With the aim of encapsulating what we have done to meet environmental standards, we have published a handbook on the Protocols and Certificates obtained for the System for LAYING FLOOR AND WALL COVERINGS, listing the products, technologies, certifications and actions implemented by the Company to help obtain sustainability certifications for the construction of buildings.
The document “Environmental Sustainability Protocols and Certificates for the System for Laying Floor and Wall Coverings” is a comprehensive guide that includes the main protocols for the LEED, BREEAM, WELL sustainable building certifications.
Designers and the market are increasingly faced with the need to define and express in a standardised and clear way all those building sustainability characteristics, in terms of life cycle, quality of materials, maintenance, etc., that allow to improve the design quality on one hand and to increase the real and perceived value of the building on the other hand.
The LEED, BREEAM and WELL protocols originate in different contexts, but are united by similar criteria and requirements (air quality, raw materials, site management, waste, etc.) that are analysed with a view to assigning the “building-system’”an overall score that defines its level of certification. An example is given by the Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum levels, which can be assigned to a building according to the LEED protocol.
LEED®
The LEED® standard (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a voluntary certification system for the construction of environmentally-sustainable buildings. The certification standard comprises categories, subdivided by area, each requiring a series of prerequisites and credits to be obtained. The prerequisites are mandatory for obtaining certification; the credits are chosen based on the project’s objectives, and determine the level of certification achieved.
The level of certification, Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum, is established based on the score determined by summing the credits obtained.
BREEAM®
The BREEAM® (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) system uses recognised and benchmarked methods to assess the design, construction and use of the building. The system is based on criteria divided into various categories, from resource management to ecology, and includes aspects relating to the use of energy and water, the indoor environment (health and wellbeing), pollution, transport, materials, waste, ecology and management processes.
WELL
The WELL protocol was introduced in 2014 by the International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI), with the aim of integrating aspects concerning people’s health and well-being into the design and construction of buildings. Specifically, the protocol covers the following categories: Air, Water, Nourishment, Light, Movement, Thermal Comfort, Sound, Materials, Mind and Community.
