ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
This is the definition we find in the Bruntland Report, dated 1987.
Sustainability is a continuous process, based on the three fundamental and inseparable dimensions of development: Environment, Economy and Society.
Words like eco-friendly, green-living, eco-friendly are increasingly used in everyday communication, advertising and product labels. But what do they really mean?
It could be said that they mean the awareness of a phenomenon that can really raise the fate of our planet, turning it into a better place to live and grow our children.
In this perspective, the products that use these words are defined as friendly to the planet: they are not harmful to the environment that surrounds us and are characterized by production processes that are more environmentally friendly.
By transferring these concepts to our construction sector, sustainable architecture is the one that designs and builds buildings to limit environmental impact, and which aims at energy efficiency and improvement of health, comfort and quality of use of inhabitants.
Making sustainable architecture means knowing how to build and manage a building that can best meet the needs and requirements of customers, taking into account - from the initial phase of the project - natural resources, without causing harm or discomfort to others and the environment, trying to fit harmoniously into the context and also thinking about a total re-use of space and materials.
The labels of ecological quality
The common goal is to inform consumers about green products, giving a global support to products that are careful to environmental protection.
The international standard UNI EN ISO 14025: 2010 establishes the principles and specifies the procedures for the creation of ecological labels based on established parameters, which contain a quantification of the environmental impacts due to the entire life cycle of the product, calculated using a Life Cycle Assessment method.
The environmental product declarations are verified and validated by an independent accredited control body.
The Environmental Product Declaration, better known as EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) is, in short, a tool designed to improve environmental communication between producers on one side (business to business), and distributors and consumers on the other (business to consumers).
Environmental protocols
The BREEAM protocol was developed in 1990 in England by the BRE - Building Research Establishment. The certification is voluntary, and anyone can request the BREEAM for the level of sustainability of their building, evaluating a series of factors such as: management, water, well-being, materials, energy, waste, transport, land usability, innovation and pollution.
BREEAM certification offers substantial recognition and greater control of buildings for customers, investors, designers and all those involved in the construction of the building submitted for certification.
The LEED® is a voluntary certification program that can be applied to any type of building (both commercial and residential) and covers the entire life cycle of the building itself, from design to construction. LEED promotes a sustainability-oriented approach, recognizing the performance of buildings in key sectors such as energy and water conservation, CO2 emissions reduction, the improvement of the ecological quality of the interiors, the materials and resources used, the project and the choice of the site.
Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the system is based on the attribution of "credits" for each requirement.
Main regulatory references
ISO 9001 - Quality management systems
ISO 14001 - Environmental management systems
ISO 14020 Environmental labels and declarations - General principles
ISO 14021 Environmental labels and declarations - Self-declared environmental claims (Type II environmental labelling)
ISO 14024 Environmental labels and declarations - Type I environmental labelling - Principles and procedures
ISO 14025 Environmental labels and declarations - Type III environmental declarations - Principles and procedures
Main legislative references
Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 - on the European Union eco-label (EU Ecolabel ) (Text with EEA relevance)
Useful links
https://new.usgbc.org/leed
https://www.environdec.com/What-is-an-EPD/
https://www.breeam.com/
FIBRAN places at the center of its corporate mission a particular attention to environmental sustainability pursuing energy efficiency, reduction of waste production and waste, optimization of production processes, rationalization of natural resources, adoption of quality management systems (ISO 9001), environmental protection (ISO 14001) and worker safety (OSHAS 18001).