A2LA Announces Sustainable Energy Testing Field to the Accreditation Program

The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) is proud to announce the addition of the Sustainable Energy Testing Field to its already broad range of accreditation activities. A2LA is currently accepting new applications for accreditation from laboratories who intend to test products designed for sustainable energy production and efficient energy use. In addition, A2LA is working with existing accredited laboratories that wish to modify their current Scopes of Accreditation to identify activities within this new and emerging field of testing. A2LA has devoted resources to ensuring prompt attention to all interested parties’ needs.

With the recent changes to the U.S. EPA’s ENERGY STAR® program, as well as changes which are expected to come in the next few years from other regulators, such as the Department of Energy (DoE), A2LA is taking the lead in the accreditation industry to address this important, growing field of testing. A2LA was recognized in 2010 by the EPA for the purposes of granting accreditation to both testing laboratories (for ISO/IEC 17025:2005) as well as product certification bodies (for ISO/IEC Guide 65).

“We have processes in place already which allow our existing accredited laboratories to update their current Scopes of Accreditation in order to meet these government initiatives,” explained Peter Unger, A2LA President and CEO. “A2LA openly welcomes all new applicants for accreditation and is committed to providing prompt attention to their accreditation needs.”

Accreditation is based on A2LA’s assessment of a laboratory’s performance including their management system, procedures, staff competence and reporting.

A2LA is a nonprofit, non-governmental, public service, membership society based in Frederick, Maryland, United States of America. Its mission is to provide comprehensive, third-party accreditation services for testing and calibration laboratories, inspection bodies, proficiency testing providers, reference material producers, and product certification bodies. Services are available to applicants whether they are private, federal, state, or academic and regardless of their size and ownership status (A2LA accredits both third party and in-house laboratories). A2LA is internationally recognized and is the largest, multi-discipline accreditation body in the United States. A2LA welcomes applications for the accreditation of many types of conformity assessment bodies.

Mike Buzard, The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation
mbuzard@A2LA.org
www.A2LA.org