Sustainability Certification Research Articles

Challenges in creating a sustainable building certificate for single-family housing in Denmark through an Actor-Network Theory (ANT) lens

Voluntary certification schemes are a necessary driver for sustainable transition in the building industry. In Denmark, the primary scheme is DGNB with its holistic understanding of sustainability, rewarding environmental, social, and economic sustainability equally. The DGNB scheme, however, does not currently have a manual contextualized for smaller building projects with corresponding economies, such as single-family housing. This research article explores what is needed to create and diffuse a certification scheme for small-scale building projects on the Danish market. It explores how standardized building companies present a unique opportunity for entry as they comprise a substantial market share. It also explores how enrolling a new user-base comes with new challenges, such as marketing sustainable building to ordinary people, balancing the reduction of complexity and need for documentation with retaining impact, and overcoming the knowledge gap on sustainable housing. The ambition of the research paper is to map the field of sustainability certification in the Danish building industry and help make visible some of the challenges to support the process of developing a new sustainable certification scheme for single-family housing or further development of this research field.

GreenBIM, a BIM-based LCA integration using a circular approach based on the example of the Swiss sustainability standard Minergie-ECO

There exist hundreds of sustainability certifications for the built environment. The number is expected to rise as the focus on environmental issues increases. However, these certificates are usually carried further through linear-based approaches in a late building phase. They are disconnected from the design practice, while, as shown by the ‘MacLeamy Curve’, design decisions made earlier in the building process strongly affect positive outcomes. As a result, decision-making metrics are limited and the related improvements of the building concepts are minimized. There is an opportunity to bring forward sustainability certifications metrics and benchmarks in a digital built environment. Here, a proof-of-concept of such a circular approach is presented, using the Swiss sustainability standard Minergie-ECO as an example. Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) calculations are implemented in a digital form, namely Building Information Modelling (BIM). The BIM-LCA integration demonstrates that current prevalent linear approaches can be further refined and turned into circular ones. Hence, the time and effort for their implementation are reduced, and decision-making information is brought in a structured and visual form. Moreover, architects and planners are enabled to apply sustainability metrics in their processes.

Discussion of the triple bottom line benefits of server refurbishment

With a growing legislative push towards circularity and benefits in terms of staff attraction and retention, investment and turnover to companies who can display good sustainability credentials, more and more companies in the data centre sector are interested in adopting circular economy practices. This paper outlines the benefits of this on the triple bottom line of social, environmental and cost impacts. It also identifies the best use cases for refurbished components and remanufactured machines.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and transnational hybrid governance in Ecuador’s palm oil industry

• The local institutionalization of RSPO standards shifts national and sub-national structures of environmental governance, power, and authority. • In Ecuador, palm oil governance is increasingly driven by a transnational regime of private and public institutions of governance. • The state has pursued an alternative model of governance that harmonizes private regulatory instruments with national economic plans. • Standards entrenchment has influenced community-company dynamics, public–private governing coalitions, and scalar approaches to landscape governance. • New arrangements bring about novel governance coalitions and approaches while reinscribing the exclusionary nature of palm oil governance. The expansion of Latin America’s palm oil frontier has spurred an explosion of interest in the social and environmental impacts of palm oil production. Researchers have been particularly focused on the effectiveness of global sustainability certification standards in addressing induced vulnerabilities. Only a small fraction of this research, however, analyzes how the local institutionalization of global standards has shaped national and sub-national structures of environmental governance, or regional conceptualizations of authority. It also fails to examine how the entrenchment of global standards has reworked local social relations inhering within formal and informal palm oil governing arrangements. To address these gaps, this paper draws on the case of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Ecuador to answer the following research questions: 1) How does the local introduction and institutionalization of RSPO standards (re)shape national and sub-national environmental governance structures and relations? 2) How do RSPO standards reconfigure long-standing notions of power and authority? Drawing on extended fieldwork, the paper finds that the introduction of RSPO standards has prompted three major shifts in domestic palm oil governance. These shifts are: 1) technicalization of community-company relations, 2) hybridization of governance coalitions 3) regionalization of governance efforts. Taken together, these transformations point to an emerging transnational hybrid governance regime that blends public laws with private guidelines to reach national and international sustainability objectives. The regime has enabled the emergence of new palm governance authorities in the sector yet at the same time, it has reinscribed the uneven power relations of palm oil governance. The study concludes that future research and policy efforts must go beyond simply evaluating RSPO standards in local spaces, and instead aim to improve the social relations that exist within agro-commodity chains in order to make the governance of sustainable palm oil more socially-inclusive and just.

The Impact of Sustainable Certification on Financial and Market Performance: Evidence from Indonesian Palm Oil Companies

The palm oil industry is a strategic sector that plays an important role for national economics. Although the palm oil industry's role and contribution are high, land clearing and operation are often associated with environmental and social issues. The sustainable certification was then developed to ensure that palm oil companies can continue to operate without involving environmental and social deprivation. The previous research related to the impact of a sustainable certification found several positive and negative impacts on palm oil companies' performance in general. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the impact of sustainable certification on Indonesia's palm oil companies' financial and market performance. This research focused on 14 palm oil companies in Indonesia that went public with an observation year between 2014 and 2019. Analysis through panel regression found that sustainable certification has no impact on Indonesia's palm oil companies' financial and market performance. The study could be a recommendation and justification for palm oil companies for consider to take a sustainable certification.

Eco-labels matter: Coffee consumers value agrochemical-free attributes over biodiversity conservation

Sustainability certifications, or eco-labels, inform consumers about the environmental conservation attributes of a product and must be updated to accommodate advances in scientific knowledge and changes in market conditions. We evaluated the willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainability attributes of the Bird Friendly® coffee certification and found that coffee consumers value an agrochemical-free (e.g. organic) label over a biodiversity conservation label. We designed and implemented a choice experiment where consumers choose between conventional coffee and coffee with four sustainable attributes often listed on packages: organic, pesticide-free, shade-grown, and Bird Friendly. Consumers were willing to pay a premium of $2.20 per 12 oz for Bird Friendly coffee over a conventional coffee with no sustainable attributes. Premiums are higher for organic ($5.80) or pesticide-free coffee ($3.60), and lower for shade grown coffee ($1.40). Because consumers value agrochemical management relative to other features of biodiversity, our results suggest that ecolabels can maximize consumer interest by enforcing and promoting agrochemical standards, i.e. production without pesticides, in addition to the characteristics of preserving biodiversity.

Green recovery in the mature manufacturing industry: The role of the green-circular premium and sustainability certification in innovative efforts

Sustainability is an essential goal for companies to pursue alongside their efforts to cope with a period of economic crisis and uncertainty. Technologically mature manufacturing sectors need to preserve their competitiveness, and process and product innovation may no longer be sufficient to stimulate demand. Strategic innovation is one possible option to address this challenge. However, methods to implement this new paradigm are still underexplored. This paper analyzes the Italian and Spanish ceramic tile industries as a prime example of process digitalization and environmental practices in the European manufacturing context. Through the application of multi-criteria analysis, this study aims to investigate the possibilities provided by strategic innovation to companies in this sector, in order to be able to compete with producers in emerging countries who use price strategies as the only lever of their competitiveness. To this end, dimensions relating to operations, market, economy, society and the environment are considered herein. Our results show that the multidimensionality of industrial organizations should stimulate manufacturing firms not only to look at customer needs from a price point of view, but to commit to including social and environmental attributes in their products, such as the green-circular premium and sustainability certification. These two practices represent strategic innovation. This presents a complex challenge involving widespread change that concerns entrepreneurship, management and industrial policies.

Harnessing relational values for global value chain sustainability: Reframing the roundtable on sustainable palm oil's offset mechanism to support smallholders

In credit systems, purportedly sustainable activities are undertaken in one place to compensate for unsustainable activities elsewhere. These mechanisms originated in pollution abatement systems but now are found in many sustainability programs, including supply chain certification. Credit programs are used in various sustainability certification programs to lower transaction costs, boost uptake, and direct more resources to small producers, but they are also controversial. The relational values framework argues that one way to motivate people to support sustainability efforts is to emphasize what behaviors are appropriate to specific relationships. We ask whether changing the way we think and talk about credits may be a way to direct more resources to producers or places willing to engage in sustainability certification. Using an embedded survey experiment, we test this reframing with a sample of representatives of member organizations of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). We find that the relational values reframing of the RSPO's crediting mechanism is perceived to be less confusing and potentially damaging to the standard's reputation than the existing framing. This evidence suggests that relational values frames might be helpful tools as part of efforts to improve sustainability in global value chains.

Upgrading the notion of “sustainable foods” in the European Union: concept and challenges

The article emphasizes that Ukraine, as an active exporter of agri-food products and agricultural raw materials to the European market, needs to take into account the new EU approach to categorization of products based on their sustainability indicators. The European Commission will formulate a legislative proposal on the framework of a sustainable food system, and general requirements for sustainable foods, and their certification and labeling according to sustainability indicators by the end of 2023. Based on the presently available EU documents (first of all, the Farm to Fork Strategy) the author generalizes the main principles and requirements for sustainable foods that will become standard for all foods placed on the EU market in accordance with public interests. It is substantiated that the quite new for Ukraine concept of "sustainable agri-food product" has a broader content than the concept of "eco-friendly product" or "organic product", as environmental friendliness is just one of the characteristics of sustainability, along with the climatic and social ones. The main differences between sustainable and eco-friendly/organic products are systematized. A prominent place in the article is given to the climate criterion of sustainability, in particular, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the production and supply of agricultural food (carbon footprint), which meets the target of decarbonization and achieving climate neutrality in Europe. In the context of creating a harmonized EU methodology for food sustainability, the author considers the content and components of the ecological footprint (land area used for production and utilization, water resources, carbon dioxide emissions, and food miles). The article provides global experience of voluntary certification of food sustainability, and national programs for certification of food sustainability, in particular soybeans in the USA and Canada, which testifies to the growing differentiation of the food market and a tendency towards official certification and labeling of sustainable foods. The author highlights the challenges for Ukrainian exports to the EU under the increasing requirements for the sustainability of agri-food products. In particular, high levels of greenhouse gas emissions from crops (corn and oilseeds) may lead to restrictions on their exports as raw materials for biofuel production. Tracking of chemical pesticide and antimicrobial residues in exported products is expected to be tightened, as the use of these hazardous substances in the EU should be reduced by 50% by 2030. The revealed asymmetry of the spread of the concept of "sustainable foods" between foreign (quite common) and domestic (almost absent) scientific and journalistic sources may indicate that domestic farmers might not be prepared for a timely reorientation to production and export to the EU of sustainable agri-food products. It is obvious that the better off countries will be those who manage to modernize their national agri-food systems in advance in the context of ensuring product sustainability.

Eco-Labels and Sustainable Viticulture to Avoid Environmental Impacts

Wine products have significant environmental impacts, yet sustainable practices in the wine industry have yet to be clearly defined by regulatory bodies. In the absence of regulation, some vineyards and wineries have created their own sustainable practices. Some have turned to eco-labels to showcase their dedication to the environment. This article explores the current landscape of sustainable certifications and self-assessments accessible to vineyards within the United States.

Blockchain Technology in Wine Chain for Collecting and Addressing Sustainable Performance: An Exploratory Study

Sustainability standards have not yet been commonly adopted by the whole wine chain, and indicator assessments are not widely spread. A deep understanding of how embedding sustainability into business while controlling costs related to the adoption of sustainability certification standards such as data collection and management practices could allow one to overcome most barriers relevant to sustainability compliance. Blockchain technology (BCT) may answer these needs. In order to verify BCT potential to be used as a sustainability management tool in the wine industry, with a qualitative triple bottom line research approach, this article explores the connections among BCT adoption in agri-food, issues posed by wine sustainability certification, and whether wine companies that already own a wine sustainability certification are prepared to adopt it. Results show that (1) the blockchain allows collecting data and information that are relevant for monitoring and improving sustainability: Soil and water features, climate conditions, treatment with pesticides and fertilizers, production process, traceability, transparency, labor and human rights, quality and safety, waste reduction, authenticity, relationship with stakeholders; (2) wine companies that already own a sustainability certification have little familiarity with blockchain applications (57.1%, n.21) and only 14% of the respondents support their intention to invest in BCT in the coming years; (3) the case study shows improvements in traceability and transparency along the supply chain and an increase in consumers’ trust that was reflected in sales growth, and the main costs are linked to complexity in data management.

Incremental Digital Twin Conceptualisations Targeting Data-Driven Circular Construction

The construction industry faces multiple challenges, where transition to circular production is key. Digitalisation is a strategy to increase the sector’s productivity, competitiveness, and efficiency. However, digitalisation also impacts environmental goals, such as those concerning more eco-friendly solutions, energy efficiency, products recycling, and sustainability certifications. These strategies rely on data, understood as digital, interoperable, incremental and traceable. Data related concepts, such as digital data templates (DDT) and digital building logbooks (DBL), contribute to “good data”. Despite some research focused on each one, little importance has yet been given to their combination. Relevant relationships and overlaps exist, as they partially share the exact same data through the built environment life cycle. This research aims to provide improved understanding on the role of these concepts and their contribution to a more circular industry. The review develops conceptualisations where DDT and DBL are complementary and framed within an incremental digital twin construction (DTC). Misconceptions or confrontations between these three solutions can therefore stand down, for the benefit of a data-driven priority. To increase understanding and reduce misconceptions, our study developed the “Digital data-driven concept” (D3c). This concept contribution is the ability to structure, store, and trace data, opening way to streamlined digital transformation impacting circular built environment concerns.

Do Sustainability Standards Exclude Small Farms? Modelling the Kenyan Floricultural Sector

This study simultaneously addresses two issues: (a) defining what counts as ‘small farms’ in the rose sector, taking the geographical and socioeconomic context into account and (b) whether the requests for certification form barriers for small farms. We focus on small farms, as they are of fundamental importance for social and economic development and significantly contribute to the environmental sustainability of agriculture and land use. An agent-based model is used for analyzing an agricultural production and supply chain. The model identifies the minimum farm size needed to cover increased costs due to sustainability certifications. The model is applied to the case study of rose production in Kenya. Kenya is one of the world’s leading flower producers. Almost all Kenya’s floricultural production is exported, and the export of stem roses accounts for about 80% by weight of Kenya’s floricultural exports. Environmental and social sustainability certification is increasingly required for farms, especially those in developing countries that want to export their products. Our findings suggest that sustainability standards disadvantage small Kenyan rose farms and constitute a further obstacle to their entry into the international rose market. In this specific context, standards limit market access for farms smaller than 4 hectares. The agent-based model proposed in this study can be adjusted to help determine the definition of ‘small farms’ in need of extra support in other sectors.

Octopus djinda (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae): a new member of the Octopus vulgaris group from southwest Australia.

A new Octopus Cuvier, 1797 species, Octopus djinda Amor, 2021 (previously treated as O. cf. tetricus and O. aff. tetricus), is described from the shallow waters off southwest Australia. This species was classified as conspecific with O. tetricus Gould, 1852 from Australias east coast and New Zealand but is shown here to be morphologically and genetically distinct. This description is based on 25 individuals across three localities in southwest Australia, encompassing most of its distribution. Greater and non-overlapping sucker counts on the males hectocotylised arm delimit east and west coast forms. DNA barcoding using cytochrome c oxidase subunit I also successfully differentiates between these taxa; 13 polymorphisms along a 349 bp partial fragment (3.7% sequence divergence). A close relative of the O. vulgaris Cuvier, 1797 species-group, O. djinda, sp. nov. supports a highly productive fishery and is currently one of two octopod fisheries worldwide to have received sustainable certification from the Marine Stewardship Council. The taxonomic description presented here provides formal recognition of the taxonomic status of southwest Australias common octopus, O. djinda, sp. nov. and facilitates appropriate fisheries catch reporting and management.

Facade Design Process to Establish and Achieve Net Zero Carbon Building Targets

As more stringent building energy codes and sustainability certification goals have become more prevalent in recent years, a focus for many building designers has been reducing the operational energy with the objective of reaching net-zero energy targets. More recently, as the efficiency in operational energy use has increased significantly, the focus is moving towards the environmental impact of building materials, primarily reflected in the embodied energy and emissions, and the potential (re)life options that allow circular material flows and reduced global warming potential. This paper investigates a methodology applied during early and advanced design development phases to assess and compare different façade typology carbon emissions. Embodied carbon is evaluated through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis, and operational carbon is analysed during the service life of the office building through energy simulation. Results show that overall carbon assessment of different facade solution can provide useful design feedback in the decision-making process.

From checking boxes to actual improvement: A new take on sustainability certification

Sustainability certification has established itself as an important approach to ensure responsible production, allowing retailers and consumers to differentiate between products while also providing companies in controversial industries with a means to demonstrate accountability. Based on interviews, fieldwork, and document studies of private sustainability standards for the salmon aquaculture industry, this paper explores the implications of employing private, global regulatory instruments with standardized criteria to address such complex systems, and the potential for improved utilization of these instruments. The findings illustrate how a new conceptualization of certification, which moves away from a technocentric approach, is needed to ensure that the continuous development of these standards in fact constitutes improvement. What this calls for is abandoning the prevailing checkbox mentality, if certification is to remain such a dominating strategy to better aquaculture and other resource-intensive industries.

Single-Cell Oils from Oleaginous Microorganisms as Green Bio-Lubricants: Studies on Their Tribological Performance

Biolubricants refer to eco-friendly, biodegradable, and non-toxic lubricants. Their applications are still limited compared to mineral oils; however, their sustainable credentials are making them increasingly attractive. Vegetable oils are frequently used for this purpose. However, vegetable oils have issues of low lipid productivity, dependence on climatic conditions, and need for agricultural land. Microbial oils represent a more sustainable alternative. To ensure their widespread applicability, the suitability of microbial oils from a physicochemical point of view needs to be determined first. In this study, oils obtained from various oleagenic microbes—such as microalgae, thraustochytrids, and yeasts—were characterized in terms of their fatty acid profile, viscosity, friction coefficient, wear, and thermal stability. Oleaginous microalgal strains (Auxenochlorella protothecoides and Chlorella sorokiniana), thraustochytrids strains (Aurantiochytrium limacinum SR21 and Aurantiochytrium sp. T66), and yeast strains (Rhodosporidium toruloides and Cryptococcus curvatus) synthesized 64.5%, 35.15%, 47.89%, 47.93%, 56.42%, and 52.66% of lipid content, respectively. Oils from oleaginous microalgae (A. protothecoides and C. sorokiniana) and yeasts (R. toruloides and C. curvatus) possess excellent physicochemical and tribological qualities due to high amount of monounsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid C18:1 content, 56.38%, 58.82%, 46.67%, 38.81%) than those from oleaginous thraustochytrids (A. limacinum SR21 and Aurantiochytrium sp. T66; 0.96%, 0.08%, respectively) supporting their use as renewable and biodegradable alternatives to traditional mineral oil-based lubricants. Oil obtained from microalgae showed a lower friction coefficient than oils obtained from yeasts and thraustochytrids.

Enhancing the Engineering Properties of Subgrade Materials Using Processed Waste: A Review

Subgrade materials refer to the original ground underneath a road pavement, when these materials are made up of expansive soil it is referred to as expansive subgrade. Sometimes, these materials do not have sufficient capacity to support the weight of the road pavement and traffic load, which means they require some form of modification and re-engineering to enhance their load capacity. Chemical modification techniques using traditional stabilisers (such as cement and lime) have proved to be an effective means of subgrade stabilisation. However, high costs and environmental concerns associated with the use and production of these additives have highlighted the need for more sustainable and environmentally friendly substitutes. This study reviews the use of industrial by-products and other waste materials used for subgrade stabilisation, focusing on the sustainability of using processed wastes and how they alter the engineering properties of weak subgrade, compared to the use of cement and also reviews the availability of processed waste materials in quantities sufficient to meet the current demand for subgrade stabilisation. The findings illustrate that, processed waste is less expensive and has better sustainability credentials compared to cement. Moreover, processed wastes are available in sufficient quantities to meet existing demands for subgrade stabilisation. Therefore, it is recommended that the use of processed wastes should be promoted and utilised to improve and enhance the geotechnical properties of weak subgrade materials where possible.

Performance gaps of sustainability features in green award-winning university buildings

Sustainability certifications like BREEAM, LEED, and China's sustainable green building award certification scheme encourage installation of technologies that save mains water and grid electricity. Among these are rainwater harvesting systems, ultralow water use appliances, photovoltaic panel systems, and intelligent building management systems. In reviewing the performance of two award-winning university buildings over respective periods of sixteen and four years, we found that such systems delivered only 28–71% of their potential resource savings. These performance gaps arose from various technical and social issues (pump failures, tank leakages, poor alignment of demand and supply with limited storage, low photovoltaic panel efficiency, poor user acceptance, etc.), but the consequences were exacerbated by inadequate asset management that resulted in long system downtimes, in some cases for 2–5 years. Repair, maintenance, and upgrading expenses then combined with lower than anticipated water and electricity bill savings that ultimately meant that, for the most part, there was no prospect of earning a return on capital expenditures. Continuous monitoring of building water consumption by an external service provider was the most effective resource and cost saving solution in this study, as it required no capital expenditure, and revealed a 1640 l/h leakage, without putting high demands on the building management. In contrast, little value was obtained from 25 water-related sensors installed as part of a “building-as-a-lab” project because of inadequate post hand-over support. Robust post-commissioning operation should become a key criterion for sustainable building innovation, and this should be reflected in green awards and rating systems.

Challenges faced by smallholders in achieving sustainable palm oil certification in Indonesia

• Smallholder sustainability certification offers the potential of more equitable and ecologically sustainable oil palm cultivation. • All of the independent smallholders studied face significant challenges in achieving certification. • Certain types of farmers, however, have greater advantages in achieving certification than others due to historical policies and programs. • Ensuring that larger numbers of smallholders attain certification requires addressing the structural disadvantages of independent smallholders. Reducing tropical deforestation caused by the expansion of agricultural and other commodities requires effective and equitable interventions for engaging small-scale producers. Interventions should reduce deforestation and environmental degradation while improving the welfare of rural households. Voluntary, sustainability certification schemes provide clear pathways and incentives for both large scale and small-scale producers to move towards more sustainable and inclusive commodity production. Although the benefits of certification to many small-scale commodity producers are debated, the certification of oil palm smallholders can provide ecological and social benefits under the right conditions. There are significant challenges for smallholders, in particular independent smallholders, to achieve certification. In this article, we evaluate the certification process of 1280 oil palm, independent smallholders and identify the main challenges they faced in achieving certification. We then analyze a dataset over 6261 farmers in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia to estimate which farmers are likely to face obstacles in achieving sustainability certification. The results of the study indicate that farmers that have been excluded by historical planning and agricultural extension programs as well as smallholder plantation schemes are disproportionately disadvantaged in comparison with farmers that were supported by these schemes. The results demonstrate that without the involvement of government and support from non-government or private sector actors, independent smallholders are unlikely to achieve voluntary, sustainability certification. To avoid the exclusion of smallholders from supply chains, a systematic effort would be required to overcome many of these structural disadvantages. Novel, multi-stakeholder approaches, in which the private sector and civil society organizations collaborate with subnational governments, may assist in overcoming these challenges.