CRADLE TO CRADLE – SUSTAINABLE
CONSTRUCTION
CIRCULARITY AND HEALTH FOR GENERATIONS.
A building like a tree, that „cleans water and air, produces oxygen, generates soil and nutrients“. That is the vision of Professor Michael Braungart, who developed the C2C design concept – a holistic approach to product design, manufacturing methods and processes that takes account of the entire life cycle.
The great challenge is not to minimise the use of resources but to manage them in cycles, with the aim of doing things better, rather than less badly.
„As leading specialist for mineral building protection, we are called upon to think ahead to a liveable future and to act accordingly already now in the present.
Cradle to Cradle Certified® confirms that we do justice to this responsibility – not just with our products and system solutions but also with our social commitment inside and outside the company.”
Rüdiger Lugert
CEO KEIMFARBEN
Cradle to Cradle Certified® is the world’s most advanced, science-based standard for designing and making products today that enable a healthy, equitable, and sustainable tomorrow.
Independent third parties examine and assess the substances contained in all products. KEIM worked with the
accredited assessor EPEA – Part of Drees & Sommer from Hamburg. The successful audit was confirmed by the non-profit Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2CPII).
The Cradle to Cradle Certified® certificate stands for a continuous improvement process and is an important step for us to a circular industry. Recertification is carried out every 2 years to avoid stagnation and to verify product and process optimisations.
To obtain the Cradle to Cradle Certified® certificate, the products are assessed according to differing criteria in 5 comprehensive categories. In the process, the overall certification results from the criterion with the lowest score.
1. MATERIAL HEALTH
2. MATERIAL REUTILIZATION
3. RENEWABLE ENERGY
4. WATER STEWARDSHIP
5. SOCIAL FAIRNESS
(Further information on the individual categories can be found in the following brochure.)
Cradle to Cradle Certified® is a registered trademark of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2CPII).
KEIM has always been a pioneer when it comes to sustainability and takes the lead in the construction industry with the certification of over 60 products in 4 product groups. This accounts for more than 80 % of KEIM’s paint sales.
Over 60 products have received the Cradle to Cradle Certified® certification in silver and have also been awarded the Material Health Certificate at the Gold level.
You will find a complete overview of certified products in the following document.
PRODUCT OVERVIEW
The Cradle to Cradle Certified® certificate sees materials as substances that are made available to new processes after use. All substances contained in the products must therefore be assessed scientifically for circularity, in order to make a useful contribution to the environment from production via utilisation through to returning the substances to the cycle.
A distinction is made between commodities and consumables. When commodities come to the end of their use, they are disassembled into pure-grade raw materials and returned to a technical cycle. At the end of the use phase for consumables, these go back into the natural, biological cycle.
Paints are allocated to the biological cycle. They are „consumed“ during use and their component parts are returned to the environment in the long term through erosion, wear etc. KEIM paints are made of mineral and natural raw materials and already protect or improve the biosphere while in use. They are extremely durable and also score with attributes such as their ability to degrade air pollutants, or their particularly high vapour permeability.