Building Supply Chain Transparency
What has a certifier of laminate and insulation products
got in common with a certifier of luxury 5-star hotels? A fair
amount it seems in the new carbon economy, as Chantal Dunbar
discovered.
EC3 Global and Ecospecifier Global, two heavyweights in the
certification industry internationally have formed a unique
alliance to help reduce the tourism industries carbon and
eco-impacts, product by product, hotel by hotel. According to the
US Environmental Protection Agency, 12 % of emissions come from
built structures such as office buildings and residences. As a
result, an increasing amount of attention is being focused on how
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) at the source.
But in focussing just on carbon, we are tending to attempt to
solve just one of the symptoms of 'un-sustainability' rather than
offering an holistic cure for the problem. While the travel and
tourism industry has been quick to adopt operational standards that
drive down natural resource consumption, are we overlooking the
influence transparency in sustainable product procurement might
have further up the supply chain during manufacturing, on carbon
and other impacts?
Items such as the food served in restaurants, the bottled water,
papers and soaps found in rooms, and even the beds where we sleep
in have all come under the sustainable tourism microscope of
late.
In 2010, Australian bedding manufacturer Sleep Maker released
the FORREST range of beds. They used a soy-bean foam in place of
latex and underwent a full Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) during the
design and manufacture process. Even Sleepys stores where the
FORREST range was retailed engaged in efforts to reduce greenhouse
emissions and other impacts.
So if we're already tackling the downstream 'operational'
impacts, what about counting the cost of carbon and other impacts
from the manufacture of building and other materials?
The question is how do we do this without making the procurement
process even more complex? Significant environmental impacts may be
associated with the extraction of raw materials and even the
production process. The embodied carbon in materials such as
conventional 'business as usual' concrete, floor coverings and
insulation can be profound; as can the social and environmental
costs resulting from their production. The answer to this question
can be found in the unique new alliance that brings together Ec3's
EarthCheck and Ecospecifier Global GreenTag's Certification
systems.
EarthCheck is the travel and tourism industry's largest and most
credible certification program. Of its 1300+ clients on over 70
countries, more than 80% are hotels and conference centers.
With sustainability certification becoming commonplace in the
RFP process and some countries already requiring mandatory
reporting, it may be time for green hotels to darken their shade
and flex their purchasing power even further.
Looking to future needs is nothing new for EarthCheck and this
week, they partnered with another Australian company also known for
their market-leading capabilities. Ecospecifier Global is headed by
the multi award-winning eco-architect David Baggs and it manages
the Global Green Tag® certification and ratings scheme.
Performing Carbon and whole of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) on
materials used by in construction and operations, Ecospecifier
helps connect the dots for EarthCheck's tourism asset owners by
making LCA audited products easier to access.
"Green Tag provides a robust, qualified eco-profiling
methodology to Certify and Rate green building and other materials
simply using Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum ratings," explains
Baggs. "Through the EarthCheck alliance, we will be able to provide
developers, architects and operators who work with and within the
tourism industry's market leaders with unique, calibrated
information about materials and products that can help them enrich
their assets and strengthen their green operational claims through
sustainable building and other product procurement with real, third
party audited sustainability outcomes."
The benefit for manufacturers is a strong competitive edge in a
market that's increasingly under pressure on margins. By
undertaking the GreenTag LCARate Certification process, they can
also reveal how their manufacturing process and the goods they
produce result in less waste, require fewer fossil fuels, generate
less emissions, have less global warming potential, use less land,
and emit fewer carcinogens and toxins than those of their
competitors and achieve a rating that communicates simply what is
otherwise a complex issue.
Editors Notes
Ecospecifier Global Green Tag® is an LCA-based
ISO-compliant eco-label certification and rating scheme that has
already been used by companies such as InterfaceFLOR, Polyflor,
Herman Miller, BASF, Tontine Insulation, Verosol and Pacific
Brands' Dunlop flooring and Knauf wall and ceiling linings. Hotels
can also use Green tag to certify products such as bathroom
amenities, sunscreen, sanitary papers, beds and allied items and
even cleaners and detergents. www.ecospecifier.com and www.ecospecifier.com.au
EarthCheck is an integrated environmental management and
certification program that is used by hospitality leaders such as
ACCOR, Dusit, and InterContinental Hotels Group. By partnering with
Ecospecifier, EarthCheck is helping travel and tourism industry
leaders better manage their carbon footprint wherever they eat,
work or play. www.earthcheck.org
Media contact:
Chantal Dunbar
EarthCheck
Ph: +61 406 404 836
