Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor Fall 2020 - 28

POLICY

CRADLE TO CRADLE CERTIFIED GREEN
WALLS CONTRIBUTE TO HEALTHY
AND CIRCULAR BUILDING
BY JELENA SCHELTEMA, SEMPERGREEN GROUP

Earlier this year, Sempergreen received the Cradle to Cradle Bronze
certificate for its living wall systems: SemperGreenwall Indoor, Outdoor
and CompactLine. This certificate emphasizes the fact that vertical
gardens can contribute to sustainable, healthy and circular building.
THE PRINCIPLES OF CRADLE TO CRADLE

Cradle to Cradle (C2C) is a design philosophy developed by
Michael Braungart and William McDonough, based on the
principle that waste equals food. All raw materials and materials
used must be fully and indefinitely reusable or environmentally
neutral without losing their value. Companies that follow this
principle when creating their products, are eligible for Cradle to
Cradle Certification.
The Cradle to Cradle Certificate is an international certification for raw materials and products that can be fully reused
in a way that preserves or even increases their value. This can
be realized by reusing parts for new products, or in the form
of biodegradability, which provides nutrients to nature. The
composition of the materials is therefore extremely important,
as is their origin.

HOW TO OBTAIN A CRADLE TO CRADLE
BRONZE CERTIFICATION

There are five levels of certification that products can achieve:
basic, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. To obtain a Cradle to
Cradle Bronze certification products, need to adhere to several
requirements. Here is a selection of the requirements that
SemperGreenwalls had to meet within the categories Material
Health and Reutilization, Renewable Energy & Carbon Management, Water Stewardship and Social Fairness:
LIVING ARCHITECTURE MONITOR / FALL 2020 / 26

* The SemperGreenwalls are at least 75 per cent assessed (by
weight) using ABC-X ratings.
* The products have a Material Reutilization Score that is at
least over 35.
* Sempergreen has developed a renewable energy use and carbon management strategy for the production process.
* The company has completed a facility-wide water audit for the
production process.
* Sempergreen has completed a full social responsibility selfaudit and developed a positive impact strategy.
To meet these requirements, Sempergreen teamed up with
certified consultants from Bilfinger Tebodin, an international
consultancy and engineering company.

CRADLE TO CRADLE PROCESS DOES NOT STOP
AFTER OBTAINING THE CERTIFICATE

Obtaining the bronze Cradle to Cradle certificate for the SemperGreenwall is not an end in itself. Recertification takes place
every two years. During the recertification, it is important that it
can be demonstrated that the plan presented during the certification process is actually implemented and that progress is being
made. Within the philosophy of Cradle to Cradle, Sempergreen
therefore continuously works on developing and improving the
product based on the aforementioned criteria, with the aim of
progressing to a silver certification.
LIVINGARCHITECTUREMONITOR.COM

http://www.LIVINGARCHITECTUREMONITOR.COM

Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor Fall 2020

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