World's first CO2-storing material flow design - Brand-defining terrain furniture as a CO2 depot
CO2-neutral production, Cradle-to-Cradle-certified recycling material and wood residues, one-component construction and the ability to dismantle the components, digital tracking and a return agreement ensure an outdoor bench that lasts 30 years, offers guests a lasting experience of nature, and its design reflects the Weimarer Land region Tourism marks, costs 70% less in the life cycle and ensures that CO2 is stored for 100 years in the first closed cradle-to-cradle material flow.
Regional
Germany
Thuringia
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
Yes
2022-10-07
As a representative of an organization, in partnership with other organisations
Name of the organisation(s): RITTWEGER und TEAM GmbH Type of organisation: For-profit company First name of representative: Thomas Last name of representative: Heinick Gender: Male Nationality: Germany Function: project coordinator Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Rittweger und Team GmbH, Anger 24 Town: Erfurt Postal code: 99084 Country: Germany Direct Tel:+49 361 5505600 E-mail:thomas-heinick@rittweger-team.de Website:https://www.rittweger-team.de/
The Weimarer Land region stands for originality, authenticity, diversity of inspiration and development and is a source of ideas for well-known designers from the past to this day. A uniform, attractive and sustainable site furniture on hiking and cycling paths should make this heritage architecturally tangible, make the tourism brand spatially more consciously perceptible and transfer its identity into the future. The tourist goal is to improve the comfort of visitors while at the same time relieving the municipal authorities of the care and maintenance of the grounds. The project shows how medium-term CO2 storage (over 100 years) in products and material cycles already works today without social and environmental risks. At the same time, examples are shown of how a new dimension of tourism climate protection can look like, which goes far beyond the usual levers such as efficiency, avoidance and compensation concepts in the industry.
The main features and project goals were as follows:
- Increasing the experience factor and the comfort of the stay extended useful life
- Embossing the regional setting of the "Weimarer Land" brand
- Conservation of resources and entry into circular planning and Obtaining from municipalities
- Net zero CO2 emissions in production
- Carbon storage in long-lasting products & materials
- Return after end of use and further use of the Materials without downcycling
- Relief for municipal authorities through reduced maintenance and repair costs
The main features of the "Silva" bench are:
- CO2 neutral production
- Use of Cradle to Cradle® certified recycled materials
and wood scraps
- One-component construction and demountability of the components
- digital tracking and take-back agreement ensure an outdoor bench
- Your design marks the area backdrop of Weimarer Land Tourism.
- 70% lower life cycle costs in 30 years
- CO2 is measured over 100 years in the first closed Cradle to Cradle® Material flow saved.
Development of the product design from a material flow
Conception of the fully automated material processing when it is taken back by the manufacturer
Digital tracking process to ensure the quality of material returns
Modeling of the Carbon storage in long-lasting products & materials potential based on three life cycles with a depot effect of over 100 years
Development of a material passport with sustainable performance data
The following important sustainability goals were pursued by the project:
- Conservation of resources and entry into circular planning and
Obtaining from municipalities
- Net zero CO2 emissions in production
- Carbon storage in long-lasting products & materials effect
- Return after end of use and further use of the
Materials without downcycling
- Relief for the municipal authorities through reduced maintenance and maintenance costs
Materials used in the "Silva" bench:
Composite GCC (German Compact Composite):
- 75% wood content from shavings from wood processing
PEFC-certified silviculture
- 25% polymer content in the GCC - leftovers from the first industrial application
Made from 100% recycled and recycled materials
- Securing the availability of raw materials
- No other raw materials have to be taken from nature.
- Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Gold status
- even platinum status in the area of material health
- The CO2 stored in the processed wood residues remains in the material flow.
- CO2 is extracted from the atmosphere during the manufacturing process
and stored in the product
- At the end of its useful life after 30 years, the material is replaced by the
manufacturer returned to the material flow
- Material can be recycled up to 5 times without downcycling.
- CO2 remains stored in the material flow for at least 100 years.
This is currently the most sensible and effective way of countering climate change. Simply avoiding, reducing and offsetting CO2 emissions is not enough to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement.
Sustainability that pays off
- Reduced the total cost of terrain furniture by 20,000 €
- Total cost of a standard wooden bench over 30 years: 28,800 €
Total costs of the "Silva" bank over 30 years: 8,800 €
- Net zero CO2 emissions according to life cycle assessment for the whole
Life cycle of the bank "Silva"
The project, which was carried out as part of the preparation of the future tourism concept 2030 of the Weimarer Land Tourismus, aims to strengthen the tourist area scenery in rural areas. In this way, new arrival and adventure points are to be created for guests who are on foot or by bike, or who simply want to use the landscape as a place to relax.
The "Silva" bench has the following design features:
The bank is based on a well thought-out design concept that combines aesthetics, sustainability and community benefits - in the spirit of the New European Bauhaus. As a model project, it is currently the only project suitable for the New European Bauhaus Initiative that creates a direct connection to the origins of the Bauhaus in Weimar.
With its design-oriented design, it stands out from the usual classic, very rustic-looking wooden benches at rest and hiking areas and impresses with its conciseness.
The functionality and the feel increase the experience factor, while the design increases the recognition value in Thuringia. The look is closely based on the brand character and thus characterizes the regional setting of the Weimarer Land. The formative design element is the hexagon from the brand design, which symbolizes natural balance, diverse compatibility and open scope for development. At the same time, the shape reflects the reduction to a closed material flow.
The selected composite material GCC is maintenance and disposal-free. Due to the material properties, the service life is extended from approx. 10 to 30 years.
The one-component design with pure material (metal-free) connection points as a plug-in system guarantees complete dismantling and residue-free and type-specific recyclability.
In further planning are 100 benches, which will be set up at selected waypoints by 2024 in cooperation with municipalities and companies in the Weimar region. They should act as a Germany-wide model for the sustainable future of site furniture.
The "Silva" benches support the idea of inclusion because they are located in public places and scenic places and can be used free of charge by all passers-by who take a break there and invite people of all social classes and everyone as a meeting and communication meeting place ages, with and without restrictions. In terms of material, the benches are very easy to care for and can be used again quickly even after it has rained. Due to its construction, with the armrests, even people with disabilities have the opportunity to support themselves when sitting down or standing up independently.
During the course of the project, the Federal German Working Group for Environmental Management (B.A.U.M.) e. V., a non-profit association that has been working as a nationwide network for a future worth living through sustainable management for 38 years, as a technical consultant for the project. The focus of his work is the establishment and further development of sustainability strategies based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations and the Paris Climate Protection Agreement. With more than 700 members, B.A.U.M. e. V. possible to network a wide variety of actors from all areas such as business, politics, science and the media. As a partner, they support companies and projects with practice-oriented information and experience exchange, as well as know-how and provide impetus for the transformation to a social-ecological market economy. Within the framework of the project, tourism studies that were carried out with the involvement of users of tourism offers were also taken into account.
The project was commissioned by the regional tourism association Weimarer Land, which brings together 58 cities, municipalities, hosts and tourism companies and has the task of playing a leading role in shaping tourism in the region and its marketing. RITTWEGER and TEAM were commissioned to implement the project conceptually and in terms of content. We have been dealing with the topics of sustainable product design, circular construction, sustainability reporting and CO2 balancing for many years. The project benefited greatly from these many years of experience. The project was technically supported during implementation by the B.A.U.M. e.V. (Federal German Working Group for Sustainable Management), a partner of the "New European Bauhaus" initiative.
The project results can be adapted 100% nationally and internationally.
The following disciplines, areas of knowledge and professional experience were used to implement the project:
- Development of tourism concepts
- Staging of tourist experience spaces
- Strategies for tourism product development
- Integration of foundation and common good concepts
- Participatory project development
- Development of tourism brands
- Development of management approaches to CO2 neutral
production and the circular economy
- Product development in terms of a circular economy
- Development of sustainability strategies
- Visualization and modeling of visions, strategies, architectural design concepts and processes
- Interdisciplinary planning of CO2-neutral or climate-positive urban and outdoor furniture
- Material selection according to Cradle to Cradle®
- Moderation of participatory processes to develop new ones approaches
- Sustainability communication for energy-efficient products and technologies
- Product design for sustainable outdoor furniture
The project carried out was strictly based on the principles of the New European Bauhaus:
- the reconnection with nature
- regain the sense of belonging
- the support and prioritization of the places and people who make it need the most
- the design of a circular industrial ecosystem and Life cycle thinking support
The project results make an important contribution to achieving the European goals set for achieving climate neutrality by 2050, have a role model effect and can be adapted worldwide.
The project results make an important contribution to achieving the European goals set for achieving climate neutrality by 2050, have a role model effect and can be adapted worldwide.
This project shows how Carbon storage in long-lasting products & materials (over 100 years) in products and material cycles already works today without social and environmental risks.
At the same time, examples are shown of how a new dimension of tourism climate protection can look like, which goes far beyond the usual levers such as efficiency, avoidance and compensation concepts in the industry.
The project result achieved and the future use of the "Silva" bench lead to a significant cost reduction by changing the life cycle character. The choice of material for these new hiking benches is innovative and sustainable. They create a closed C2C material cycle with a secure return concept and recycling. This model project for long-term CO2 storage in material flows (over 100 years) meets the requirements of the IPPC (International Climate Council) from the World Climate Report of August 9th, 2021: "The use of CDR (carbon dioxide removal, CO2 storage, etc. in products) to compensate Hard-to-degrade residual emissions are inevitable if net-zero emissions are to be achieved."
Methodologically, this project used Cradle to Cradle ("from the cradle to the cradle"), one of the leading future-oriented design concepts. Designing products in cycles and developing new business models for the circular economy unleashes completely new growth potential. With the change from the previous linear economy to circular value creation, not only does the way products are designed and manufactured change, but also their design processes, sales channels, customer communication, etc. The concept uses nature as a model for the life cycle of products and forms the basis for an eternal nutrient cycle. Materials are reused for new products or returned to nature, resources and values are preserved for people and the environment. Circular economy according to the Cradle to Cradle principle goes far beyond previous models of sustainability, such as recycling or energy efficiency.
The focus of the circular economy is no longer the reduction of resource consumption, but rather the preservation of materials in almost infinite material cycles. The Cradle to Cradle design concept builds on this new economic principle of eco-effectiveness and also focuses on the effects of materials and ingredients on human health and the environment. Classic areas such as product design and development, marketing and sales are therefore facing a change that is no longer characterized by a pressure between efficiency/reduction on the one hand and profit/maximization on the other, but is filled with meaning, creativity, innovation and quality.
Both the methodology used in project implementation and the sustainable and resource-saving project results, both conceptually and process- and product-oriented, can be adopted 1 to 1 for other sustainability projects.
This sustainable model project for a tourist region in the German state of Thuringia offers a resource-saving, innovative and practicable solution that counteracts global climate change, reduces CO2 emissions and makes an important contribution to achieving the targeted climate goals. Furthermore, the concept supports sustainable tourism, creates new adventure and arrival points and is available to people free of charge. This local and sustainable tourism solution is conceptually scalable worldwide to the different regions and their special features, can be adapted and used everywhere.
