The public procurement market in Europe seems set to adopt new EU directives that give a higher status to product labels, standards and certifications, including sustainability labels and ecolabels. The new directives were adopted in February 2014 and EU members are now in a two year phase-in period as the New Procurement Directives are transposed into national legislation by early 2016.

The new directives make explicit reference to the role of labels, including sustainability labels, in technical specifications, award criteria or contract performance conditions in the tendering process. This is recognition of the important role of labels in achieving sustainability aims.

Europe has always been the trendsetter on the sustainability front, and so apart from direct implications for public procurement in Europe, this is a good indication of the things to follow in other sectors in Europe and around the world.

With a dearth of regulations on the products front, the emergence of these initiatives is most welcome for triggering a much needed change in this area. With growing concerns over the hordes of non-compliant products entering into Australia, labels and certifications offer a level of assurance on the quality of the product, including its sustainability credentials. Read more at The Fifth Estate.

It’s out with the old and in with the new for Green Star rating tools, though there will certainly be a transition period in between.

As the Green Building Council of Australia begins to streamline its systems for rating a range of different building projects, the previous ratings tools have now been relegated to ‘legacy’ status. This means new projects seeking a Green Star rating won’t be using the legacy tools, but existing projects that have already applied for certification or register before December 2015 can continue under the older tools.

So what’s different under the new tools that the GBCA is rolling out?

With the release of the new tools, category weightings have been removed, some new credits (such as the Sustainable Products, Life Cycle Impacts, or Responsible Materials credits) have been created, and a new sustainable products calculator has been developed which replaces the materials and fitout calculators. Read more at Sourceable

There are the building products that have a lower impact on the environment: the low-VOC paints, the timber from sustainably-managed forests, the insulation made from recycled glass waste. And then there are those building products that really stand out as being a step ahead of the rest, with a fresh approach to product manufacturing that shows a newer, better way to build. Here are five examples that turn common building products into showcases of environmental innovation:

A panel board made from straw

We’re probably all familiar with panel boards made from fibre cement, plasterboard, gypsum, and even wood, plastics, and metals – but what about straw? German-founded company Novofibre manufactures a unique ‘oriented structural straw board’ made from wheat straw fibre and a formaldehyde-free adhesive. The panels are lightweight but strong, elastic and malleable, and confer both sound and thermal insulation benefits too. The boards use wheat straw that would normally be burned as agricultural waste, and therefore avoid the resulting CO2 emissions and the need to cut down trees to produce the boards. Read the full article on the DesignBUILD blog.

Parramatta City Council recently chose to use GECA certified furniture from Aspect Furniture Systems for its new Rydalmere Operations Centre. The council chose the 'Zurich 4' workstation, which is certified under GECA's Furniture, Fittings and Foam standard, demonstrating a lower environmental, health and social impact.

Aspect was selected as the successful tenderer thanks to its experience and capability to supply, as well as its flexible, modular systems that are adaptable over the life of the product. Environmental credentials also played a crucial role: Aspect was chosen on the strength of its product being certified against GECA's standard.

"Aspect contributed significantly during the specification and final design stages, taking conceptual briefs through to finished products for several items," said Grant Kennerley of Aspect Furniture. "The entire project was delivered extremely successfully, on time throughout all programme milestones." Read more.

With every new manufacturer or supplier who comes on board with GECA, there are more ways you can choose products that have a lower environmental and human health impact, and are socially responsible too.

DesignBUILD 2015 is now less than two weeks away! Have you registered yet? It's on at Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park from 28 - 30 April.

DesignBUILD is the only dedicated architecture, building and design trade event in Australia. Professionals in the architecture, design and building industries look to DesignBUILD as the leading source of new products, materials and solution ideas and industry trends. The event also serves as an important business platform for suppliers, buyers and distributors to connect, share learnings, and do business.

GECA will be presenting a speaker session at the event, titled "What's the value of third party certification?" chaired by our National Business Development Manager, Bobby Ali-Khan. Come and listen on Wednesday the 29th of April.

Furniture company Koskela has been featured in the latest issue of sustainable living and fashion magazine, Peppermint. Koskela produces well-designed furniture with a focus on having a lower environmental impact, and much of their range is GECA certified.

In the article, Koskela founders Russel Koskela and Sasha Titchkosky discuss, among other things, their ultimate goal to go carbon neutral. "It's really important to us, as we are creators of more 'stuff' on the planet," Sasha says to Peppermint. "We think we have an obligation to think about the impact our pieces have on the planet and design responsibly."

Read the full article in the Autumn 2015 issue of Peppermint, available from these stockists.