Bauformat takes responsibility and attaches utmost priority to addressing climate protection. The aim is not only to reduce CO2 emissions but to compensate for them in full and beyond. We can verify that we help the environment far beyond common standards which is why BAUFORMAT is certified as a particularly climate-positive company. Our furniture also carries Germany’s best-known environmental label, the Blue Angel. We only use low-emission lacquers and wood-based materials from sustainably managed forests. Most of our suppliers come from our region and operate with environmental standards comparable to those of our own. Paper-saving digitised processes and climate-friendly logistics with EURO 6 lorries, hybrid vehicles and our own in-house recharging stations are key elements of our sustainability concept.
At Interior Alchemy, we consider our impact on the environemnt very carefully. Perhaps as a smart Portland homeowner, considering a kitchen remodel or bathroom renovation of your own home, you may be wondering…how can purchasing European cabinentry be a sustanable choice. We, too, wondered how can we responsibly sell modern ktichen cabinets and ship them half-way across the world to Portland.
The answer is more obvious that you might at first consider. German environmental prototection laws are simply better that we have here in the US. The factories have been taxed for decades on the waste they produce. With limited reousources and limited access to available land for landfills, the Germans handle precision manufacturing, recycling and waste better than any other country on earth.
German law regulates emission control, water usage, waste disposal, soil conservation, natural resounrce conservation and environmental imapact. But what’s most important is that the German govenment actively and strictly enforces the environmental laws. The supervising governmental agencies are generally well funded, organized, and staffed, and therefore able to fulfil their environmental enforcement tasks effectively and promptly.
There are many requirements and certifications a German company must obtain and retain in order to continue to produce goods in Germany. Additionally, Bauformat prides itself on its ability to make the world a better place during and after production. For example, at the factory, we saw that every spec of sawdust is captured from the cutting areas and then collected for use in low emission heating systems which then heat the factory all winter long!
The reality is that German producers are better for the envoironment than nearly all American cabinetry producers, including local cabinet makers that do not have strict regulations imposed on where they source their wood from, or how they dispose of excess materials.
Bauformat is proud of earning and maintaining the following environmental stewardship awards and certifications.
Blue Angel
Our cabinetry carries the Blue Angel label. Because the wood-based materials come from sustainable forestry, are produced and processed with low emissions and are harmless to health.
The Blue Angel label guarantees that the products and services meet high standards for environmental, health and usage properties. For certification, the complete life cycle is always taken into account. In order to reflect technical developments, the German Federal Environment Agency reviews these criteria every three to four years. Thus, companies are required to make their products more and more environmentally-friendly.
Climate-positive Company
The Baumann Group has worked out its carbon footprint in cooperation with Fokus Zukunft GmbH & Co. KG. The figure identified was based on 2020. The carbon footprint of our operating bases comes in at a total of 9,200 tonnes. By purchasing 40,000 certificates (1 certificate equates to 1 tonne of CO²) to support 5 projects for the 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Baumann-Group has more than fully offset its carbon footprint.
KlimaPositiv® is a European standard that shows consumers that a given product goes beyond climate neutrality by a minimum of 10%. To be KlimaPositiv® in other words means that a product has net-positive effect on the climate rather than negative or neutral.
Programme for the Endorsement of Forestry Certification
Our company group holds the PEFC certification. This guarantees that the raw materials for our kitchen and bathroom furniture only come from sustainably managed forests.
Forest “Chain of Custody” certification is a voluntary certification which requires businesses to track forest-based products from sustainable sources to the final product. It demonstrates that each step of the supply chain is closely monitored through independent auditing to ensure that unsustainable sources are excluded.
Climate-neutral Business
The management and the entire team have set themselves the goal of preserving an intact environment for future generations. It is in this way that we make a reliable contribution to protecting our climate.
The German Quality Association for Furniture (the Deutsche Gütegemeinschaft Möbel or DGM) labels are based on companies’ carbon footprints. Sustainable firms must report their footprint and work to actively reduce it in order to receive the sought-after distinction of the DGM Climate Pact label. As part of a strict process, the DGM checks and analyzes a company’s direct and indirect emissions. When the CO 2 emissions of a furniture manufacturer have been reduced as much as possible, they may opt to deliver voluntary financial support to audited climate protection projects around the world, such as reforestation, drinking water treatment or the generation of green electricity, in order to neutralize the unavoidable emissions and earn the DGM Carbon Neutral label as a way to counteract climate change.
RKT
The Cologne-based Recycling Kontor Transportverpackungen GmbH channels our shipping packagings into Germany’s ‘Dual System’ of waste management, with the materials and packaging recovered, gathered, and recycled in a responsible manner.
Furniture Emission: A-Rating
The German Quality Association for Furniture (the Deutsche Gütegemeinschaft Möbel or DGM) tests the products made by German furniture manufacturers for emissions of formadelye,
In cooperation with leading testing bodies like TÜV Rheinland, eco-INSTITUT Cologne, German Federal Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt – UBA) and DIN Consumer Council the German Quality Assurance Association (Deutsche Gütegemeinschaft Möbel – DGM) has developed emissions classifications for furniture and, out of these, the first global emissions label for furniture. Launched early 2015, the aim was to develop a label that easily communicates to the consumer important information about a piece of funriture’s emissions profile.
Performed by independent testing bodies, the proof for the classification (a rating of A to D) relies on the results of pollutant tests. An A-classicfication means that Bauformat’s cabinetry has complied with the highest standards possible for cabinetry and contains the lowest amounts of formaldehyde and VOCs.
Carb 2 Compliance and TSCA Title 6 Standards
Bauformat cabinetry also meet the California requirements of CARB2 and the EPA’s TSCA Title VI standards, which are even stricter than the requirements in Europe.
The California Air Resources Board measures and restricts the amount of toxins released into the air. Formaldehyde is one of the many toxins covered by this board. The board was first formed in 1967 as a way to reduce formaldehyde emissions and keep airborne toxins from saturating the air. It is commonly known as the “clean air board.”
CARB 2 is a regulation created by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) as a way to prevent formaldehyde from being released into the air and reducing the air quality.
If your product has a CARB Phase 2 compliant seal, it adheres to the standards of this regulation process. The CARB phase 2 certification signifies that the product releases a low enough amount of formaldehyde to be considered safe.
Any formaldehyde released by products with a CARB phase 2 compliant seal is a small enough amount that it has absolutely no risk to your health.
The Environmental Portection Agency’s Toxic Sunstances Control Act (TSCA) Title VI also regulates composite wood porducts to ensure low toxic emissions.
After the kitchens are made and ready to ship, they go by truck to the port – and then by cargo ship to the United States. While it’s cargo ships cannot prevent the release of greenhouse gasses, they emit far less per metric ton than any other form of transportion. When the kitchens arrive in at the US port thare are sent by train to the PNW – rail is the most fuel efficeint way to transport goods. Once the cabinetry is removed from the trian and checked, it is deliered to your project location by truck. This is the most energy-efficient path from Germany to Portland and we try our best to reduce fuel usage and emissions throughout that journey.
