Leaving behind an intact environment and quality of life for future generations is rightly becoming increasingly important to property owners and developers. They emphasise the need for sustainability, ecological building and healthy building products. You no longer have to be an expert to identify these. Eco certificates are also reliable guideposts for the layman: Whether it is the "Blaue Engel" or "Blue Angel", probably the most well-known eco-label in Germany, E1/2, "Nordic Swan", "F Four Star" or LEED, the official certification­ procedure for Green Building projects – the wood-based panel manufacturer Pfleiderer based in Neumarkt, Germany has all of them in its product range.

Green Building: "Livingboard" sets the standard for wood-based panels

"As far as we are aware, we are currently still the only supplier on the market that is able to meet the high LEED requirements with our standard product range", says Claus Seemann, who is responsible for core material product management at Pfleiderer. Under these requirements, where possible, decorative wood-based panels used in a Green Building project should not be bonded with urea-formaldehyde resin. This is the case with Pfleiderer's "Livingboard". In this way the classic PMDI-bonded ecological building product also satisfies the highest standards of room climate quality.

Japanese 4-star standard now available in Europe too

However, the strictest requirements for wood-based panels are currently those in Japan. There the non plus ultra is emission class F**** (F Four Star), whose limit lies far below that of emission class E1. Products certified to JIS A 5905 F**** (Japanese Industrial Standard) emit around two thirds less formaldehyde into their surroundings. In Europe, Pfleiderer is the first wood-based panel manufacturer to not only obtain this certificate for its raw particleboards, but also for its medium-density fibreboards (MDF) – and therefore for the complete raw core product range made in-house.

"Nordic Swan" for sustainable and environmentally friendly management

The wood-based panel manufacturer also has a pioneering role in Germany with the "Nordic Swan" ecolabel. This certificate is particularly well-respected in Scandinavian countries, but it is also considered to be a reliable identifying marking worldwide that a company manages sustainably and environmentally. At the beginning of 2013, independent experts confirmed this for the first time at the Pfleiderer Baruth location, after they had audited the complete added-value chain there for the StyleBoard MDF CARB2.

Wood exclusively from sustainable forestry

In order for wood-based panels to be able to carry the "Nordic Swan" label, among other things, it is also necessary to prove that the wood used comes from sustainable forestry– "which goes without saying for Pfleiderer", explains Seemann. "After all, all our wood-based panel production locations are FSC certified. The products from German plants also carry the PEFC label." All Pfleiderer locations in Germany and most in Poland are also certified to the international environmental management standard ISO 14001, which defines environmental management system requirements that are recognised worldwide. The wood-based panel manufacturer also has a particularly efficient energy management system: In Germany all plants are already certified to the EN ISO 50001 standard.