Consumer guarantee

The guarantees of a certified product

When we talk about Green Housing, concepts often come up automatically in connection with various related disciplines: a bio-architect speaks about the “beauty of architecture”, a medical specialist stresses the benefits of bio-stone, a Biopietra producer bears witness to the zero environmental impact, a builder reports the growing demand for bio materials by the final consumer. A world of undeniable benefits.
 But are there tangible guarantees for the customer who chooses to build or renovate his house with bio materials?
 Certainly. There are certification authorities, first of all, working on the consumer’s behalf. The Italian System of Certification of Materials for Green Housing was founded in 2004 by an agreement signed between the Institute for Ethical and Environmental Certification (ICEA) and the National Association for Bio-Ecological Architecture (ANAB), following recognition of the growing environmental and social problems associated with the production and use of building materials. The ANAB-ICEA system currently includes 17 companies, Kerma being one, and more than 50 certified products, including the entire Biopietra collection, ranging from insulating panels in natural materials to pore tiles, from mortars and plasters to perlite and expanded clay, from natural lime to rebuilt stones.
Sometimes we do not really know how “safe” our house or office is, although we pass most of our day there. We do not know the pollution level, its causes and its main effects on human health. The air we breathe in our houses, offices and schools (where we spend 90% of our time) is often more polluted than the air outside. The pollutants can be of biological origin (moulds, bacteria, fungi, pollens, etc.), of chemical origin (carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, various anhydrides, volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, toluene, benzene, styrene, isocyanides, etc.) and of the physical type (radon gas, natural and artificial electromagnetic fields). The effect of these pollutants on the health of inhabitants has long been the focus for bio-medical science. As far back as 1987, the World Health Organization recognized and defined the Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) as “a set of not specific but repetitive symptoms of a general ailment reported by occupants of particular buildings”; for example, sealed environments equipped with air conditioning whose symptoms disappear when the occupant leaves the building.

Building Related Illness (BRI) is, on the other hand, a set of symptoms that occur in one or more occupants of the same building, often referring to a specific etiological factor in the air (that triggers the disease) in a confined environment and identified by a long recovery time.

A true journey of environmental discovery that welcomes us every day; so familiar, yet often so unknown. Indeed, we believe that polluting substances are frequently associated with very common “sources”, such as building materials, materials and products for trimmings, elements for furnishing and accoutrements, air conditioning and heating systems, consumer products for the cleaning and maintenance of our environments. Choosing certified materials means aiming for superior quality of life and restoring the human being to the centrality he deserves.