Dow Building Solutions Cradle to Cradle Styrofoam
Geschreven op 24-1-2010 - Erik van Erne. Geplaatst in Bouwen-Klussen
Tja, je kunt het nauwelijks voorstellen, maar het is Dow Building Solutions gelukt om een Cradle to Cradle certified Storyfoam te ontwikkelen.
De certificering wordt overal in de wereld met nogal wat kritiek overladen, omdat Dow nog aardig wat chemische stofjes in het nieuwe product heeft zitten.
As for brominated flame retardants, Bolton said that these chemicals “are definitely a concern,” but that at the lower certification levels (Basic and Silver), these compounds can be present, as long as there are plans to improve the products over time. XPS contains the brominated flame retardant HBCD. At the Gold level, red-listed chemicals, such as brominated flame retardants, are not permitted, according to Bolton, manager of business development at MBDC. Bron: Building Green
KlusBob zegt:
7 februari 2010 om 17:55 | Permalink
Dow Styrofoam Cradle to Cradle Certified, Despite Chemistry
In a surprising development, Dow Chemical’s Styrofoam brand extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation has been awarded Cradle to Cradle Silver certification by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). When asked about the styrene chemistry and brominated flame retardant in XPS, Steve Bolton, the manager of business development at MBDC, explained that the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) product evaluation is the same for every product. “We look at everything from material health to recyclability,” he told EBN, adding that the company also examines energy use at the manufacturing plant, water quality issues, and corporate social responsibility.
Concern about the Silver certification of Styrofoam XPS illustrates a widespread misconception about the C2C program. As explained in EBN’s article “Cradle to Cradle Certification: A Peek Inside MBDC’s Black Box” ( EBN Feb. 2007), at the Basic and Silver levels the C2C standard for chemical safety means only that a product is being carefully examined by MBDC and that the product’s manufacturer knows what is in it and has committed to improving it. Designers expecting a C2C logo to provide assurance that a specific product is free of hazards may want to read the fine print. Red-listed chemicals, such as brominated flame retardants (though not PVC), may be present in products carrying those lower levels of certification, but not in products certified to Gold and Platinum levels. MBDC is aware of this confusion and has told EBN that they are trying to address it.