25.11.2021
Sustainability:
Gold for DERIX
The DERIX Group has reached another important milestone on its ambitious path towards maximum sustainability and resource conservation: its product DERIX X-LAM receives the %22Cradle to Cradle Certified® Gold%22 certification and achieves %22Platinum%22 in the %22Material Health%22 category*.
This makes DERIX Group the first company in the industry to achieve a Cradle to Cradle product certification with the %22Gold%22 certification level and even exceeds this in the area of material health.
Cradle to Cradle Certified® is a globally recognised product standard that evaluates the recyclability and sustainability of products. It is based on five performance criteria: Material Health, Product Circularity, Clean Air & Climate Protection, Water & Soil Stewardship and Social Fairness. The results are presented in the product register of the %22Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute%22 on a scorecard. DERIX X-LAM achieved %22Gold%22 four times and %22Platinum%22 once.
%22We are very pleased to have completed this important certification process with such an excellent result,%22 says Simone Derix, commercial manager at DERIX Group and member of the management board. %22The audit in the individual areas was very extensive. It definitely challenged us in providing all the required evidence and supporting documents. At the same time, however, this thorough and extremely careful audit also showed us how reliable and meaningful the certification level achieved is. This makes our result particularly valuable and we are proud of this certification,%22 says a pleased Simone Derix.
The DERIX Group expanded its X-LAM production enormously a good two years ago and greatly increased its production capacities. The company has set itself the goal of promoting timber construction and thus popularising a building method that has enormous climate protection potential. If only it were used consistently, millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide could be bound in the long term, thus removing it from the atmosphere and effectively counteracting global warming. After all, one cubic metre of wood binds a whole tonne of CO2.
%22We are constantly looking for new ways to make building with wood even more sustainable and resource-friendly than it already is. Only a few months ago, we were the first company in our industry to make it standard practice for our customers to take back used timber components,%22 recalls Markus Steppler, sales manager at the DERIX Group (see the DERIX press release from May 2021). %22With the gold certification of our DERIX X-LAM, we are now once again demonstrating the sustainability value of our product and once again showing the high value we place on the topics of circularity, sustainability and climate protection.%22
%22Cradle to Cradle%22 References
The Cradle, Düsseldorf
This office and restaurant building is currently under construction in Düsseldorf’s Medienhafen. In the conception, planning and construction, all processes are thought of in cycles and circular solutions are strived for along the entire value chain. Essential construction elements are made of wood and are manufactured according to the principle of %22design for disassembly%22: Reversible connections are used to achieve the greatest possible recyclability through dismantling.
ABN Amro Bank, Amsterdam – Triodos Bank, Zeist
These two buildings in the Netherlands are also characterised by their focus on circularity: The pavilion %22Circl%22 by ABN Amro even carries its concept in its name – here the idea of circularity was implemented throughout: from the choice of sustainable building materials to the hiring of lighting and lifts, the implementation of a self-sufficient energy concept and the elimination of everything superfluous – consistently right down to the name of the pavilion.
Circular economy and sustainability were also at the centre of the planning for the new Triodos Bank headquarters. The supporting structure is made almost 100 per cent of wood. The five-storey high wooden construction can be completely dismantled. The client himself sees his building as a %22material bank%22, because the components can be reused after they have been dismantled.
Cradle to Cradle Certified® Products Registry:
Product Scorecard – Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (c2ccertified.org)
For more information on the topic and the DERIX Group, please contact Susanne Gruchow at: s.gruchow@derix.de. We are also happy to arrange interviews with our experts on the subject of sustainability and glulam construction.