Resource conservation
Natural resources are the foundation of our standard of living. Yet using them at every stage of the value chain places pressure on the environment. As the world’s population grows and living standards rise, so does the demand for natural resources. In recent years, the so called Earth Overshoot Day – the date by which humanity has used all the resources the Earth can regenerate in a single year – has been getting closer and closer. In Germany, it already occurred on May 4th in 2022.
The construction sector contributes significantly to climate change
Therefore, resource conservation and the implementation of material cycles are increasingly becoming the focus of sustainable construction. This particularly requires the development of new recyclable building materials and the advancement of processing and recycling technologies. Furthermore, the regulatory framework and, above all, the general acceptance of market participants must be developed in such a way that the use of secondary building materials becomes standard practice in the future.
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Certifications are an important tool.
For this reason, natureplus only certifies building products made from renewable or abundant mineral raw materials or secondary raw materials. Furthermore, the raw materials must originate from sustainable sources, i.e., from verified sustainable forestry and from mineral deposits where the preservation of biodiversity and compliance with social standards and human rights during extraction is a top priority.
Circular economy elements will increasingly be incorporated into the award criteria.
Pollutant reduction and easy recyclability are already required today. Compliance with basic requirements for circular construction has already been explicitly included in the procurement guidelines for building components.
The association participates in the implementation of circular economy initiatives in the construction sector.
We also actively participates in the "DIN Standardization Roadmap Circular Economy" and "Dialogue Platform for Recycled Raw Materials" initiatives, and gathers insights from natureplus members and other experts through workshops.
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Building Material Guidelines
In our product database, you can find detailed information, free of charge and without registration, on over 600 building products awarded the natureplus eco-label.