How do you make sustainability measurable? The Greenworks score by Raab Karcher
How sustainable are your construction materials and products? That is a question Raab Karcher’s customers were already asking Gerhard Hospers before the Dutch construction sector became familiar with concepts such as environmental performance, MPG and circular construction. Through trial and error, and with support from various sustainability experts, Raab Karcher developed a ‘pragmatic’ sustainability label based on data from the Dutch Environmental Database.
“Greenworks is not intended as a standalone certification scheme, unlike other labels,” says Gerhard Hospers, Deputy Director of Greenworks. “It is essentially a collection of existing information, brought together in a product sheet that combines sustainability and technical data. The aim is to provide a clear and accessible overview of a product’s level of sustainability in its application.
The product is assessed on ten material and product characteristics. The assessment is derived from LCA methodology. The level of sustainability is expressed in a score. The product sheet and the Greenworks score provide quick and direct insight into the sustainability performance of the product.”
What does the Greenworks score represent? How sustainable is a product with a high score?
“The maximum Greenworks score is 20. Together with our suppliers, we agreed that a Greenworks product should never perform worse than the average product within its application area, as reflected in environmental costs in MPG calculation tools. This is the first criterion for awarding the Greenworks label. As a result, 80% of Greenworks products fall into the category of products with a very low environmental impact. If you use Greenworks products, you will see that you remain well within the required standards.”
Do you have a personal interest in sustainability?
“I’m not a born sustainability enthusiast, but due to questions from customers, Raab Karcher started focusing on sustainability as early as 2005. Our CEO saw potential in developing a sustainability label for our customers, on the condition that it would be careful, pragmatic and accessible. On that basis, I got started and in 2009 I contacted policymakers at the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.
During a meeting in The Hague, I learned that the ministry was working on including environmental performance requirements in the Building Decree. It immediately became clear to me that our label should align with this, while also requiring a practical translation.
The Building Decree itself is not particularly accessible or engaging, and for our customers it is not a direct source of information for their sustainability questions. This marked the start of our search for a pragmatic approach. Through the ministry, I connected with several sustainability experts, and together we formed a kind of sounding board group.
The challenge of developing an approach that would be less complex than the LCA methodology ultimately led to an assessment system based on ten sustainable material and production characteristics. Based on this, we launched Greenworks in 2011.”
What distinguishes the Greenworks label from other labels?
“We consider Life Cycle Assessment methodology as the foundation for evaluating the sustainability of products. This is not always the case with other labels. Some are partly based on LCA, while others are not. We have translated the LCA into ten material and production characteristics. This allows our customers to choose, for example, whether they want to work with biobased products, products made from recycled materials, or products that are demountable. In this way, customers can easily compare and select products based on sustainable criteria.
Our label is not intended to compete with other labels or certification schemes. Certificates and labels that a product has obtained are also included on the product sheet, such as the Cradle to Cradle certificate, the FSC label and the Dubo label.”
In addition to the green table with the Greenworks score, the product information sheet also includes a blue table with comfort characteristics. What is the purpose of this blue table?
“We received many positive responses to our Greenworks approach. At the same time, our customers are also interested in other product characteristics. That is why, alongside the environmental assessment, we have added information on comfort aspects. These are divided into thermal comfort, sound insulation, visual comfort, indoor air quality and economic aspects, such as service life.
In this way, the product sheet provides a clear and comprehensive overview of both the environmental performance and the comfort characteristics of the product.”
How do you see the future of Greenworks?
“The recognition of Greenworks among contractors has now reached 88%. Around 43% of Raab Karcher’s sales consist of Greenworks products. Our ‘green’ product range is performing slightly better than our ‘grey’ range. Each year, we inform our customers about the total turnover of the products they have purchased and what percentage of that consists of Greenworks products. We then sit down together to discuss how the share of Greenworks products can be increased, without leading to higher costs.
I see the future quite positively. We aim to become an integrated knowledge partner for the construction and installation sector, to supply more prefabricated building elements, and to collaborate more closely with our installation partners Wasco and Oosterberg in the areas of heating, ventilation, cooling and electrical solutions. In particular, there is still significant potential for sustainability improvements in the installations sector.”
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