial development in a changing global landscape ”. It was preceded by a ministerial conference of lesser developed countries (LDCs) on “ How can aid for trade transform LDCs ”.

Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, (Left) Director-General of UNIDO, with Mr. Pascal Lamy, WTO DirectorGeneral.

Speakers and break-out group discussions highlighted current issues in the areas of sustainable development, the “ obesity pandemic ”, the ethics of drug marketing, and consumer credit and debt. During the session on sustainable development, ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden mentioned the broadening scope of standardization, and how it addresses the concerns of “ the consumer in a global village ”. He showed that ISO was active in fields that are important to consumers : renewable energy, food safety, environmental management, and social responsibility, among others. The ISO Secretary-General also explained the ISO system and demonstrated that standards were helpful tools for consumer protection in a sustainable world.

ment assistance as central for helping developing countries, as removing barriers is not enough. Developing countries need to improve their productive capacities and compliance with standards to exploit the benefits of open trade, a key objective of the Doha Development Agenda.

WTO and UNIDO highlight need for aid for trade and role of standards The World Trade Organization organized a Global Aid for Trade Review in November 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland. Pascal Lamy, WTO DirectorGeneral, highlighted develop-

Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, Director-General of UNIDO, indicated that its support services are geared towards bringing LDCs closer to the forces of globalization and to facilitating their integration into the world economy. Indeed, the significant increase of UNIDO programmes on trade capacity building, where standards, conformance and the quality infrastructure are pivotal components, was noted. ISO collaborates closely with both WTO and UNIDO on the standards and conformity assessment dimension of Aid for Trade, as illustrated by its regular participation in regional WTO workshops on the TBT Agreement, its contribution to regional programmes supported by UNIDO, and the development of specific training actions and educational material.

ISO Scene New course to enhance participation in social responsibility A regional training course to boost the contribution of Arab countries to social responsibility in International Standards was held by ISO in cooperation with JISM (Jordan Institution for Standards and Metrology) in Amman, Jordan, in October 2007.

(From left) Mr. Folke Hermanson Snickars, ISO Consultant ; Dr. Yaseen Khayyat, Director General of Jordan Institution for Standards & Metrology ; Mr. Graham Holloway, ISO Consultant. The two-day event was attended by some 40 participants from various Arab countries. It was the second in a new series of training courses aiming to enhance participation in international standardization on social responsibility. The course seeks to exchange expertise among participants in the field of International Standards, and prompt countries to take part in the development of the ISO 26000 social responsibility standard. For more information, contact : [email protected]

International Standard for water security Climate change and global warming are rapidly depleting our water reserves. Water security has thus drawn increased attention over the last years.

Water security is a key concern of all countries. It deals with issues that can damage regular water supplies for consumers and industry, such as earthquakes, tsunamis and floods. Other issues might include terrorist acts, which may introduce poison in a drinking water reservoir, and recurring problems in the operation of water supply systems that may cause local, regional or even national health hazards. A proposal for an International Workshop Agreement (IWA) was submitted by the Standards Institution of Israel (SII) and approved at an international conference on water security held by SII in Tel Aviv, October 29-November 1, 2007. Twentyone international experts from 10 countries participated, as well as more than 30 experts from Israel. The proposal will soon be submitted to ISO as a draft International Standard.

ISO President visits Singapore and SPRING The ISO President, Håkan Murby, visited Singapore in November 2007 at the invitation of SPRING SG, the member of ISO. He was the key speaker at the 2007 Standards and Accreditation Partners Award Ceremony, which attracted more than 300 participants. The event was opened by Mr. S. Iswaran, the Singapore Minister of State for Trade and Industry. It highlighted the importance of standards and conformance to the national economy and showcased success stories. The theme for 2007 was “ Enabling enterprise growth through quality and standards ”. Mr. Murby subsequently met with top leaders from the cor-

Mr. Håkan Murby, ISO President. porate world, as well as with public authorities and the media. He gave presentations on the contribution of ISO to the global economy and particularly on some developments in ISO of prime interest for Singapore, such as those relating to new technologies (ICT, nano-, bio-), energy efficiency, climate change, services and security. He visited the National Environment Agency, where ISO’s contribution to environmental management and GHG emissions accounting and verification were addressed.

Japan committed to International Standards and sustainable development ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden visited Japan at the invitation of JISC in November 2007. The programme comprised meetings with two major Japanese institutions involved in standards development: the National Institute of Technology and Innovation ; and the National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. JISC and JSA jointly organized a seminar on international standardization attended by over 400 participants representing various industrial sectors and government agencies. H.E. Akira Amari, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Dr. Tamotsu Nomakuchi, Chairman of the Intellectual Property Committee of Nippon Kaidenren and of Mitsubishi Electric, reiterated the commitment of the Japanese government, businesses and industry to international standardization as developed by ISO and IEC. The Hon. Kenji Ogiwara, Parliamentary Secretary for Economy, Trade and Industry, emphasized the similarity between standards implementation and sport rules in international competitions : to win on global mar-

Mr. Akira Amari, (Left) Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI), with Alan Bryden, ISO Secretary-General. kets as in sports, it is important to know and influence the rules, and to maintain and regularly check fitness. Mr. Bryden concluded : “ I was impressed by the level of awareness and the determination of Japanese stakeholders to consolidate Japan’s position in ISO, especially in new areas such as nanotechnologies, energy efficiency and response to climate change, services or accessible design.”

Welcome to new ISO Treasurer After six years of service as ISO Treasurer, Mr. Antoine Fatio (centre) has left this position, and has been replaced by Mr. Julien Pitton (left, pictured here with Alan Bryden), for the term 2008-2010.

Mr. Pitton has worked since 2004 as an independent advisor specialized in the governance and implementation of strategic entrepreneurial initiatives. Previously, he held senior positions in the banking sector in Geneva, London and Paris. His academic background is in business administration and he has studied in universities in Europe and the USA. ISO welcomes Mr. Pitton, and thanks Mr. Fatio for all these years of good service to the organization. ISO Focus January 2008

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Guest View

Henry Jarlsson C

Henry Jarlsson : Kinnarps has always been extremely careful to safeguard its resources and product quality, but this was not something we spoke too much about in the 1940s when Kinnarps began its business. It just went without saying. Since then, we have broadened our outlook regarding quality and the environment. ISO standards have helped us establish user requirements and integrate these requirements as product characteristics. In short, we can say that we have raised our understanding of the customer’s needs.

EO of Kinnarps, Henry Jarlsson is the son of Kinnarps’ founders, Evy and Jarl Andersson. He holds an engineering diploma from Jönköping’s Polytechnic (1960–1963), and has worked within Kinnarps since the 1960s. He took up his current post in 1973. Henry Jarlsson has been twice nominated “Entrepreneur of the year”. He first received the honour from Falköping Municipality from the Swedish Association of Free Enterprise (1987), the second from the Swedish business daily, Dagens Industri (1987). Besides his involvement in Kinnarps, Henry Jarlsson is a member of several boards, among them the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science (IVA), the independent research institute RATIO, and the Family Business Network. He is also Chair of the boards of Svensk Brikettenergi AB, the Swedish Furniture Industry Association and the Western Sweden Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

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ISO Focus January 2008

“ When it comes to ISO standards, we feel that they have helped us to keep our business activities in order.” ISO Focus : Kinnarps has used innovative technology to develop office chairs and desks, which must be not only adjustable to suit individuals of differing stature, but also designed to encourage and allow for body movement and altered posture during work. How have standards in general and ISO standards in particular helped Kinnarps achieve this ?

When it comes to ISO standards, we feel that they have helped us to keep our business activ© Kinnarps ities in order. Our shortcomings were made visible and we now have systematic working methods to continue improving our business. The standards function both as a support mechanism and as an educational tool.

ISO Focus : Kinnarps is an active participant in the ISO technical committee for furniture. Why does Kinnarps participate in the ISO standards-making process ? Can you please comment on the benefits of participation in ISO ? Henry Jarlsson : We find it natural that industry gets involved in these issues. After all, we in industry are the ones who meet customers and who are able to realize customer requirements. Just like

other serious players, we need a good international standard, globally acknowledged and applied, with demands and guidelines that provide our products a level of quality that strengthens our competitiveness. The main reason for our choosing to get involved in the technical committee was to gain the opportunity to exert an influence.

“ We believe that ISO will continue to be of great significance for lasting improvements.”

A beneficial effect of our participation is that we get forehand knowledge of upcoming changes to standards. This provides us with a longer internal adjustment period – our participation makes it easier for us to adapt to new standards, and this means a lot since competition is tough. An important part of Kinnarps’ business concept is taking responsibility for the whole chain, including delivery and on-site assembly at the customers’ offices.

ISO Focus : You have stated in the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme EMAS Eco Audit Statement 2003 that the overriding goal for Kinnarps is that of continual improvement aimed at achieving a sustainable society. What kind of international standards do you believe are fundamental to enable the furniture industry to bring a positive contribu-

© Kinnarps

© Kinnarps

All Kinnarps’ production takes place in Sweden at five manufacturing plants. The largest of these is in Kinnarp, where the group’s head office is situated. All of the group’s central functions are located here, among others, the SWEDAC-accredited furniture test laboratory.

© Kinnarps

tion to sustainable development ? Can you say how these standards bring added value to your products and Kinnarps’ competitiveness in world markets ? Henry Jarlsson : We believe that ISO will continue to be of great significance for lasting improvements. Today, ISO is a credible organization that is active globally but also rooted at the local level. This means that if a company applies ISO standard guidelines, both the customer and other interested parties are acquainted with that standard. There is no need for us to sell the concept ; we draw instead benefit from the ISO organization’s good reputation. But for us, certification was something we did for purely business reasons, because, quite simply, it’s profitable. ISO Focus January 2008

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About Kinnarps

Guest View ISO Focus : Kinnarps’ success story is proof that a company can respect the environment and its employees, satisfy customers and remain profitable. What is, in your view, the business case for investing in socially responsible actions that may not be immediately beneficial to productivity or the bottom line or economic success in a competitive market ? What added value would you see in the International Standard giving guidelines on social responsibility being developed by ISO ? (cf. ISO 26000)

Kinnarps provides interior workspace solutions for offices and public environments. High quality and low environmental impact mark the entire chain – from raw materials to finished solutions for the workspace. Kinnarps was founded in 1942 by Jarl and Evy Andersson and it is still a wholly family-owned enterprise. Kinnarps is today Europe’s third largest provider of workspace interior solutions. Sales operations are conducted in about 35 countries. In addition to Kinnarps furniture, the company markets brands owned by Kinnarps such as Skandiform, Materia and Klaessons. The group has a turnover of approximately SEK 3.6 billion and has approximately 2 200 employees.

time to do business with several different suppliers, but instead want to find someone who understands their requirements and who offers a complete solution. Totality, from manufacture to delivery, is also something for which Kinnarps is happy to take responsibility. Our customers are active in a global market and therefore standards must also be global. Something we would like to see is overarching standards that all groups accept. For example, there are three different standards for office chairs – one for North America/the Americas, one for Europe and one ISO standard. We would like to see these three standards merged into one. That would make our work much easier.

Kinnarps’ product development is characterized by environmental thinking and quality assurance. Each product’s effect on the environment is analysed, and recyclable materials are chosen wherever possible. Furthermore, the furniture must be durable, safe and easy to use. © Kinnarps

Henry Jarlsson : In short, we can say that we never carry out any activities that are not profitable. Everything we do must be to the advantage of the business, even activities whose purpose is sustainable development. This does not mean that we will not show consideration, respect and understanding or take responsibility for the effects our business has on our surroundings. We view such things as selfevident. Naturally, we must strive to find solutions that take into account every aspect – this is set forth in our basic values. It’s not a case of business at any price. One of the good things about the new ISO 26000 standard is reporting responsibility. This element is good as it compels companies to describe what advances they have made and explain how things are within their companies. It creates a pressure that leads to positive progress.

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“ We need a good international standard, globally acknowledged and applied, with demands and guidelines that provide our products a level of quality that strengthens our competitiveness.” ISO Focus : How do you see the office furniture business evolving in the coming years ? What new standards would Kinnarps like to see coming out of ISO ? Henry Jarlsson : A clear trend right now is that our customers are searching for total solutions. The proper focus is important; customers no longer have

© Kinnarps

Main Focus

Office and home comforts Low energy use in buildings and a good indoor climate go hand in hand by Prof. em. A. Elmroth, Chair of ISO/TC 163, Thermal performance and energy use in the built environment, and Margareta Andersson, Secretary of ISO/TC 163

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ome would say that measures leading to low energy use in a building would lead to a poor indoor environment – we say that it is the opposite. A well insulated, airtight and moisture safe building with efficient technical building systems for heating, ventilation and/or cooling – if needed – is the best way to ensure a healthy indoor environment. In addition to that, the materials and products should be carefully chosen and the building should be designed and erected by using well-established methods. This will result in a sustainable building with good indoor climate.

Energy use in buildings Buildings are the biggest energy consumers and CO 2 polluters, but hardly any other sector has such great

prospects in energy saving as the building sector. In industrial countries, space heating and cooling are the main “ consumers ” of energy (globally, mainly fossil fuel is used). In the early years of the 21 st century, the energy use in the built environment in the European Union (EU) accounted for more that 40 % of the total energy use. This means that buildings, in contrast to popular belief, contributed more greenhouse gases than traffic (~31 %) and industry (~28 %). Cost-effective technologies exist that could reduce the energy use in buildings by 22 % in the EU. Probably, the figures are the same in most industrialized countries. This would help to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. One of the greatest opportunities in conserving energy is to reduce heat ISO Focus January 2008

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Main Focus transfer through the building envelope in combination with improved energyefficient heating, cooling and ventilation systems with heat recovery. These measures have a strong linkage to sustainable development. Other aspects are related to comfort and economy. By reducing the need for heating and cooling, the annual cost of running the building is lowered. For a healthy indoor climate, the buildings must be well insulated, well ventilated and moisture safe. In order to achieve energy-efficient and healthy buildings, it is of utmost importance that the building technology interacts with the technical building systems for heating, cooling and ventilation. In order to meet these goals, well-established design tools are needed. Methods are needed for the evaluation of the energy performance of complete buildings and parts of buildings or technical building systems. In order to arrive at energy efficiency, healthy buildings, materials and products that effectively contribute to the energy performance of the building and its technical building systems must be used. In this regard, standards dealing with the design and evaluation of materials, components and systems play an important role. Standards developed within ISO technical committee ISO/TC 163, Thermal performance and energy use in the built environment, fulfil this need.

Bridging the gap between building technology and technical building systems Many countries set limits for the total energy use of a building, based on a calculation procedure. ISO/TC  163 has taken the responsibility to develop a standard calculation procedure for the total energy use of buildings. The newly revised ISO 13790, Energy performance of buildings – Calculation of energy use for space heating and cooling, now integrates both space heating and space cooling. ISO/TC 163 does not deal in detail with all the parameters needed for such an integrated calculation procedure, and therefore cooperates with other committees dealing with e.g. the indoor environment.

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ISO Focus January 2008

In addition to requirements on the total energy use of buildings, requirements on specific aspects are often given on, e.g.: • heat transfer through the building

envelope (walls, windows, roofs, foundations, etc.) ; • ventilation losses ; • performance of space heating, hot

water supply and drainage ; • performance of ventilation and air

conditioning systems ; • solar gains and loads ; • performance of lighting ; • energy use for heating, cooling, hot

water, lighting, etc.

“ For a healthy indoor climate, the buildings must be well insulated, well ventilated and moisture safe.” About the authors Prof. em Arne Elmroth has been Chair of ISO/TC 163, Thermal performance and energy use in the built environment, since 1986. He was Professor in Building Physics at Lund University and is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. Prof. Elmroth is a senior advisor on energy matters to, inter alia, the Swedish National Testing and Research Institute, SKANSKA AB, Swegon AB and Rockwool International, Denmark, and is often invited to international conferences, universities and companies to give lectures on building physics, building technology and energy conservation in buildings. He is the author or co-author of numerous papers and reports in the field of building technology. The most recent book is “ Buildings and Energy – a systematic approach ”.

In order to harmonize national regulations, ISO/TC  163 is prepared to work out standards with principles on how to express thermal performance and energy use of buildings and principles for energy declaration of buildings. A correct evaluation of the energy status of a building is one of the most important factors for a total environmental declaration of a building and its technical systems. When designing healthy and sustainable buildings, the interaction between the building technologies, the technical building systems, the activities in the building, etc., must be taken into account. In this connection, it is important to define the (system) boundaries between the energy supply systems and the building with its technical building systems and the activities in the building. When dealing with standards related to the energy performance of a complete building, cooperation with other technical committees is essential. ISO/ TC 163 at present liaises with nine other ISO committees.

Energy declaration/ energy certification of buildings For a builder, owner or buyer of a building, the total integrated energy use and thus the energy performance of the building are of utmost importance. To clearly explain the influence of different parameters, energy declarations or energy certificates can play an important role. Such documents could be used as a basis for benchmarking or classifying the building.

Margareta Andersson is a building engineer. She has worked most of her life with standardization and has been the Secretary of ISO/ TC 163 since the creation of the committee in 1975 until 2007. She has also been the Secretary of CEN/ TC 89, Thermal performance of buildings and building components.

The scope of ISO/TC 163 as submitted in July 2007 to the ISO Technical Management Board for approval :

Office and home comforts

Standardization in the field of building and civil engineering works  of thermal, hygrothermal and energy performance of materials, products, components, elements and systems, including complete buildings, both new and existing, and their interaction with the technical building systems ;  of thermal insulation materials, products and systems for building and industrial application, including insulation of installed equipment in buildings ; covering and including:  test and calculation methods for heat and moisture transfer ; temperature and moisture conditions ;  test and calculation methods for energy use in buildings ;  test and calculation methods for heating and cooling loads in buildings ;  calculation methods for daylighting ;  calculation methods for ventilation and air infiltration ;  calculation of energy performance of technical building systems and/or their interaction with the building ;  in-situ test methods for thermal, hygrothermal and energy performance of buildings and building components ;  input data for calculations, including climatic data ;  specifications for thermal insulation materials, products and systems with related test methods and conformity criteria ;  terminology, including definitions, physical quantities and symbols ;

and general review and coordination of work on thermal/hygrothermal performance and energy use in the built environment within ISO ; Excluded :  criteria for the indoor environment (ISO/TC 205) ;  building control systems design (ISO/TC 205).

The goal of an energy declaration could be expressed as : To determine how much energy is used annually during normal weather conditions in a specific building in order to meet standard user requirements on thermal comfort and indoor air quality. The energy declaration should also supply information on the potentials for energy reduction. In most existing buildings, the energy performance of the building and how the building services are managed have a major impact on the total energy use and the indoor environment. The user behaviour and how well the technology interacts with users’ requirements become more and more important the more energy efficient the buildings are.

Another important aspect that should be taken into account is the market for technical consultants, which further underlines the need for internationally accepted standards for calculation and tests in the areas dealt with by ISO/TC 163. The conclusion is that the energy use in a building is a complex mixture between the building technology, the building technical systems, the maintenance of the building and the needs, as well as the behaviour of the users. This has to be considered in an energy declaration, when determining the integrated energy use of a building and making recommendations for energy conservation measures. Standards already developed or under way in ISO/TC 163 are useful tools for energy declaration of buildings.

Fit for purpose ISO/TC 163 has produced and will produce sets of standards by reference to which energy and thermal performance can be expressed at various levels, from materials and components to complete buildings. Lessons learned from the preparations of standards within the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) to support the European directive on Energy Performance of Buildings are that the efficiency of the preparation and the accessibility, transparency and efficiency of the standards can be drastically increased if the work items are less fragmented, as was the case in CEN.

“Standards… are useful tools for energy declaration of buildings.” Many standards produced by ISO/ TC 163 are generic test and calculation methods. By calling up these methods in product standards and other specifications and by reporting properties in a harmonized way, material properties and product information to be used as input to the calculation methods prepared by ISO/TC 163 will be comparable and suited for its purpose. ISO/TC 163 has also standardized in-situ methods (infrared inspections, pressurization tests, tracer gas methods) by which the thermal performance of complete buildings or building elements (such as walls, roofs, etc.) can be tested. For easier understanding of the standards related to the indoor environment, thermal performance and energy use in the built environment, a common set of terms, definitions and symbols is necessary.

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Main Focus

Improving indoor air quality by Dr. Michael Ball, Chair of ISO/TC 146/SC 6, Indoor air

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ince the 1970s, the use of organic substances has increased dramatically in manufacturing interior furnishings for homes and offices. Examples include derived timber products with formaldehyde, artificial flooring, suspended ceilings and a variety of plastic materials for furniture, floors and walls. Paints used indoors to preserve wood against mould and insects often contained pentachlorophenol (PCP), which was contaminated by impurities such as polychlorinated dioxins (PCDDs) and furans (PCDFs). Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) had been added to sealing materials for windows, doors or building parts to improve functionality. These chemicals were added to building products for technical reasons: they improve handling and durability. But they are also associated with an alarming increase in health complaints such as respiratory, skin and eye irritation, headaches and unpleasant odours. In some cases, the health effects go beyond irritating to become deadly: asbestos – once commonly used in fireproof insulation – is now recognized as carcinogenic, and vast sums have been spent to remove it from buildings. Improving indoor air quality begins with development of proven, validated measurement techniques, which provide the basis for evaluating human health risks and determining the proper course for remediation. With the high cost of refitting and remodelling existing buildings, access to reliable data is essential. This is especially true in cases where complete demolition may be required, as with asbestos pollution.

Standardized testing Pursuit of standardized testing procedures for indoor air quality began on an international basis with the creation of SC 6, Indoor air, of ISO/TC 146, Air quality. The first meeting of SC 6 was held in Ber-

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lin in 1994, setting out to evaluate toxic aspects of indoor air quality for 24-hour exposure of adults, children, the elderly and the weak or ill. The scope of the task included measurement of gases, particles, odours, micro-organisms and emissions from building materials and furnishings. SC 6 was created to address the problem of deviating measurements in round robin tests performed independently by different laboratories. The discrepancies could be caused by the unsuitability of a testing regime in indoor environments, but more often the variations occurred because the laboratories had applied differing boundary conditions. For instance, one test might be conducted under worst-case conditions, with the rooms heated to more than 35 °C and doors and windows sealed. This test would not be comparable with one conducted under normal temperature and ventilation conditions. In a room polluted with asbestos fibres, there must be some air movement in order for the fibres to be airborne and hence detectable.

Such issues spotlight the need for standardized measurement procedures under consistent baseline conditions, and for development of appropriate sampling strategies according to the groups of compounds under investigation. The influence of an incorrect sampling strategy on measurement results may be greater than any analytical failures, and this impact is often underestimated.

Defining sampling strategies Recognizing this critical need, work on ISO/TC 146/SC 6 began by defining a general sampling strategy for organic compounds, which is defined in ISO 16000-1, specifying the principal sampling strategies for measurements to determine air pollution levels for healthrelated evaluations. The standard further specifies that measurements must be conducted under normal usage conditions. Even if worst-case studies are required,

Office and home comforts

unrealistic conditions are not allowed. Due to the high number of different compounds which occur in indoor environments, it is impossible to publish sampling strategies for all existing groups of compounds, so the most commonly occurring compounds are used as surrogates for others. The boundary conditions for measurements of formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOC) – as the most serious pollutants in indoor environments – are described in ISO 16000-2, Indoor air – Part 2: Sampling strategy for formaldehyde, and ISO 16000-5 Indoor air – Part 5: Sampling strategy for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). For nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which reacts with the human body directly and destroys human tissue, a completely different sampling strategy must be employed compared to that for compounds that accumulate in the human body and may cause cancer, including polychlorinated dioxins (PCDDs/PCDFs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The different procedures are published in ISO 16000-15 and ISO 16000-12, respectively.

gy standards were also accepted by the responsible European Committee for Standardization (CEN) in TC 264, Air Quality, according to the Vienna Agreement. They are published as different parts of ISO 16000. Furthermore, all of the overall procedures suited for measuring the presence of different compounds in indoor air (both sampling and analytical) are listed under ISO 16000.

to ISO 16000-23 (adsorption of formaldehyde) and ISO/CD 16000-24 (adsorption of VOCs). In 2004, standardization was started in a new field. Biologists were involved to establish standards for the sampling strategy (ISO 16000-19) as well as for sampling (ISO 16000-17 and -19) and enumeration of moulds in indoor air (ISO 16000-17). More standards in this field are foreseen.

Test chamber operation

Standards available today

Since the 1990s, significant public attention has been paid to the health effects of air pollutants emitted by furnishings such as carpets, flooring and paints, and manufacturers have focussed on the measurements of VOC emissions from these materials. The ISO 16000-9 to -11 standards were established to describe the requirements for operating test chambers and to define the preparation of specimens prior to testing. An important issue for all measurements is the determination of the ventilation rate. This is defined in ISO 16000-8. Asian member countries were particularly interested in standardizing the performance of adsorption materials brought into the rooms to improve indoor air quality. Adsorptive effects can be controlled in test chambers according

“Health complaints include respiratory, skin and eye irritation, headaches and unpleasant odours.”

Dr. Michael Ball is Chair of ISO/ TC 146/SC 6, Indoor air. He works with eurofins ergo as scientific director in the field of air monitoring and analysis. Since the mid 1980s, he has been a member of several working groups of KRdL, Kommission Reinhaltung der Luft (Commission on Air Pollution Prevention) in VDI and DIN, and since January 2008, chairs the KRdL and the committee Measurement Methods for Stationary Source Emissions. Dr. Ball studied chemistry at the Freie Universität Berlin and at the University of Hamburg.

At present, the following standards are available : General sampling strategy (ISO 16000-1), formaldehyde (sampling strategy: ISO 16000-2; measurements : ISO 16000-3 and -4), VOCs (sampling strategy : ISO 16000-5, measurement: ISO 16000-6, test chamber: ISO 16000-9 to -11), asbestos (sampling strategy : ISO 16000-7), ventilation rate (ISO 16000-8), PCDDs/PCDFs/ PA H s  : ( s a m p l i n g strategy : 16000-12, measurements ISO 16000-13 and -14), NO2 : (sampling strategy : 16000-15), moulds (sampling strategy : ISO/CD 16000-19, measurement : ISO 16000-16 to -18), sorptive materials (ISO 16000-23 and ISO 16000-24). During 2007, Loading the new projects were test chamber started dealing with with a prepared sensory testing of specimen of paint building materials on glass. (ISO 16000-28) and with the VOC emission measurement in car cabins, which will be a joint project with ISO/TC 22, Road vehicles. The stakeholders of TC 146/SC 6 include laboratories, remediation companies, homeowners, custodians, tenants and judges of courts, as well as anyone experiencing air pollution problems in homes or with new furnishings.

Other boundary conditions must be taken into account in measuring asbestos fibres. If the usage of the room is restricted, the air movement and vibrations have to be simulated to create a representative airborne asbestos fibre concentration. These issues are dealt with in ISO 16000-7. Due to the complexity involved in developing sampling strategies, the different parts were subsumed under the standard ISO 16000. All of the strate-

About the author

ISO Focus January 2008

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Main Focus

Quiet as a mouse by Werner Scholl, Head of applied acoustics department, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt

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uilding acoustics are an essential factor for maintaining our comfort and health and that of people around us. In many countries, sound insulation is considered a matter of public interest and control. Lack of sound insulation can result in immense costs for health. Whenever possible, acoustics should be considered during the early design stage of buildings, as subsequent modifications are much more costly. The acoustical design of buildings comprises several steps : • characterization of acoustical perform-

ance of building elements through laboratory measurements ; • prediction of acoustical performance

when combining such elements ; and • measurements in situ to control the

achieved sound insulation. The series of ISO 140 standards cover the laboratory measurement of airborne and impact sound reduction of building elements and in situ measure-

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ments in buildings. The ISO 140 series is entitled Acoustics – Measurement of sound insulation in buildings and of building elements, and is currently composed of 13 different parts (see Box on page 13). The series specifies detailed requirements on how to construct test facilities for sound insulation and verify their quality. It also provides procedures for checking the measurement equipment, as well as special test specimens to test the laboratories themselves.

Meeting the needs of manufacturers Typical building elements characterized by ISO 140 are walls, floors, floor coverings, suspended ceilings, acoustical linings, doors, windows, glazings, facades, roofs and small elements relevant for sound insulation like ventilation openings, among others. The series is thus of great importance for the large majority of manufacturers of buildings and building elements. Furthermore, no control of sound insulation requirements would be possible without the standardized measurement methods included in ISO 140. Manufacturers demand accepted measurement procedures, which yield results that can be easily compared to others. This eases the market, and allows them to concentrate on the improvement of their products. Their interest is reflected in the large participation of industry

in most working groups dealing with sound insulation. In fact, many determinations included in ISO 140 are the result of focussed discussions among the involved parties.

Love thy neighbour The ISO 140 series not only improves the market but is also powerful protection for the occupants of buildings. Clear choices regarding sufficient sound reduction will help to avoid future lawsuits. ISO 140 is quite complicated from the technical point of view. Determining sound reduction of buildings and building elements means finding a number which characterizes the power ratio of the soundfields in two (adjacent) rooms. This involves not only a lot of spatiotemporal averaging, but also the correction for unwanted bypass sound transmission and background noise. To make it more complicated, in most cases, a noticeable structure-borne sound interference between test specimen and lab cannot be avoided and has to be taken into consideration. Knowledge and experience based on the ISO 140 series and the need to supplement the existing parts have lead to worldwide efforts in acoustical research. Thus, new questions could be solved and standardized, such as reducing noise produced by rainfall on lightweight roofs or impact noise (by walking people) improvement by placing floor coverings

Office and home comforts

in the future to simulate structure-borne impacts in buildings.

The question of uncertainty ISO 140 has grown like a plant over the years (or should one say like a jungle) and is now undergoing a renovation process in order to remove duplication in its different parts, to rearrange topics which belong together and to remove conflicting requirements in different parts of the series. The chance is now being taken to approach one of the big remaining questions in acoustics: the

testing. So, scale model testing in building acoustics (as successfully applied at PTB in Germany) has become another “ child ” of the ISO 140 series. Finally, it should be mentioned that the measurement standard series ISO 140 is narrowly linked to the ISO 717 series, Acoustics – Rating of sound insulation in buildings and of building elements, which allows the reduction of the frequency spectra of sound insulation quantities to a single number, which is easier to handle in practice, when comparing products or performance of buildings with requirements. On the other hand, ISO 140 is linked to prediction stand-

The ISO 140 series Acoustics – Measurement of sound insulation in buildings and of building elements is composed of 15 parts : on lightweight floors, which are becoming more and more widespread, although with a certain tendency to produce different noise problems. The “ old ” ISO 140 tapping machine – five motorized 500 g hammers hitting the floor under test – has become the starting point for research in new structure-borne sound sources which will be seriously needed

About the author Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Scholl has been Head of the applied acoustics department at PhysikalischTechnische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig, Germany, since 2003. Previously, he worked at PTB’s section on applied acoustics. From 1995 to 2001 he was Head of the department building acoustics, at Fraunhofer-Institut Bauphysik, and from 1990 to 1995 he was Head of the working group building elements at the same institution. Prof. Scholl worked as a consulting engineer in ITA Wiesbaden from 1985 to 1989. Before that, he was a scientific employee at the Technical University of Berlin. His academic training is as an engineer in electrotechnics.

Part 1 : Requirements for laboratory test facilities with suppressed flanking transmission Part 2 : Determination, verification and application of precision data Part 3 : Laboratory measurements of airborne sound insulation of building elements Part 4 : Field measurements of airborne sound insulation between rooms Part 5 : Field measurements of airborne sound insulation of façade elements and façades Part 6 : Laboratory measurements of impact sound insulation of floors Part 7 : Field measurements of impact sound insulation of floors Part 8 : Laboratory measurements of the reduction of transmitted impact noise by floor coverings on a heavyweight standard floor Part 10 : Laboratory measurements of airborne sound insulation of small building elements Part 11 : Laboratory measurements of the reduction of transmitted impact sound by floor coverings on lightweight reference floors Part 14 : Guidelines for special situations in the field Part 16 : Laboratory measurement of the sound reduction index improvement by additional lining Part 18 : Laboratory measurement of sound generated by rainfall on building elements

uncertainty of measurements specifically in building acoustics. This turns out to be even more complicated than the measurement itself, partly because many perturbations cannot be quantified and thus cannot be used for “ simple ” error analysis. To make it worse (or more interesting), many effects in building acoustics are nonlinear, and simple “ Gaussian ” statistics cannot be applied because samples are usually very small, due to high costs for building and building element

ards, e.g. the EN 12354 series, Building acoustics – Estimation of acoustic performance of buildings from the performance of products, used in Europe to predict sound insulation in buildings. ISO 140 is like a living organism, and will develop and grow as long as development in buildings and building elements will continue.

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Main Focus 13 %), and accounting for almost 30 % of total furniture exports. China has clearly become the region’s leading exporter at about EUR 13,4 billion (+25 %). On the import side, the NAFTA zone remains the largest buyer of furniture, with total imports reaching EUR 22,3 billion – of which EUR 18,1 billion came into the USA. Almost half of the American imports originate from China, and 63 % of its total imports were shipped from Asian countries.

“Participation by a wide range of industry actors is essential for a successful outcome to this process.” The globalization of trade in furniture increases demand for uniformly accepted guidelines that allow buyers to compare products from different suppliers while providing manufacturers with foreseeable market conditions. The 2007-2010 furniture standardization process – and work with the ISO/TC 136 testing standards – aims at modernizing ISO standards to meet these requirements for global openness and transparency, consensus and technical coherence.

Furniture trends by Bo Wadling, Chair of ISO/TC 136, Furniture

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ith a growing worldwide furniture market and steady expansion of cross-border trade, the ongoing update of ISO standards in the field provides manufacturers, buyers and sellers alike with the opportunity to influence trends for years to come. Between 2007 and 2010, this systematic review of some 21 standards will determine important guidelines for issues such as safety, strength and durability, flammability, surface resistance, testing methods, and more. Meanwhile, work continues in ISO/TC 136, which has served the furniture industry with standards since the early 1970s, always with an eye

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ISO Focus January 2008

towards efficiency in manufacturing, safety for end-users and durable products. The committee welcomes participation from throughout the industry as it outlines a comprehensive set of testing standards.

Asia leads export growth Global furniture production reached EUR 221,5 billion in 2004, an impressive figure, but only a 1 % increase over the year before. More noteworthy is the 7 % growth in global trade in furniture products to EUR 69,7 billion, led by very rapid expansion in exports from Asian countries. EU furniture manufacturers’ exports amounted to EUR 34,9 billion, equivalent to 36,6 % of the bloc’s total production and 52,1 % of total global furniture exports. The Asian countries are now the second largest furniture exporting region, shipping abroad products worth some EUR 20,2 billion in 2004 (an increase of

Benefits of participation Participation by a wide range of industry actors is essential to a successful outcome for this process. The benefits of contributing to standards development are many. • Early access to specifications, proto-

types and legislation. • Greater understanding of the standards

and their underlying designs, tradeoffs and compromises made during their development, and the operating conditions and environments they are intended to serve. • Relationships and contacts are made that

can become technical resources. • Commercial risks are reduced through

lower development costs. • Improved ability to identify future

trends. • The capability to influence the result-

ing standard.

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• The development of personnel by

giving them the opportunity to work with leaders in the field and to witness standards development processes that maximize cooperation and consensus building. • Corporate image as an industry lead-

er is enhanced.

Balancing producer and buyer needs The open structure of the ISO standards process aims to promote the entire furniture industry – manufacturers, exporters, importers, retailers and consumers. By its nature, the process : • Creates market-led solutions. • Reflects all interests, including small

and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), consumers, regulators, industry and the environment. • Promotes fair competition and avoid-

ing unhealthy concentrations of economic power. • Reduces costs for development and

production. • Increases the diversity and quality

of suppliers for producers and consumers. Five of the 21 ISO standards relating to furniture were reviewed during 2007. Another five are scheduled for 2008, with a further 11 on the agenda for completion by the end of 2010.

About the author Bo Wadling has been a member of ISO/TC 136 since 1972, and has chaired the committee since 1997. He is also a cofounder of the Swedish mirror committee. Between 1969 and 1995, he worked with furniture testing as a technical manager at Ikea of Sweden. He is currently a Standardization Manager at the Swedish Federation of Wood and Furniture Industry.

Pathways between worlds by Tomoyuki Katsuno, Chair of ISO/TC 162, Doors and windows

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oors and windows are indispensable in housing and wherever people go in and out of places, as in commercial buildings or public facilities like schools or hospitals. Although, from a structural architecture perspective, doors and windows are not regarded as core fundamentals, they are the most critical building components for keeping our life space safe, healthy and comfortable. Just think of the difference the presence of a window can make in a room or the importance of doors for keeping houses secure. On the other hand, imagine yourself in a wheelchair and trying to pass through an entrance that is just a bit too narrow, or on a cold winter day and trying to keep warm in a room whose windows are not well insulated.

Let the light in, keep the rain out The essential functions of doors and windows involve security, habitability, weather-ability and operability. In our everyday lives, doors and windows are tightly linked to user accessibility, daylight illumination, opening and closing motions and ventilation, among others. As such, they are pathways that connect the living interior with the building’s exterior. Located at the very boundary between these two worlds, doors and windows are directly exposed to external weather conditions. Notwithstanding, their key role is to securely protect the residents’ living space under all circumstances, keeping them safe and sound within their dwellings. Doors and windows are thus vital and perhaps constitute the most influential construction element for our daily life. One sure way to ensure that doors and windows have the qualities needed to successfully perform their role is through the application of ISO standards, which can contribute to improving our comfort no matter where our doors and windows are installed. ISO Focus January 2008

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Main Focus Opening doors worldwide ISO/TC 162, Doors and windows, is the technical committee responsible for developing standards on these construction elements. As doors and windows are directly exposed to human behaviour and the natural environment, the committee takes safety, security, comfort and durability into consideration at all times. Their aim is that the standards ensure that we can feel safe and comfortable no matter where we go. In particular, the committee encourages the standardization of evaluation measures for verifying the fundamental performances and accessory hardware of doors and windows. These tests are necessary to: • maintain product quality; • ensure product safety under all weath-

er conditions; and • guarantee security during product

operation.

In other words, the committee promotes the standardization of methods for determining the performance of doors and windows under diverse meteorological conditions (e.g. gusty wind or rainfall), and various mechanical strengths under static loads, repetitions of opening and closing, torsion and impact, among others. With global standards in these areas, the elementary qualities of doors and windows can be assessed using the same tests method everywhere in the world. Japan, the current Secretariat for the committee, is coordinating the development of these ISO standards, with excellent cooperation from CEN members and taking the progress of EN standards into account. ISO/TC 162’s standardiza-

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ISO Focus January 2008

tion activity does not address any specific areas; rather, it tries to be as comprehensive as possible. Accordingly, the circumstances of all countries are being considered, and, in particular, where meteorological conditions might be especially harsh for doors and windows. Below are two examples of recently published standards that contribute to our safety and comfort.

Beware of cyclones The first is ISO 15821:2007, Doorsets and windows – Water-tightness test under dynamic pressure – Cyclonic aspects. This standard is used to determine whether a door or window can prevent rainwater coming from typhoons, hurricanes or cyclones from penetrating into our living space. The test uses an apparatus which reproduces similar natural phenomena, which simultaneously brings both violent rainfalls and stormy winds. If rainwater should permeate indoors under such severe weather conditions, the habitability and sustainability of a building would be dangerously affected. ISO 15821 is increasingly relevant today, as the areas susceptible to such stormy weather are expanding as a result of global warming. Therefore, this test method will become progressively more important and applicable universally, helping us protect our safety and ensure our comfort under difficult circumstances.

When the earth shakes The second example is a test standard focussed on earthquakes, which these days occur frequently across the planet. During an earthquake, it is critical that residents can quickly leave their quarters without risking being locked in. Under those conditions, lives depend on doors being available for exit.

ISO 15822:2007, Test method of doorset opening performance in diagonal deformation – Seismic aspects, provides a test method to assess whether a door can be securely released in an emergency such as an earthquake. Although it is difficult in itself to make door-frames sufficiently quake-resistant, their performance should at least follow quaking movements in such a way that they permit residents to evacuate a building from the inside.

About the author Tomoyuki Katsuno is Director of the Japan Testing Center for Construction Materials, Central Laboratories. He has long been in charge of overall management of tests and investigations, and researches in respect to solid-state performance, built environment, structure, and fire-prevention/fire-resistance of construction materials. He continues to be engaged in the work of product standardization and test methods for openings of doors and windows as an expert committee member of architectural technology of JISC, thus contributing to overall standards for the Japanese building industry. Since 2005, Mr. Katsuno is the Chair of ISO/TC162, Doors and windows.

Office and home comforts

Glass standards address quality and performance

These two new standards are not only significant for areas struck by frequent typhoons, hurricanes, cyclones and earthquakes, but will also become crucial for the livability and sustainability of buildings, and a safeguard of human life in wider areas.

by Valerie L. Block, Secretary of ISO/TC 160, Glass in building, SC 2, Use considerations

Social aging is a worldwide phenomenon. More and more, people are suffering from physical inconveniences and disability. It is therefore a matter of high priority for ISO to develop friendly standards for aged and disabled people. Security and burglar resistance issues are now also of great concern. ISO therefore needs to promptly provide relevant standards for doors, windows and accessory hardware against house-breaking.

One of the first ISO/TC 160 standards, developed under the Vienna Agreement, was ISO 12543, Parts 1-6, on laminated glass. Laminated glass consists of

© Photo: P. Krieger

Secure and accessible to all

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rchitectural glass is an integral part of buildings due to its functionality and aesthetic appeal. A wide range of glass products brings energy efficiency, sound control, security, and safety to residential and commercial buildings. ISO/TC 160, Glass in building, is developing standards that address the quality of glass products and the use of these products to achieve a specified level of performance.

“ Doors and windows are the most critical building components for keeping our life space safe, healthy and comfortable.” As building components, doors and windows are in continuous interaction with meteorological conditions and human behaviour. It is important that they are constantly improved with state-of-the-art technology in order to be on par with users’ requirements. Likewise, ISO’s international standardization activities need to satisfy contemporary needs keeping with technological developments, to continue to ensure the necessary qualities and performances of these elements.

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Main Focus

New test methods to demonstrate glass performance ISO/TC 160 has published several standards that help to demonstrate glass performance through testing programs specifically designed for end-use applications. ISO 22897 on glazing and airborne sound sets a common framework for product descriptions and properties of acoustical glazing. ISO 16940 further enables the user to measure the mechanical impedance of laminated glass.

“ A typical solution to the energy challenge is to specify glass in insulating units.” ISO 16936, parts 1-4, is focussed on forced-entry security glazing tests. The test methods, which include a repetitive ball drop and a hammer and axe test, allow the user to identify the test method that most closely resembles the threat scenario. Other standards for bullet resistance (ISO 16935) and destructive windstorm resistance (ISO 16932) testing create uniform test protocols and acceptance criteria. According to Convenor Dr. John Turnbull, a consultant in the United States,

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ISO Focus January 2008

“the ISO security standards have worldwide relevance. For example, the standard on windstorm resistance can apply equally in Asia and in the Caribbean. This test method promotes a safer environment and protects people and property in severe weather areas.”

Standards for energyefficient glass products While acoustical performance and security are critical elements in building design, from a practical perspective, a quiet, safe environment promotes employee satisfaction and a more pro© Photo: P. Krieger

two pieces of glass bonded together by an interlayer material. From basic definitions and descriptions in part 1 to test methods for durability in part 4, these standards promote uniformity and give users a valuable tool for ensuring consistent, high-quality laminated glass. The Convenor of the working group on laminated glass, Dr. Norbert Wruk of Pilkington, says, “ the development of the ISO 12543 standard series was not straightforward, because different standards for impact testing existed in various parts of the world. But finally I believe we found a satisfactory solution for everybody. Meanwhile, working Group 3 has even finished the revised ISO/ DIS 12543 standard series, which will be published for enquiry shortly.” Working groups are currently developing ISO standards for basic glass, toughened glass, coated glass, mirrors, and curved glass.

ductive work environment. The use of glass in windows, facades, storefronts and skylights also brings more daylight into the interior of a building – potentially reducing energy consumption. Energy conservation strategies often include high performance glass for this purpose, and also afford building occupants a view to the outside. A typical solution to the energy challenge is to specify glass in insulating units. These products contain one or two air spaces to reduce heat loss. ISO/TC 160 addresses insulating glass in ISO/ DIS 20492, parts 1-4. The working group Convenor, A. William Lingnell of Lingnell Consulting Services reports, says, “our working group has developed test methods that evaluate insulating glass performance. These test methods examine the durability and physical attributes of edge seals, chemical fogging, and gas concentration and gas leakage. Part of our strategy in standards development around insulating glass is to give testing options – thus serving different regional needs.”

“ Quality standards are essential in promoting understanding on expectations and quality.” Another ISO/TC 160 standard in development concerns coated glass. Under Convenor Dr. Richard Blacker of Guardian Industries, work is progressing on a two-part standard. Part 1 will define the optical and aesthetic qualities of high-performance coatings applied to glass through pyrolytic and vacuum

About the author Valerie Block is a Senior Marketing Specialist at DuPont, Wilmington, Delaware, USA. She serves as the Secretary to Subcommittee 2 of ISO/TC 160, Glass in building.

Office and home comforts

deposition processes. These coatings are typically used to control solar heat gain, energy performance and condensation, and to enhance building aesthetics. Part 2 describes a method for allowing an objective evaluation of the colour of coated glass.

Promoting global use of glass The development of standards has enabled glass experts from different countries to share information and work together to create ISO standards that bring the best information forward during the development process. In today’s economic environment, glass and fabricated glass products are shipped from one region to the next with ease. Quality standards are essential in promoting an understanding around expectations and finished quality. Additionally, performance standards are key to the proper specification and use of glass for safety, security, sound control, and energy management. Homes, apartment buildings, office buildings, shopping malls, schools, concert halls, and many other types of buildings continue to incorporate glass to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the building and to provide important benefits to occupants. The standards of ISO/ TC 160 are designed to support the continued use of glass well into the future.

“ Performance standards are key for the specification and use of glass for safety, security, sound control, and energy management.”

Ceramic tile – New standards for an ancient product by Robert E. Daniels, Chair of ISO/TC 189, Ceramic tile

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eramic tile is one of the oldest manufactured products in the world, and yet the market continues to grow at an astonishing pace. Tile manufacturing is a unique industry with thousands of producers in scores of countries around the world, and consumers are found in virtually every country. Tile moves across borders in large volumes, making International Standards very important to the conduct of the industry. When I meet my tile industry colleagues – producers, distributors, specifiers, and salespeople – I often admonish

Mosaic floor in Pompei, Italy. (photo : iStock). Aging to envy : Over 2 000 years old and still beautiful.

them never to forget that ceramic tile is first and foremost a decorative product. Unpopular designs will not sell at any price and substandard installations harm the image of tile as a luxury product. I stood in awe on a visit to Pompei, where I saw magnificent ceramic tile mosaics. Although they were covered in volcanic ash for millennia, the tiles are still pristine and firmly attached. This is why when anyone asks me how long a tile installation should last, my answer is: “as long as the structure lasts.” This is the field addressed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 189. The committee sets the technical standards and test methods for ceramic tile and installation products, including adhesives, joint filler (grout), membranes, and of course tile itself. More products will be addressed in the future. How then do technical standards create a bridge between consumer expectations and a complete installation? ISO Focus January 2008

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Main Focus Not just decorative More than 20 years ago, two working groups were formed to deal with this issue. At that time, it was not anticipated that production capabilities would progress to the point that tiles as large as one by three meters could be produced. The following parameters are of special interest to the specifier and end-user in the tile industry, and make up the bulk of the work product of the committee.

ed and have a softer body. They can be cut more easily and adhere well to vertical surfaces. • Wear resistance. The surface of

glazed tile is abraded and the number of cycles noted before a wear pattern is seen. Tile is then classified into groups from 0 to 5, with lower ratings suitable for decorative tile only and 4 and 5 ratings useable in high traffic areas. Unglazed tiles are tested for “deep-abrasion” and rated for their appropriate use. • Frost resistance. Tiles are subjected

to multiple cycles through the freezing point and observed for signs of failure such as glaze fracturing or spalling (flaking or chipping) of the tile body. Tiles should be tested for freeze-thaw resistance if they are to be installed in areas that may be subjected to freezing temperatures, regardless of the water absorption factor.

“ ISO/TC 189 sets the technical standards and test methods for ceramic tile and installation products.”

in setting patterns with the use of different-sized tiles and complex geometric grout patterns add to the need for tighter standards. Thickness of the tiles may also vary based on size and point of manufacture. • Strength. Tiles are broken in a force

machine to assure that the tile will not break when properly selected and installed. As mentioned above, wall tile has a softer body and therefore a lower breaking strength. It is acceptable for use in a non-traffic area, but may not withstand traffic. Tiles used in commercial application such as bakeries, breweries, warehouses and kitchens must withstand high forces, possibly heavy wheel traffic, and harsh cleaning techniques. • Bondability. The tiles must be adhered

to something in order to serve their purpose. Tests are conducted to determine the bond-strength of tile over various periods of time. • Other tests. Tile may be tested for

specific applications such as in tunnels, swimming pools, countertops, chemical laboratories, and other areas where exposure to various substances may occur. Tiles can be tested for acid and base resistance and may be tested for any specific usage.

• Dimensional tolerance. Several para-

• Water absorption. This is the amount

of water by weight that a dry tile will absorb in a certain time period under specified ambient conditions. It is the basis for classification of tiles in the ISO standards. A recent trend is for many tiles to be produced with water absorption of 0-0.5 %, or what the ANSI standards (A137.1) define as “porcelain” tile. These tiles are very dense and strong and are sold glazed or unglazed. Tiles are produced with varying levels of water absorption, and the traditional “wall tile” has water absorption ranging from 7 to 21 %. These tiles may be brightly decorat-

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meters are measured, including surface dimensions, warpage, and nonrectangularity. Tiles may be produced in virtually any size from very small mosaic tiles to the large sizes mentioned above. The industry has not standardized the actual size of tiles, which may vary from one producer to another, although certain sizes are considered as traditional in the industry. Most important to the installer and consumer is the dimensional tolerance, so that a given production lot does not deviate too much from the target size. As production capabilities have allowed the size of tiles to grow, the percentage allowed for variation permits dimensional deviations that are intolerable. The ISO/TC 189 committee has recognized the need for a change in this standard and is considering adding a limit to the actual size and flatness variations. Recent trends

About the author Robert E. Daniels is currently Executive Director Emeritus of the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) and has been Chair of ISO/TC 189 for the past seven years. He was Executive Director of TCNA from 1994 to 2004. He was the founding President of KPT USA, a ceramic tile producer in Indiana, USA, in 1984. He served as a director and officer of TCNA from 1987 to 1991. Mr. Daniels has served on ANSI, ASTM, and other technical committees, as well as on boards of directors in the tile industry.

Office and home comforts

Office and home comforts

The committee also considers installation product, and has recently published standards and test methods for adhesives and joint fillers or grout. The background of these products is important in understanding the phenomenal growth of the ceramic tile industry in recent years. For thousands of years, ceramic tile was affixed to the substrate by craftspeople using sand and cement in a thick bed (sometimes called thickset or mudset methods). The substrate was typically relatively inert cement, brick or stone, or a mortar bed affixed to framing. At the end of World War II, there was a need for rapid construction of housing in the United States, and wood framing was used extensively with plywood flooring and gypsum board walls. At the same time, there was a lack of trained and skilled tile installers. To fulfil the need for installers, a new method called “dryset” or sometimes “thinset” was developed. This involves adding other materials to sand and Portland cement to improve properties such as timing allowances and bond-strength.

“ The committee has recently published standards and test methods for adhesives and joint fillers or grout.” Later, latex additives were developed in various forms to increase flexibility and add more strength. Joint fillers have also been improved over the years to add stain resistance and flexibility, provide better colouring and uniformity, and to make application easier. Thus, standards have been developed for these products. ISO/TC 189 has recently been working to develop standards and test methods for membranes. These are typically sheet or liquid-applied products with various purposes. One is to waterproof the subsurface, as tilework is not waterproof. Water will penetrate through the joints to some degree with any type of filler. Another use is to prevent cracks in the substrate from telegraphing through the finished tilework.

© Photo: Alloc. AS

New installation products

Why it isn’t just a floor by Simon Van de Vrande, Chair of ISO/TC 219, Floor coverings

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verywhere we go, we find floors: in houses, shops, offices, hotels, airports, hospitals and schools. Even our cars have floors, as do ships and aircraft. But why are floors worthy of our attention and care ? The floor sets the stage for our daily activities, be it walking, playing, working, sitting or even just standing still. We thus expect our floors to be reliable and safe, to last and look good, create a pleasant ambience, fulfill their function and increase our comfort. A floor can enable our activities or constrain them. There are therefore different types of floor covering materials that we can select from to best adapt to a specific purpose. You

might not choose to have a carpeted floor in your kitchen as you would in your bedroom. A hospital might require a different type of floor than an office space or your living room, not to mention the special conditions of ships or aircraft. With the range of materials that can be used in floors and the multiplicity of circumstances and objectives of their application, together with the diversity of manufacturers and suppliers of floor materials, we need International Standards to establish requirements that protect our safety and comfort. Such standards will be of great benefit to industry, as they will facilitate the involvement of businesses in the international marketplace as well as disseminate good practices. Not only will producers – as well as private and public consumers and users – profit from International Standards, but also architects, specifiers and interior designers, the building industry in general, test houses, national authorities and national standardization bodies. ISO Focus January 2008

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Main Focus Honey, I spilled the red wine ISO/TC 219, Floor coverings, is the technical committee responsible for developing standards on all aspects of resilient floor coverings – which include different manufactured products such as linoleum, sheet vinyl, cork and many others – as well as textile (such as carpets and mats) and laminate floor coverings. The committee develops standards that establish common terminology, harmonized test methods and product classification and specification. For instance, ISO 24335:2006, Laminate floor coverings – Determination of impact resistance, specifies how to determine the resistance of laminate floor coverings to impact from small and large objects dropped onto the floor. With this standard, manufacturers can offer their customers a product that will not crack up at the first occasion an item falls on it. Similarly, ISO 24345:2006, Resilient floor coverings – Determination of peel resistance, describes a method for determining the resistance of two layers of a resilient floor against separation by peeling. Another standard, ISO 6347:2004, Textile floor coverings – Consumer information, establishes the technical aspects that should be provided to customers as guidance prior to and after the purchase of textile floor coverings. Although this does not mean you can spill red wine on your carpet, this standard will allow consumers to be well informed of the properties of the floor coverings they buy. These examples are just three among many (totaling over 50), which contribute to our enjoyment of comfortable quality floors.

Going global But why International Standards ? Standardization in home furnishing products is not a common practice. One of the reasons for this is that there is an enormous variety of products available, not to mention the custom-made one-off products for contract markets. However, the working groups of ISO/TC 219 on resilient, laminate and textile floor coverings realized that, given the increasing globalization of markets, it was crucial to develop standards in this area.

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ISO standards contribute to overcoming technical barriers to trade, making it easier for industry to market their products globally. As a result, users can rely on the products available, as well as benefit from wider choice, lower costs and higher quality. Governments can take advantage of International Standards to harmonize national policies. Architects and designers will benefit by, for instance, finding it easier to calculate dimensions or select materials, and test houses from around the world will produce compatible results. These are just some of the significant advantages that result from the introduction of International Standards on floor coverings.

Backbone of contractual relationships The market for floor coverings is divided into two categories : contractual and residential. In contract markets, producers deal not only with their clients, but also with architects, specifiers and local and national authorities, each with specific requirements regarding performance in use and reaction to fire, safety and health, as potential barriers. To aim for a contract, a producer must be able to successfully provide controllable information that satisfies these conditions. Capable of addressing the needs of all, standards are thus the backbone of this relationship.

“ We need International Standards to establish requirements that protect our safety and comfort.” The three working groups of ISO/TC 219 are therefore producing, particularly in the area of contract business, an impressive number of standards. A large proportion of these are combined ISO/European Committee for Standardization (CEN) standards. To further avoid duplication, ISO/TC 219 works closely in cooperation with other ISO technical committees developing standards that concern flooring and other “ h orizontal ” aspects, for instance, with ISO/TC 92, Fire safety.

The committee also liaises with relevant international organizations such as the World Customs Organization.

Images say it all The main challenge of the residential market, on the other hand, is how to inform consumers around the world on the properties of the product that they intend to buy. Standards can, in this case, be too technical to follow. Therefore, in order to make the classification of a product’s specific characteristics easily understandable and recognizable to consumers so that they can make the best purchasing choice, ISO/ TC 219 developed an innovative system of pictograms based on ISO and CEN standards.

“  Standards are the backbone of the producer/client contractual relationship.” The pictograms have already been incorporated in a CEN standard, and are included in a draft International Standard currently awaiting publication. In the meantime, in order to ensure worldwide dissemination of

About the author Simon Van de Vrande has been the Director of the European Carpet and Rug Association since 2005, and is also a member of Euratex. From 1996 to 2004 he was Director of the European Carpet Association. Previously, between 1960 and 1994, Mr. Van de Vrande worked at Bergoss Carpet Manufacturers holding various management positions, including that of Chief Executive. He founded the PIT classification system of carpet manufacturers and distributors in the Netherlands, and was a member of the board of the Dutch Carpet Association.

Office and home comforts

Office and home comforts

these much needed symbols, they have been made available online at www. floorsymbols.com and can be downloaded free of charge. These graphic symbols are simple to understand and to use. Within the Web site, they are presented in a practical and fun way. Apart from being able to scroll through all the pictograms and their meanings, under the section Try it ! users can utilize their keyboard to type the symbols. This unique initiative has been a great success, which has provided us with a common worldwide language in pictograms.

A pleasure to walk All these efforts were undertaken to underline the importance of International Standards in settings such as homes, offices or public buildings. As populations increase and centralize in large cities, the interior becomes more and more important. The quality of indoor air, noise reduction, safety and comfort are high in hierarchy of priorities for consumers. Floors as well are among the top on the list, as they constitute a defining element in our interior and therefore an important aspect of our comfort at home and at the office: avoiding creaking floors or slippery tiles, choosing between warm carpet floors or smooth, resilient vinyl. ISO/TC 219 has developed International Standards that not only disseminate good practices, but facilitate international trade. ISO’s contribution can, within the framework of the World Trade Organization and bilateral negotiations, help open up markets and level playing fields. Only one crucial point remains: providing more information to authorities worldwide so that they fully understand the beneficial impact of such standards for their citizens.

Supply standards : Past and future by Paul Jeran, Convenor of JTC 1/SC 28/WG 2, Consumer replaceable components, and Atsushi Sakurai, Ambassador of JTC 1/SC 28, Office equipment

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eliably determining the yield for office printing systems is important to all involved with their design and use. Manufacturers are looking for design specifications for monitoring processes. Marketers need comparisons with competing products. Consumers want accurate cost of ownership assessments. Since 2000, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 28, Office equipment, has developed standards for the measurement of cartridge yield for various printing systems. Thus far, yield measurement methods are published for monochrome laser (ISO/IEC 19752), colour laser (ISO/IEC 19798), colour inkjet (ISO/IEC 24711) and a common set of colour test pages (ISO/IEC 24712). This article looks at the basic methodology behind

each of the standards, and discusses standards under development. In 2000, a customer purchasing a monochrome toner cartridge could not compare yield performance among different suppliers. Many regional and national standards were in place or in the process of development. Even with the completion of these standards, there still would be too many ways of measuring the same thing. At this point, SC 28 started the process of developing the first International Standard for measurement of cartridge yield. The goals for this standard were : • to provide a measure that customers

could understand ; • to make the process repeatable and

well documented ; and • to form the groundwork for future

printing technologies. The committee determined that there were four key areas that the standard should address. 1. There should be a well-defined test page understandable for consumers. 2. The printing environment should be properly controlled. 3. End of life should be clearly defined. ISO Focus January 2008

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Main Focus 4. Testing and analysis should account for some degree of the variation.

Improved customer understanding In the past, cartridge yield claims were based on 5 % coverage. Use of a quoted coverage has several pitfalls. First, customers have no idea what a 5 % coverage document looks like, or how it relates to their work. Second, there are several ways to measure coverage and each one will use a different amount of toner even when being printed on the same printer. To address these issues, the committee decided that instead of specifying coverage, the developing standard would use a well-defined test page that had an appearance similar to a business letter. This allows the customer to understand and relate to the numbers determined by the standard. To control the page and provide a universal distribution method, the page was originally created in PostScript and then translated to a PDF. The PDF file is the only file that is used for testing. This file, shown below, is freely available to facilitate understanding of the test document with consumers, and may be downloaded at www.iso.org/jtc1/ sc28. The page is designed so that it can be printed in either portrait or landscape in A4 or US Letter format. The printing environment can have a significant impact on the yield of a printing system. The environment is not only temperature and humidity, but also the driver printer firmware, computer operating system and printing software. Temperature and humidity are controlled and reported. The other components of the printing environment are more difficult to control due to upgrades and patches. To enable repeatability and to mimic the user experience as closely as possible, the printer is run at the “as installed” default state and all printing component revisions are recorded on the test report.

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For higher-end printers, end of cartridge life is indicated by the printer itself. This product’s determination of end of life is simple, but lower- and mid-range printers do not have an end of life indicator, making it necessary to develop a method for determining end of life. Unambiguous determination of end of life is critical to maintain repeatability of the test methods. For ISO/IEC 19752, a series of characters around the periphery of the page provides a reference for end of life determination. Studying these characters and comparing to the 100th page printed using a definition of character fade provides a repeatable and simple method for determining end of life. Both the printer and cartridge variation affect average cartridge yield, and testing multiple cartridges on a single printer does not capture this variation. The proposed test originally used four printers, each printing four cartridges for a total of sixteen cartridges tested. This was later reduced to a minimum of three printers and three cartridges each to make the test easier to conduct for smaller manufacturers and third parties.

While not ideal, this sampling allows some of the manufacturing variation to be included in testing.

“ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 28 has developed standards for the measurement of cartridge yield for printing systems.” After at least nine cartridges are tested, the data must be analysed to provide a final number to publish as the yield for the cartridge. Past methods used a simple average to determine the reported cartridge yield, but this does not properly represent the magnitude of the variation measured during test. For example, two systems could report the same average yield even though one has a very small yield variation and another has a large variation. This variation would not be transparent to the customer. To better represent cartridge performance, the 95 % Lower Confidence Bound (95 % LCB) on the average is the value reported from testing.

About the authors Paul Jeran is Convenor of JTC 1/SC 28, Office equipment, WG 2, Consumer replaceable components, and an editor and co-editor of several standards for ink and laser cartridge yield. He is a member of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 28 and chair of the US Technical Advisory Group to SC 28. He joined Hewlett-Packard in 1992 and has been involved in the development of new printing technologies, print quality measurement and printer reliability. He is the primary inventor of a number of patents in the field of printing and document technology and has presented several papers on image quality and print technology. He is currently a technical expert for supplies standards in the LaserJet Supplies R&D laboratory.

Atsushi Sakurai is an Ambassador of JTC 1/SC 28. He joined Canon Inc. in 1973 and had been involved in the development of office equipment as a software engineer. He has been a member of the secretariat of the Japanese national body for SC 28 in Japan Business Machine and Information System Industries Association.

Office and home comforts

Embraced by manufacturers In the summer of 2004, ISO published ISO/IEC 19752 – the first standard using this philosophy – and most major cartridge manufacturers immediately embraced it. Based on the success of the release, SC 28 took the next step and developed test methods and targets to measure colour printer yield. When SC 28 was developing the monochrome yield standard, toner-based printers were the dominant monochrome devices. When considering colour, there were both toner and ink printers on the market. It was desirable to develop a method that would allow comparison between the two technologies, so three standards were created: a method for toner, a method for ink, and a single test suite for use with both methods. The colour standards based their development on the same goals and methods established in the creation of ISO/IEC 19752. The standard also had to address the additional complexity of colour and, for inkjets, the flexibility to test systems with four or more colours. To achieve these goals, two significant modifications were made to the process defined in ISO/IEC 19752. First, the single test page expanded to a suite of five pages, allowing for a greater spread of colour and sufficient targets to determine end of life for varying colours and technologies. Second, a method had to be included to combine the yields of several colours into a single number that customers can use. Reporting individual yields for three or more colours can cause confusion, leading to customers ignoring or misunderstanding the yield. The test pages defined in ISO/ IEC 24712 can be found at www.iso. org/jtc1/sc28 and thumbnails are shown below. Increasing the number of pages

is a compromise between testing complexity and not wanting to bias the test pages to one technology or colour set. As in the monochrome standard, other than the diagnostic features, the suite’s design gives customers a better understanding of the types of documents being used to measure yield.

Balanced test suite The second modification is the use of a composite yield calculation. Each printer will use the basic primaries (cyan, magenta and yellow – CM&Y) in differing quantities depending on colour tables and other factors. Even though the test suite is mostly balanced for equal use of CMY&K (black), this will result in different yields for each of the cartridges, where fill differences might not exist. Additionally, customers are used to seeing the yield of each of the CM&Y cartridges advertised with the same number. Providing different yields for each colour cartridge would quickly become confusing. The composite yield calculation allows reporting of a single colour yield value, taking into account each colour’s contribution to the overall printing yield. With certain inkjet printing systems having more than three colours, this calculation will simplify reporting to the customer.

In December of 2006, ISO published the methods for measuring toner and ink colour yield, ISO/IEC 19798 and ISO/IEC 24711. The test pages that use these standards are defined in ISO/ IEC 24712. As happened in 2004 with the publication of ISO/IEC 19752, most major manufacturers have adopted these standards for use in future products.

“SC 28 is working on a new set of test pages and methods to measure photo yield.” Looking toward the future, SC 28 is working on a new set of test pages and methods to measure photo yield. At the moment, the only method under development is for inkjet printers. The same underlying methods and testing philosophy is in use, but as in the case for the office document yield standards, this work is extensible to other printing technologies. ISO Focus January 2008

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A user-friendly approach to visual displays by Floris L. van Nes, Convenor of ISO/TC 159/SC 4/WG 2, Visual display requirements

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isual displays play a very important role in the modern IT world. From cell phones and GPS to laptops, TVs and beamers, almost all IT systems use displays as their main output medium. “ Visual display terminals ” were introduced on a wide scale in offices in the 1970s. However, this led to many health complaints from a large number of people suddenly finding themselves working with computers for many consecutive hours. At the time, little was known about ergonomic requirements enabling a comfortable usage of this new technology 1). Therefore, it was necessary to investigate, specify and publish what was needed to use IT in a safe, healthy and comfortable manner. The primary request for a visual display standard came from IT users, through their unions, employers and the procurers of their equipment, as well as national and sometimes supranational authorities. It was developed by visual ergonomists, display metrologists and some manufacturers, and implemented by display manufacturers, as well as by the people working in test houses, who verified whether or not a display complied to the requirements that had been specified. The situation with the new standard was approximately the same; however, this time, many more manufacturers were involved in the work, as well as some practitioners and employees of unions. The “ first ” standard, ISO 9241-3, was geared to cathode ray tube displays that were to be used for office work. It was therefore regarded as necessary by all parties involved to write a new display standard – applicable to all technologies, in all fields and circumstances of use, in particular to environmental lighting conditions. Moreover, the working group on visual display requirements decided to improve on the structure of the standard,

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based on their own and others’ experience with using the existing display standards. This was to be realized by implementing a modular structure, in order to enable the updating of separate modules, or parts, if needed – for instance, to not have to change all parts of the standard when new technologies or measurement techniques were invented.

New ergonomic display standards The new standard has seven modules, or parts, under the title Ergonomics of human-system interaction : ISO 9241-300, Introduction to electronic visual display requirements ; ISO 9241-302, Terminology for electronic visual displays ; ISO 9241-303, Requirements for electronic visual displays ; ISO 9241-304, User performance test methods ; ISO 9241-305, Optical laboratory test methods for electronic visual displays ; ISO 9241-306, Field assessment methods for electronic visual displays ; ISO 9241-307, Analysis and compliance test methods for electronic visual displays.

“ Prolonged discomfort may well lead to permanent health damage.” The number 301 is reserved for a possible tutorial part that will give the reasons for some of the choices made in the standard, for instance, on certain specific quantitative values and their scientific background. The authors of the 300 subseries took great care to use only data with a solid experimental background for the quantities that needed to be specified in the requirements and the analysis and compliance parts.

Widespread participation What makes the work of WG 2 unique in the standards world is that it is devoted to rather delicate human properties and needs through industrial products of great refinement. This calls for an interesting, multidisciplinary composition of the working group: physicists, engineers, psychologists and ergonomists. A short time ago, the affiliations of the active members were : 14 from industry, six from governmental organizations, one from a university, one independent consultant and one representing a trade union (now discontinued). 2) At the penultimate meeting of WG 2, in May 2007 in Long

Office and home comforts

Beach, California, USA, 23 participants attended, including the convenor and secretary : five from Germany, eight from Japan, four from the Republic of Korea, three from USA, and one each from Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden. Three of the seven parts of the standard are devoted to three different types of measurements : electro-optical measurements; user performance test methods; and field assessment methods. In contrast to the first two, the third type is not meant for the laboratory but for the workplace, and is intended to be used by practitioners who evaluate the actual conditions under which visual displays are used at work – including changing surround lighting and ageing of the display. This makes ISO 9241-306, Ergonomics of human-system interaction Part 306 : Field assessment methods for electronic visual displays, a truly unique part of the standard.

Benefits There are many different benefits resulting from the use of the new standards. The first and foremost benefit is the usability aspect relating to user health and safety. Not adhering to the standard would not immediately lead to disaster, but to discomfort or annoyance. However, prolonged discomfort may well lead to permanent health damage.

About the author Floris L. van Nes is Professor Emeritus of information ergonomics at Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands. He received a PhD in visual psychophysics from Utrecht University. Dr. van Nes designed and experimentally tested the IPO-Normal character set applied in Philips Electronics’ Computer Controlled Teletext chip, which was used worldwide by all TV set manufacturers. He presently serves as Convenor of ISO/TC 159/SC 4/WG 2, Visual display requirements.

Secondly, since participation in authoring or commenting on the new standards in WG 2 is quite broad, the basis for being acquainted with and trusting the new standards is also broad, so that they can be expected to remove trade barriers, if needed, or else keep them removed – which is one of the main aims of global standardization. Thirdly, the new standards are structured in such a way that they are hoped and expected to offer greater accessibility than the current ones for the various categories of standards users.

Importance of the “  human aspect ” An additional technical report, ISO/TR 9241-308, Surface-conduction electron emitter displays (SED) is to be published. Organic light emitting diode displays (OLED) and pixel defects (their effects on visibility, aesthetics and ergonomics) are to form the subjects of future parts.

“ The primary request for visual display standards came from IT users.” The latter is a good example of the continued importance of the “human aspect” in standards on visual display requirements. It has shifted from health to aesthetics and ergonomics but, still, this human aspect is occupying display standard makers. There is an economical-technical problem here: flat panel displays that are made up of many very small, differently coloured triads of subpixels together constituting “ p ixels ” (abbreviated from “ picture elements ”), presently cannot be made with a guarantee of being faultless. Therefore, they have to be visually inspected to eliminate displays with one or more faulty pixels. That inspection is costly, as is the throwing away of display panels containing pixel faults. Thus, only some of the fabricated display panels are of the quality warrant : “ no pixel faults ”. If all panels had to be in this class, flat pane displays obviously would have to be much more expensive, which the customer would not like.

A while ago, when ISO 9241-3, Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) Part 3 : Visual display requirements, was due for revision or deletion, the working group ISO/TC 159/SC 4/WG 2 decided to simultaneously revise the other display standards, ISO 9241-7, ISO 9241-8 and ISO 13406-1 and ISO 13406-2. However, at that time, ISO 13406-2 was very new and not yet accepted as International Standard. This renewal programme aimed to both unify and extend these five display standards from ISO that were then existing. The renewal is now nearing completion, with all seven parts of the new standard being out for FDIS vote.

People first There are quite a few ISO standards with a large “human factor”, or ergonomics content, but arguably no other such as the ISO 9241 300-series which also enjoyed a very large interest from industry during its creation and acceptance procedures. Therefore, the new visual display standard can indeed claim to be “ fairly rare ” – a claim that, furthermore, may be substantiated by its modularity, aimed at serving the standard’s users.

1) Van Nes, F.L., Standardization : colorful or dull ? In : Proc. of SPIE Vol. 5008: Color Imaging VIII : Processing, Hardcopy, and Applications, 306-313, 2003 2) Van Nes, F.L., Third time lucky : why a series of ISO display standards deserves extensive coverage at electronic imaging conferences. In : Proc. of SPIE-IS&T Vol. 6493: Color Imaging XII : Processing, Hardcopy, and Applications, 64930I-1-64930I-11, 2007

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Stand out from the crowd with telebiometrics by Anders J Thor, Secretary of ISO/TC 12, Quantities, units, symbols, conversion factors ; Paul Gérôme, Convenor of ISO/TC 12/WG 13, Telebiometrics related to human physiology ; and John Larmouth, Editor of ISO/IEC 80000-14 28

ISO Focus January 2008

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elebiometrics increases the reliability and security of biometric data. It uses measurements taken from parts of the human body, such as vein structure, fingerprints, iris and faces, to link an individual to a series of numerical values. As every person is unique, information from our bodies and habits is difficult to steal or replicate. Telebiometrics thus enables a reliable form of identification and can provide more robust fraud and identity theft protection than current methods. Hence, telebiometric identification is rapidly becoming a recognized means for establishing identities and obtaining authorization for activities. Its future impact could include customer information, transaction authentication, medical record management and an overall increase of global security.

Interestingly, the Scandinavian Airline System (SAS) started using fingerprints in November 2007 as check-in verification on their domestic flights, the beginning of a developing trend.

1) Biometrics refers to the automated recognition of living persons based on observation of behavioural and biological (anatomical and physiological) characteristics. 2) Telebiometrics refers to the application of biometrics to telecommunications and telecommunications to remote biometric sensing. 3) Although some have been published by ISO and others by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), all were balloted and approved by both organizations.

Office and home comforts

But how do we measure it ? Biometrics1) and telebiometrics2) deal to a great extent with physiological quantities, i.e. quantities that, though not purely physical, are dependent on human physiology. Physiological quantities and their units are nothing new in the field of quantities and units – including the International System of Quantities (ISQ) and the International System of Units (SI) (see Box). The ISO/IEC 80000 series on quantities and units which currently consists of 14 parts 3) also makes reference to these. Part 14, recently adopted, specifically addresses telebiometrics, ISO/ IEC 80000–14, Quantities and units – Part 14 : Telebiometrics related to human physiology. Such measurements are used to define the physiological interaction between people and devices for recording characteristics, such as fingerprints or eye scans.

A range of options for privacy, safety and security The Telebiometric Multimodal Model covers a range of options for safe and secure multimodal man-machine interactions. It provides a framework for the specification of four inter-connected security issues  : privacy, authentication, safety and security. It uses the language of the ISQ and its units, which are the seven base units of SI and derived units. During its development, three voices were heard  : first, the voice of the creators (the telebiometrics industry) ; secondly, that of the preservers (telebiometric hardware, international trade facilitators, standards development organizations, customs) ; and not least the concerned voice of consumers on optimal safety, security and privacy issues linked to biometric sensing programs underway worldwide.

The model addressed the absence of standardized descriptors for new sensors designed to extract data from citizens that could be used for verification of a claim of identity. As a result of this gap, telebiometric device manufacturers were not benefiting fully from the 21st century’s dynamic global trade arena. ISO/IEC 80000-14 (under development) was created to specify quantities and units to be applied to telebiometrics. It thus provides the basis for a database of safety and other thresholds.

Nothing new The big wide world of physiological measurements Physiological quantities and their units are nothing new in the ISQ or the SI. For instance, measurements of light and luminosity relative to their sensitivity to the human eye were widely used long before SI was adopted by the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM, 1960). The base quantity was referred to as luminous intensity and its units called candela, with derived quantities including luminous flux and illumination (measured in lumen and lux units respectively). This phenomenon, however, can also be expressed in terms of pure physical quantities, e.g. radiant intensity (watt per steradian), radiance (watt per steradian square metre), and radiant exitance (watt per square metre). It could also be expressed in terms of photon intensities. The same situation applies to acoustics, where, for example, sound pressure level is a pure physical quantity, which can be expressed in the coherent SI unit neper, or the more common unit decibel. The physiological impact follows well-defined weighting curves with respect to acoustic frequency. Another well-established group of physiological quantities in the ISQ are : dose equivalent, ambient dose equivalent, directional dose equivalent, and personal dose equivalent, with the SI unit sievert – to be distinguished from the unit gray (1 Gy = 1 J/kg) – for the physical quantity of absorbed dose.

The standard defines a taxonomy of telebiometric devices with 4 095 possible combinations. Normative annexes provide symbols that will enable the World Customs Organization to identify the functionality of biometrics products. This addresses the current problem of varying taxes imposed when new biometric devices cross borders without recognized symbolic descriptions, which can result in the levying of excessive excise duties. Although few of the 4 095 categories of products have reached the market yet, this standard already provides the symbols needed for their identification so as to facilitate international trade.

“Ouch!” Is it safe? The seven main tables included in ISO/IEC 80000-14 provide the designers and marketers of telebiometric devices with the quantities and units that are relevant to their devices. The International Standard provides an important framework for speciISO Focus January 2008

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Main Focus You don’t want to be operated on with this Australian Nulla.

Standardized thresholds are important to provide a fair basis for litigation involving telebiometric devices damaging an individual. These thresholds should be set in an appropriate framework and agreed upon by experts in the relevant fields, as is the case for ISO/ IEC 80000-14. This standard provides a basis to ensure that users are comfortable with the implementation of telebiometric devices.

“ This standard provides a basis to ensure that users are comfortable with the use of telebiometric devices.” fying safety thresholds. It will thus make sure that you do not have to exclaim “ouch!” as you go through passport control and use their fingerprint scans. And who wants to plead “no, no” when on an operating table and the remote-controlled robotic arm picked up an Australian Nulla lying about (see Photo) instead of the surgical knife to operate on you! Although these are fictional scenarios, they evoke the need for establishing safety levels that biometric sensors and telemedicine devices must adhere to in order to keep these cases in the domain of the humorous.

“ As every person is unique, information from our bodies and habits is difficult to steal or replicate.” Making it comfortable for all A database that will list detection, comfort and damage thresholds (inter alia) for all modalities is being prepared. Many experts have contributed to this taxonomy and discussions on thresholds from the fields of human physiology and associated sciences : neuroscience and dermo-science (the largest organ of the human body is the skin : it contains all the others !). If we save our skin from burns (calor-in), abrasion, bruising and other forms of physical invasion (tango-

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in), we are then left with “ attacks ” to the ear (audio-in), eye (video-in), nose and mouth (chemo-in), and invisible ionizing radiation (radio-in).

In the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace (http://www.whitehouse. gov/pcipb), the US Department of Homeland Security has affirmed that users are free to provide biometric identification for cyberspace use. Under this rubric, each user also bears the responsibility for any consequences. In this scenario, the user, in interaction with other users and telebiometric providers, becomes the locus of security rather than the state. Biometrics is not about state control, but about enabling citizens to reliably announce their identity against a background of anonymity. In this sense, biometrics has the potential to increase human privacy on our globalizing and interconnected planet.

The personal privacy sphere The personal one metre privacy sphere is an icon often referred to in the area of telebiometrics. It is derived from a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci (see Photo opposite) of a man with outstretched limbs. This drawing signifies that the area that we can reach with our arms and legs constitutes an important threshold of privacy for human beings. Leonardo’s drawing is often quoted in discussions and presentations involving attacks on the human body. Conscious of the importance of privacy and comfort, ISO/IEC 80000-14 also uses it to illustrate its features.

Office and home comforts

Modalities and symbols The standard defines six modalities and associated symbols : The symbol T is used to denote a threshold, with subscripts denoting which modality it references:

“ Biometrics has the potential to increase human privacy on our globalizing and interconnected planet.”

Tt

touch

Tg

gustatory

Tv

vision

Tr

activity

Ta

auditory

Tc

cold receptor

To

olfactory

Tw

warm receptor

About the authors Anders J Thor, formerly an Assistant Professor of Mechanics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, has been Project Manager at the Swedish Standards Institute (SIS) since 1975. He is Secretary of ISO/TC 12, Quantities, units, symbols, conversion factors, and ISO/TC 203, Technical energy systems, as well as Chairman of IEC/ TC 25, Quantities and units, and their letter symbols.

Paul Gérôme is a professional taxonomist trained in anthropology (Doctorat d’Etat de la Sorbonne), semiotics, general system theory and dermo-science. His expertise is in public safety and security. He contributes to the work of the following standards development organizations : ITU-T/SG 17 (Editor of security Recommendations X.1081 and X.1082) ; ISO/TC 12 (Convenor of WG 13) ; and IEC/TC 25, Quantities and Units and their letter symbols (Convenor of WG 5, Physiological quantities and units).

John Larmouth has a doctorate from Cambridge University and is a Professor at Salford University. He has been active in international standardization for the last 27 years. He has worked as the Editor of many standards of ISO/IEC and Recommendations of ITU-T, and is currently Editor of ISO/IEC 80000-14 and several standards in ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 37, Biometrics. He is the Convenor of the joint work on ASN.1 in ISO/IEC JTC 1/ SC 6 and ITU-T SG 17. ISO Focus January 2008

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Developments and Initiatives ISO standards highlighted at Bali conference as essential to fight climate change

L

aying a pathway for 2012 beyond Kyoto was central to this year’s meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Over a two-week period from 3-14 December 2007 in Bali, Indonesia, more than 12 000 participants from government, intergovernmental organizations, and international NGOs associated with business, academic, environmental and civil society interests converged in Bali to address a most pressing issue of our time – climate change. The need to act for the sake of future generations has never been clearer, or more urgent. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), co-winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, has highlighted the unequivocal

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ISO Focus January 2008

impact that mankind’s activities are having on the world’s climate in its Summary for Policymakers, a summary from its Fourth Assessment Report (see http://www.ipcc.ch/).   The findings indicate that the global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased from pre-industrial values of about 280 ppm, to 379 ppm in 2005. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide in 2005 exceeds by far the natural range over the last 650 000 years (180 to 300 ppm).   The report predicts that continued greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at or above current rates would cause further warming and induce many changes in the global climate system during the 21 st century that would very likely

be larger than those observed during the 20 th century. With a mandate to address these challenges, the Bali meetings convened the 13 th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, its subsidiary bodies as well as the Meeting of the Parties of the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, the meetings included an extensive array of side events and exhibits that probed topical issues of importance to global climate change.   A central theme was the renewed importance of industry and governments to work towards common solutions and to ensure that voluntary initiatives align with the imperatives of government and society at large. ISO’s foundational contribution to such voluntary approaches was highlighted late in

ISO standards offer practical tools for addressing climate change at four levels:

the first week by the ISO Deputy Secretary-General, Kevin McKinley, in a special side event session hosted by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Resources Institute (WRI). The ISO process was promoted as an effective mechanism for developing international consensus amongst countries and stakeholders from civil society, business and other interests – ISO’s reach being achieved through its network of national standards institutes from 157 countries, as well as links with more than 600 international and regional organizations collaborating in its programme of more than 3 000 committees and working groups.  

•

Monitoring climate change through technical, basic equipment and measurement standards (e.g., ISO/TC 211 on geomatics, ISO/TC 146/SC5 on meteorology).

•

Quantifying GHG emissions and communicating on environmental impacts, including the leading ISO standards ISO 14064 (Parts 1, 2 and 3) and ISO 14065 on GHG accounting, verification, validation and accreditation of bodies carrying out these activities.

•

Promoting good practice in environmental management and design, for example achieving broad deployment of organizational commitment to the environment through widespread implementation of ISO 14001, which provides the requirements for environmental management systems.

•

Opening markets for energy efficient technologies and renewable sources, including established programmes for hydrogen, nuclear and wind technologies, as well as new standardization work on solid and liquid biofuels, and proposals for standards on improving energy management in organizations.

In particular, ISO, WBCSD and WRI highlighted the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under which the organizations have agreed to jointly cooperate on and promote the ISO 14064 standards and the WRI/WBCSD-developed GHG Protocol. In the second week, ISO contributed to discussions concerning a proposed new initiative to fund and encourage small business action on the sustainability agenda. Currently entitled the Sustainability of the Planet foundation, its founders will be seeking to establish the initiative at a global level and to strengthen more formal cooperation with key actors such as ISO, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Global Compact, the Interna-

tional Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and WBCSD. In the final days of the Bali meetings, ISO presented at a special side event organized by the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) concerning voluntary carbon markets and the impact of the new Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS). The VCS is a recently launched, global carbon offset standard that effectively incorporates exacting principles from the ISO 14064 series and ISO 14065. Co-developed by the IETA, the Climate Group and WBCSD, the VCS will provide a new and much-needed level of assurance for the certification of voluntary offsets, especially targeted to organizations keen to tackle climate change by going “carbon-neutral”. Developers of the VCS estimate that annual transactions in the voluntary carbon market could reach USD 4 billion in the next five years and that the VCS will be instrumental to this future growth. ISO Deputy Secretary-General Kevin McKinley stated: “The success of all emissions trading programmes will be assisted by extensive use and reference to the globally accepted ISO 14064 series and ISO 14065. In fact, truly additional and material reductions in global GHG emissions can only be achieved through the continued convergence of ISO standards and both the voluntary and regulatory GHG emission verification, validation, accreditation and trading regimes.   “This Bali meeting has been especially useful to promote, particularly with key industry and non-governmental partners, the foundational role that ISO standards are playing in contributing to mitigating climate change and to achieving a truly sustainable world.”

ISO Focus January 2008

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Developments and Initiatives

Bringing ISO technical leaders together

O

n 5 – 6 June, 2008, ISO will host a conference that gathers together the Chairs of ISO’s committees. The event will provide an opportunity for them to interact with fellow leaders in ISO’s technical community, members of the ISO technical management board and staff at the ISO Central Secretariat. The programme will include sessions on sustainability, ISO standards in regulation and policy, global and market relevance, conformity assessment and much more. Participants will learn strategies for communicating and networking to help them get their work known, as well as tips on managing and organizing standards development and best practice advice from leading ISO committees. With this event, ISO aims to provide greater opportunities for interaction and collaboration. Chairs of ISO Committees may offer their views, ask questions and share experiences and ideas with other leaders in the ISO system.  The event is also open to Committee Secretaries provided their Chair is attending. Those eligible to participate are urged to register as soon as possible by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. We strongly advise that you confirm your attendance and book your hotels as soon as possible, as accommodations will be very full during this particular period in Geneva.

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ISO Focus January 2008

Seafarers adopt “ twinning ” for TC 8 Secretariat

T

he ISO Technical Management Board approved a twinned Secretariat for ISO/TC 8, Ships and marine technology, partnering SAC (China) with DIN (Germany). Twinning constitutes an innovative approach to assist developing countries in capacity building and leadership development in ISO committees. The ISO/TC 8 twinning applies to the secretariat and its administrative procedures, but does not affect the management of the committee. While SAC provides the Secretary, Germany offers China assistance and consultation. Recognizing its technical expertise, ISO/TC 8’s Chair established the post of a “ Special Assistant to the Chairman ” from DIN. The ISO/TMB Guidance document* points out that the developing country is expected to do the administrative work with the developed country providing training, counselling and guidance. Furthermore, “ Twinned secretariats should not be misunderstood as ‘ co-

secretariats ’ to be maintained over long periods of time. Therefore, twinned secretariats should have a finite time frame with a target date by which it is expected that the capability will be established in the developing country member body such that they can successfully undertake the responsibility of managing a secretariat.” Both Germany and China are major seafaring nations and shipbuilders. Today, China ranks third amongst shipbuilder and shipping countries in the world. Within ISO/TC 8, China has held a subcommittee chair and secretariat for several years, and Germany continues to be active in various subcommittees and leads several working groups. Outstanding results are expected from these great maritime countries.

* ISO/TMB & ISO/DEVCO Guidance, Partnering & Twinning in ISO standards development activities.

New on the shelf Food safety management systems included on one CD

Quality management for international oil and gas industries by Roger Frost, Manager, Communication Services, ISO Central Secretariat

by Sandrine Tranchard, Communication Officer, ISO Central Secretariat

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n de es au sei r développé entaires pou normes he alim r démarc roupe les Produits dans leu Pack reg /TC 34, entaire du ISO Cet ISO entaires. îne alim l’égide iste s cha alim s sou la e, il ass l’ISO, denrée urs de All rights reserved. tel systèm opérate urité des un qu’ils Unauthorized les séc ce er ce la pla aid de this product copying of en tration ement de mettre traçabilitéVersion 1 is prohibited. la démons à la de manag lique comment s ISBN 978-92relative exp nnels dan © ISO, 2007 67-0116 6-0 en ce la norme Ce CD ce sur professio t fian les yan la con ent r les en s’appu égalem sance et riées pou ais rop œuvre, onn en app rec ont mis gences dans la Food Safe t des exi lement ty Système mais éga établissan système. Managemen s de manage fait, en t de la ment ateurs de qu’ils ont sécurité Systems es cer tific denrées alim des organism entaires s ®, Window oft ros ible Mic compat est t ISO Packs ux ®. Ce produi X ® et Lin Mac OS urité

ISO/TS 29001:2007, Petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries – Sector-specific quality management systems – Requirements for product and service supply organizations, is available from ISO national member institutes and from ISO Central Secretariat through the ISO Store (www.iso.org/isostore) or by contacting the Marketing & Communication department ([email protected]).

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• organizations that provide technical, operational and support services to the various industry sectors identified above.

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within ISO developed order to standards ts, in d safety tains the d produc ch to foo 34 , Foo Pack con ir approa ISO /TC This ISO tem and in in the h a sys aegis of ility food cha implement suc under the traceab the in to is of the rators n and lains how help ope on the bas the recognitio exp s, It e . ent ent em nals in appropriat managem onstrate achiev professio ablishing dem o assists lizations, by est how to s CD als systems. rea Thi ir of n rd. the in atio standa cer tific y place nce the providing ies confide nts for bod requireme

Food Saf

qualification of the quality management systems of equipment manufacturers and service suppliers. Potential end users include the following :

SO has launched a new CD that contains the ISO 22000 series of standards developed to help operators in the food chain to implement food safety management systems. The CD also includes related standards for conformity assessment professionals involved in the certification of food safety management systems and in the accreditation of bodies carrying out such certification. ISO 22000:2005, which gives the requirements for a food safety management system, is implefety Food Sa s em ent Syst mented by more Managem ement de manag nrées than 700 organies èm Syst s de curité de entaires de la sé alim zations in some 60 countries. It and the supporting standards in the series can be used by any type of organization in the food chain, ranging from feed producers, primary producers through food manufacturers, transport and storage operators, including also subcontractors to retail and food service outlets. The CD is designated the ISO Pack on Food Safety Management Systems and it includes the following standards and related documents: ISO Packs

SO has published an updated edition of the technical specification ISO/TS 29001 which is intended to ensure safe and reliable equipment and services throughout the international oil and gas industries by providing these sectors with a unique requirements document for quality management. Compared to the first edition published in 2003, ISO/TS 29001:2007 has been expanded to increase its usefulness for organizations that supply services to the sectors. Like its predecessor, ISO/TS 29001:2007, Petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries - Sectorspecific quality management systems - Requirements for product and service supply organizations, is the result of cooperation between the American Petroleum Institute (API) and ISO technical committee ISO/TC 67, Materials, equipment and offshore structures for petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries. In conjunction with API and ISO product specifications, it will be used as one of the baseline documents in the API Monogram programme for the qualification of products and services used in the petroleum industry. Incorporating the requirements of ISO 9001:2000, ISO/TS 29001:2003 also includes supplemental, sector-specific requirements. For the second edition, these have been edited and expanded, and new definitions added. In all, 23 modifications have been made to the second edition. ISO/TS 29001:2007 has been developed to meet the needs of the oil and gas industry, specifically the major petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas organizations, as well as government and regulatory agencies, as the basis for

ts réservés Tous droi 2007 – © ISO,

• ISO 22000:2005, Food safety management systems – Requirements for any organization in the food chain and its corrigendum ISO 22000:2005/ Cor1:2006 give the basic requirements for a food safety management system to ensure food safety along the food chain, up to the point of final consumption. ISO Focus January 2008

35

New on the shelf • ISO/TS 22004:2005, Food safety management systems – Guidance on the application of ISO 22000:2005 gives guidance on the use of ISO 22000, which is based on the principles of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system developed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and is designed to be applied together with relevant standards published by that organization.

ISO standard for public information symbols

• ISO 22005:2007, Traceability in the feed and food chain – General principles and basic requirements for system design and implementation gives the principles and specifies the basic requirements for the design and implementation of a feed and food traceability system.

rom representing car parks, to toilets to hospitals and to full accessibility, the universal language of information symbols used in public places is contained in a new International Standard. Published by ISO, ISO 7001:2007, Graphical symbols – Public information symbols, provides a method of communicating public information through a collection of symbols designed for use in buildings and other places, and for services used by the public, regardless of country or culture. It covers the main requirements for images displayed on signs in all kinds of public areas, but it was also produced with the expectation that the graphical symbols would be used on maps and guides. “Continued growth in international trade, travel and tourism requires a common method of communication,” said Barry Gray, Chair of the ISO technical committee that developed the new standard. “The publication of ISO 7001:2007 will help both provider and users, includ-

• ISO/TS 22003:2007, Food safety management systems – Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of food safety management systems and ISO/IEC 17021:2006, Conformity assessment - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems, have been developed for certification bodies and the accreditation bodies that approve them as competent. Certification of a food safety management system to ISO 22000 is not a requirement of the standard, but is one means of providing assurance that an organization has implemented a system for the management of food safety in line with its policy. The ISO 22000 series was developed in collaboration with other interested organizations, for example, Codex Alimentarius and the ISO Committee on conformity assessment (ISO/CASCO), which is also responsible for ISO/IEC 17021, for ISO 22003. The ISO Pack on Food Safety Management Systems on CD (bilingual, English and French) formats and is available from ISO national member institutes and from ISO Central Secretariat through the ISO Store (www.iso.org/isostore) or by contacting the Marketing & Communication department ([email protected]).

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ISO Focus January 2008

by Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis, Editor of ISO Focus

F

ing those with disabilities, and particularly where text messages alone can be a barrier to understanding.” The standard covers 79 public information symbols designed for use in all locations and all sectors where the public has access. Each displayed by a visual illustration together with the image content, function, and meaning. For the convenience of users, the symbols have been grouped in categories according to the areas where they are normally expected to be used: public facilities; transport facilities; tourism, culture and heritage; sporting activities, commercial facilities and behaviour of the public (excluding public safety). ISO 7001:2007, which replaces ISO 7001:1990, has been revised and expanded with accessibility issues in mind. According to Barry Gray, the standard will be developed further to take into account the increasing demands for a clear and concise way of presenting information readily to the widest possible public. Over 100 potential symbols have already been identified for future consideration in such areas as sports, tourism, commerce and transport. ISO 7001:2007 is intended to be used by all ISO technical committees which require information symbols in their industry for communicating to the public and, with its associated standard on safety signs (ISO 7010), is intended to ensure that there is one internationally used symbol for each message. Also published at the same time is ISO 22727:2007, Graphical symbols – Creation and design of public information symbols – Requirements to assist ISO technical committees and others who wish to make new proposals for symbols. These design requirements are there to help ensure consistency in design and comprehensibility.

ISO 7001:2007 and ISO 22727:2007 are available from ISO national member institutes and from ISO Central Secretariat through the ISO Store (www.iso.org/isostore) or by contacting the Marketing & Communication department (sales@iso. org). The new standards are the work of ISO technical committee ISO/TC 145, Graphical symbols, subcommittee SC 1, Public information symbols.

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Coming up Guest View

The next issue features an exclusive interview with Mr. Achim Steiner (photo below), the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Here he tells us more about the value and role of standards in addressing climate change, as well as how ISO standards contribute to UNEP’s work.

Main Focus

An eye on climate change Climate change is not a future scenario, but today’s reality. The planet is warming at an increasingly growing rate. As a result, sea levels are rising, coastal zones are becoming eroded, natural disasters are increasing in intensity, droughts last longer, snow cover is decreasing and glaciers are melting. Numerous plant and animal species risk extinction, vector-borne diseases are spreading, and our biodiversity is jeopardized. From politicians to scientific experts, industrialists and consumers, climate change concerns all, and the serious consequences it poses to our health, lifestyle, safety and environment will be felt irrespective of location or other distinction. Climate change is thus one of the most critical global challenges of our time, endangering our food and water security. Recent environmental crises have increasingly exposed our growing vulnerability to this phenomenon, and we know that the time to act is now. ISO has therefore developed a portfolio of tools to help tackle this problem. Find out in the February issue of ISO Focus, what ISO is doing in cooperation with other organizations to mitigate, adapt and reverse climate change and open markets to new energy-efficient technologies and renewable resources. The

need to act for the sake of future generations has never been clearer, or more urgent. ISO standards are at the forefront of innovative technologies and initiatives to address climate change. They offer practical tools for monitoring change through technical, basic equipment and measurement standards. ISO 14001 has become an internationally recognized standard promoting good practice in environmental management and design. International Standards also facilitate the development and proliferation of “green” technologies, including hydrogen, nuclear and wind technologies among others, and work has now started on solid and liquid biofuels.

Mr. Steiner says “ISO 14001 and its related standards enable business to put basic systems in place, foundations without which more ambitious environmental performance measures will struggle to get off the ground.” UNEP’s Executive Director applauds the role that standardization plays in communicating basic expectations, facilitating greater performance innovation and free trade in the local economy. To find out what Mr. Steiner has to say on ISO standards and their role in addressing environmental challenges, together with how both organizations are working together to achieve these goals, don’t miss the next issue of ISO Focus.

Today, carbon dioxide is one of the dominant contributors to global warming. ISO standards on greenhouse gas (GHG) verification, accounting and accreditation (ISO 14064 and ISO 14065) constitute valuable tools for establishing “credible” emission trading or carbon footprint programs. They can be used to quantify GHG emissions and communicate on environmental impacts. Find out more in the next issue of ISO Focus.

ISO Focus January 2008

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