Each country relies on different standards that measure environmentally responsible practices. Often, these methods do not correlate with one another. Established in 1947, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO*), a nongovernmental network of national standards institutes from 159 countries, has been at the forefront of a global effort to establish consistent, international standards that set a benchmark for environmental performance.
In particular, the ISO 14001 standard provides a strategic, systematic approach to creating an environmental policy that thousands of companies around the world use. The ISO 14001 standard also ensures that products are produced in an environmentally responsible manner and helps validate the performance and reliability of products available internationally.
Andersen Corporation designed its Environmental Management System (EMS) to contain the elements of the ISO 14001 standard. Andersen is proud to have operated under EMS standards since 1994.
*Ed. Note: Because “International Organization for Standardization” would have different acronyms in different languages, its founders decided to coin a short, all-purpose name for the organization. They chose “ISO,” which is derived from the Greek isos, meaning equal.
