Certification
A product may be considered ecological if:
- it is composed of natural raw materials from renewable sources;
- it has limited environmental impact throughout its life cycle;
- it is functionally suitable for its use; ;
- it is not harmful or polluting during production, use and disposal.
The sustainability of a product, whether it be a material or a building, may be assessed through attentive analysis of its "biography", looking at all stages in its life cycle (pre-production, production, use and disposal) on the basis of internationally consolidated, recognised standard methodology (ISO 14040 standards): Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) or environmental balance.
A product's ecological quality is defined on the basis of the reduction of the environmental impact associated with all stages in its life cycle, in terms of consumption of energy and natural resources and in terms of the substances released into the environment (production of wastes, scrap, polluting emissions).
The environmental effects of various stages in the life cycle of a product are "measured" to make their "potential" for contributing to one or more forms of impact on the environment immediately intelligible (such as the greenhouse effect, thinning of the ozone layer, acidification, eutrophization, etc.). At the same time, aspects relating to the biology and physics of construction are examined on the basis of the criteria of bio-ecological architecture.
An ecological mark is therefore a form of "standardised" guarantee characterising the bio-ecological quality of a product, certifying that that product possesses all the requirements of environmental compatibility, harmlessness and functionality defined by the reference standards.
A quality mark clarifies the relationship between manufacturers and users, promotes progressive improvement of the ecological quality of individual products assessed and of construction products in general, allowing manufacturers to demonstrate their commitment to technological and ecology and allowing consumers to recognise quality products.
Thanks to the work of independent research bodies and associations which have defined and promoted criteria for analysis of materials and productive cycles based on a sustainable approach to construction, there are a number of marks now present on the market certifying the bio-ecological quality of building products.
One of these is the bio-ecological quality mark from ANAB, IBO and IBN, now the most advanced and indeed the only label certifying the bio-eco-compatibility of construction products and materials in Italy in addition to the Ecolabel mark, which, however, applies only to certain categories of products. The requirements for the performance of materials and products must then be tested and assessed within a more complex system represented by the entire building organism, and with this aim procedures for assessment and certification of buildings are being developed alongside product certification systems. Over the past decade intense international research efforts have been directed at development of environmental energy certification systems for assessment of the ecological quality of buildings.
These operative tools permit determination of the environmental impact of a construction throughout its entire life cycle through assignment of a score measuring performance to a building, permitting classification on an easily comprehensible, communicable quality scale.
Tools of this type are in use in Italy too, such as the Guidelines for Sustainable Architecture developed and promoted by ANAB, which offers an environmental energy quality mark for buildings in parallel to its product certification.
Use of certifications of this type permits objective, measurable determination of the environmental performance of a building, constituting a useful decision-making aid to architects, users and investors.
SHARE THIS
