Inter-laboratory study approach to validate the performance of a prototype reference material for product emissions testing

Published

May 2, 2011

Author(s)

Cynthia H. Reed, Andrew K. Persily, Zhe Liu, Steve Cox, John Little, Wolfgang Horn, Olaf Wilke, Katharina Wiegner

Abstract

Product emissions chamber testing involves a complex protocol with several sources of measurement uncertainty (ASTM, 2010; ISO, 2006). Despite the potential for significant variability in measurement results within and among laboratories, there is no standard method available to assess the accuracy of emissions chamber test results. Recently, Germany’s Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) started a program to evaluate the performance of laboratories testing for the AgBB (German Committee for Health-related Evaluation of Building Products) labelling scheme (Wilke et al., 2009). Test method validation was conducted through inter-laboratory studies (ILS) with over 30 participants. Simultaneously, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Virginia Tech (VT) started a program to develop a series of reference materials that mimic real building products, can be tested in typical emissions chambers, and have independently known emission rates (Cox et al., 2010). BAM, NIST and VT subsequently joined forces to conduct a series of inter-laboratory studies using the prototype reference material. A pilot ILS was conducted with BAM and NIST followed by an expanded ILS with several participating countries. Results from these inter-laboratory studies have the potential to define an internationally-accepted standard approach to validate results from product emissions tests.

Proceedings Title

The 12th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate

Conference Dates

June 5-10, 2011

Conference Location

Austin, TX

Conference Title

Indoor Air 2011

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

test method validation, volatile organic compounds, product certification

Citation

Reed, C. , Persily, A. , Liu, Z. , Cox, S. , Little, J. , Horn, W. , Wilke, O. and , K. (2011), Inter-laboratory study approach to validate the performance of a prototype reference material for product emissions testing, The 12th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, Austin, TX, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=907767 (Accessed October 9, 2025)