Cradle to Cradle® 

Bauwerk’s sustainable way of doing business is also successfully documented. With its Cradle to Cradle Certified™ certified products, Bauwerk guarantees you the greatest possible durability and safety and gives you the peace of mind that you are contributing positively to the health of people and nature in a way that far exceeds the norm.

The Cradle to Cradle® design concept is an innovative, positive and integral approach to sustainability. The goal is not based on reduction, but to reuse raw materials as unconditionally as possible. The motto: waste should feed other material cycles. As a completely new concept, our current business model is based on a linear use of raw materials that otherwise become waste and end up in the landfills of this world. On the other hand, the vision of a zero-waste business and consequent recycling relies on continuous material cycles based on permanently retaining all the materials used as raw materials.

Cradle to Cradle Certified™ goes into much greater depth than other certifications. Accredited evaluators assess the production process, the composition, the use and recycling of all the product components as well as the handling of all kinds of resources. This means that all the suppliers and their working methods and formulations are also tested. This complete certification evaluates performances in five areas: materials, material cycle management, energy, water and social responsibility.

The Cradle to Cradle® design concept, according to its founder, Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart, includes the entire history of a product’s creation right up to a complete new use of the components after they have already been used. This is the ethos behind how Bauwerk develops its parquet flooring, which can be removed after it has been used, reprocessed in the factory and then used again. Bauwerk is breaking new ground worldwide with this return system.

Bauwerk is the first wooden flooring manufacturer to have the certificate Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Gold for all its Silente parquet flooring. In addition to this, the products manufactured in Switzerland have been certified Cradle to Cradle™ Bronze since 2016. This corresponds to 67 % of the entire product range.

In order to further explore the dialogue on new concepts for the future, Bauwerk organised the Cradle to Cradle® panel discussions in Zurich, Salzburg and Berlin with industry representatives, architects and the media. The exciting highlights are summarised in a short YouTube film. This is how Bauwerk makes an important contribution not just to the health of man and nature, but also how as a leading parquet manufacturer in Europe and pioneer, it sets new standards for the whole industry.