If you’re interested in considering “green” products for your home or personal use, you’re probably finding that it’s a little confusing out there. There are many organizations looking to position themselves as the ones with the authority to determine what’s green. When it comes to windows, which organizations should YOU look to if you want to purchase Green products? An excellent and broad-based organization that certifies products as Green is Green Seal.

Green Seal may not be a household name, but it is a national, independent non-profit organization. It’s also been around for close to 20 years, and Green Seal is highly respected by experts in the environmental field. Here’s what Green Seal says about its organization: Green Seal provides science-based environmental certification standards that are credible, transparent, and essential in an increasingly educated and competitive marketplace. The organization’s industry knowledge and standards help manufacturers, purchasers, and end users alike make responsible choices that positively impact business behavior and improve quality of life.

For a product to earn Green Seal certification, it really does mean something. Green Seal uses stringent standards to ensure that certified products have attained high levels of performance and quality. The organization is all encompassing. It evaluates products in terms of material extraction, manufacturing processes, usage recycling and disposal. The Green Seal certification process is also comprehensive. Windows can be certified only after rigorous testing and evaluation. The process even includes on-site plant visits by independent examiners. For windows, criteria used for Green Seal certification includes window performance ratings pertaining to U-values and Solar Heat Gain. Green Seal also looks at the manufacturer’s product packaging and labeling, as well as its manufacturing and testing procedures.

For a window to receive the GreenSeal, it must do the following: • Save energy compared to traditional windows. • Have a lesser adverse impact on the environment, and • Be manufactured using quality control practices. At a time when so many companies claim that they and their products are “green,” the Green Seal program stands out as an excellent program for separating true green products from those that have merely jumped on the bandwagon. So if you want “green,” energy-efficient windows for your home, look for the Green Seal certification. It’s an excellent measure of how environmentally preferable a product truly is.

In fact, Green Seal was recently recognized on NBC’s Today Show in a segment addressing “green washing” and how to determine if products are truly better for the environment. To learn more about Green Seal and its certification program, visit www.greenseal.org and look for windows that have earned Green Seal Certification.