25.11.2021

Sustainability:
Gold for DERIX

The Cradle

Triodos Bank

ABN Amro

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 “Cradle to Cradle Certified® Gold” certification and achieves “Platinum” in the “Material Health” category*.

This makes DERIX Group the first company in the industry to achieve a Cradle to Cradle product certification with the “Gold” certification level and even exceeds this in the area of material health.

Cradle to Cradle Certified® is a globally recognised product standard that assesses the recyclability and sustainability of products. Five performance criteria are used as a basis: Material health, product circularity, clean air & climate protection, water & soil stewardship and social fairness. The results are presented in the product register of the “Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute” on a scorecard. DERIX X-LAM achieves “Gold” four times and “Platinum” once here.

“We are very pleased to have completed this important certification process with such an excellent result,” says Simone Derix, commercial manager at DERIX Group and member of the management board. “The audit in the individual areas was very extensive. It was quite challenging for us to provide all the required evidence and proof. 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 award,” says Simone Derix happily.

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 huge climate protection potential. If only it were used consistently, millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide could be sequestered in the long term, thus removing it from the atmosphere and effectively counteracting global warming. After all, one cubic metre of wood used binds a whole tonne of CO2.

“We 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,” recalls Markus Steppler, sales manager at the DERIX Group (see the DERIX press release from May 2021). “With 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.”

“Cradle to Cradle” References

The Cradle, Düsseldorf

This office and restaurant building is currently under construction in Düsseldorf’s Medienhafen. In conception, planning and construction, all processes are thought of in cycles and circular solutions are sought along the entire value chain. Essential construction elements are made of wood and are manufactured according to the principle of “design for disassembly”: Reversible connections are used to achieve the greatest possible recyclability through dismantlability.

ABN Amro Bank, Amsterdam – Triodos Bank, Zeist

These two buildings in the Netherlands are also characterised by their focus on circularity: The pavilion “Circl” 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 central to the planning of the new Triodos Bank headquarters. The supporting structure, for example, is made almost 100 percent of wood. The five-storey high wooden construction can be completely dismantled. The builder himself sees his building as a “material bank”, because the components can be reused after they have been dismantled.

* Cradle to Cradle Certified® is a registered trademark of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute:
https://www.c2ccertified.org/

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.

DERIX
Find your contact person

Your partner for timber construction

With DERIX as a strong partner at your side, you will implement your construction projects sustainably and efficiently.

DERIX
Premium

Exclusive services, newsletter & Co.

Register now and get exclusive access to extensive specialist content. Use our helpful digital service tools such as our X-LAM Designer and stay well informed with our newsletter.