Widely regarded throughout the building industry as a preferred sustainability standard, Cradle to Cradle Certified® gives architects fact-based, at-a-glance assurance that EQUITONE’s façade materials meet some of the world’s most rigorous sustainability standards. Today, EQUITONE [natura], [natura PRO], [tectiva], [lunara], [linea], [textura] and [pictura] fiber cement façade materials are Cradle to Cradle Certified at the Bronze level.
View our Cradle to Cradle Certified® certificate here
Learn more about EQUITONE’s Cradle to Cradle Certified façade materials.
The building block of green building
The materials we use in our built environment today have a direct impact on the health and well-being of people and planet now – and in the future. Cradle to Cradle Certified is one way building materials suppliers and architects alike can ensure the materials and products we make and use today are designed to enable a safe, equitable, sustainable tomorrow.
What is Cradle to Cradle Certified?
Cradle to Cradle Certified is the world’s leading, multi-attribute product standard, administered by the international nonprofit organization “Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. The certification promotes a circular approach to making materials and products using ingredients that are safe and healthy for people and planet, manufactured responsibly, and designed to enable a circular economy.
Why Cradle to Cradle Certified?
Cradle to Cradle Certified gives EQUITONE a pathway for transforming our 2030 ambitions for zero waste to landfill, circular design, and the lightest possible environmental impact into meaningful action. Cradle to Cradle Certified requirements offer a world-class framework of best practices that reflect our own values, including continuous improvement, innovation and collaboration across the value chain.
Even better, the holistic nature of Cradle to Cradle Certified makes it easy for architects, designers, and other building professionals to immediately see how our materials can help them achieve their own ambitions for sustainability, circularity and green building.
How Cradle to Cradle Certified is awarded
Cradle to Cradle Certified® is one of the most ambitious science-based third-party sustainability standards. Certification is awarded based upon independent assessment of a product or material according to five critical categories of sustainability performance:
Material Health: the ingredients used are verified as safe for humans and the environment
Product Circularity (Material Reutilization*): the material is designed to enable a circular economy through regenerative ingredients and process design
Clean Air & Carbon (Renewable Energy and Carbon Management*): the material is made in ways that help protect clean air, promote renewable energy, and reduce harmful emissions
Water & Soil Stewardship (Water Stewardship*): the material is made in ways that safeguard clean water and healthy soils
Social Fairness: the material is made in ways that respect human rights and contribute to a fair and equitable society
Certification is achieved based upon ascending levels of performance, from Basic** to Platinum. To achieve certification, a material receives a rating (from Basic to Platinum) in each category, then full certification is awarded at to the material’s lowest performance rating.
**Basic level is awarded only for version 3.1 of the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard
Cradle to Cradle Certified category icons ©2021 Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute
Bronze is just the beginning
All EQUITONE fibre cement façade materials are Cradle to Cradle Certified at the Bronze level according to version 3.1 of the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard.
Our materials are already earning performance ratings of Silver for Material Reutilization and Social Fairness, and we’re already working hard to accelerate advancements in the carbon, water and energy footprint of our operations.
We’re not waiting for the future
As part of our quest to ensure we are equipping architects with the best possible materials for achieving their own circularity and green building ambitions, EQUITONE is already implementing a growing number of sustainability and circularity initiatives in the production of our Cradle to Cradle Certified products.
- Renewable energy and solar: EQUITONE facade materials manufactured at EQUITONE’S German manufacturing facility in Neubeckum is powered by the largest solar panel system in the city. Any additional energy required is purchased from renewable sources, ensuring the plant are made with renewable energy.
- Closed-loop water systems and use of non-potable water: EQUITONE does not use potable drinking water in manufacturing and has implemented closed-loop water systems to ensure maximum water responsibility and efficiency.
- To achieve our goal of a full circular economy we are testing different ways to make no compromises on our high-quality standards. Several pilot projects are started in our factories in Germany and Belgium to find the best way to include the waste into our manufacturing waste cycle again. These projects are now in the evaluation phase and will be scaled up in the coming months and years.
- Close collaboration between EQUITONE and architects in experimental projects to enable the reuse of existing boards is accelerating processes for the removal of boards from building façades when they are no longer needed, and the re-installation of those boards on new building façades.
- Circular initiatives for waste elimination including recycling façade material into other building materials.
Learn more about EQUITONE’s Cradle to Cradle Certified façade materials.