Organic floor coverings, provided they are organically produced , include cork, flax (from which linseed oil is pressed for linoleum), eucalyptus, bamboo, hemp, jute, cotton, wool, and hair (with animal welfare considerations when choosing wool and/or goat/cashmere hair). Besides sustainability, wear resistance, the subfloor, fire safety, and the emission of harmful substances also play a significant role.
Hard floor finishes can be made with hemp and bamboo, but also soft finishes, where a fabric is made from the fibres.
Certifications in addition to the LCA and EPD are:
. Blue Angel (Germany) 'the German Eco-label'. For low emissions and environmentally friendly floor coverings.
Cradle to Cradle (C2C) focuses primarily on reusability/circularity and material health.
100% biobased paint means that the binder, solvent, and fillers are all derived from renewable, natural raw materials. This can be achieved with:
There are brands that are (almost or completely) 100% biobased and work without synthetic additives.
For the production of biobased lighting, techniques are used that are very similar to those used in sustainable furniture construction – but applied on a smaller, often finer scale. The emphasis is on biobased materials, energy-efficient LED technology and artisanal or digital manufacturing processes. Production methods and use of materials:
PLA (from corn starch or sugar cane) is malleable, translucent and 100% biobased.
Available in custom work, small editions, organic shapes.
Ideal for lampshades: diffuse light, warm appearance.
Fully compostable after use.
Applied manually or semi-mechanically to lampshades.
Artisanal look, often combined with local craftsmanship.
Precision work with CNC technology, laser cutting or traditional woodturning.
Organic textile types made with raw materials grown in Europe are linen, jute, wool, eucalyptus and bamboo. There are now companies and initiatives that are resuming the processing of these products and contributing to the reintroduction of natural dyes in the textile industry, resulting in environmentally friendly and sustainable products.
Curtains and other textile decoration must meet fire requirements and have an LCA/EPD certification if they are explicitly included as a fixed part of a building in the design and are required for the MPG calculation. (Avoid synthetic materials because of the fossil oil base.)
Examples include:
A green roof
for both water buffering and plant growth to promote biodiversity. Plants are on and in biodegradable materials such as sheep wool and cork. Often combined with solar panels or solar tiles as a sustainable energy generator.
Sun protection
High-quality insulation, (wooden) blinds and/or shutters on the outside. And preferably facade planting and/or trees on the sunny side. The architecture, south-facing glass panels and/or applying overhangs for shade and sun protection, plays a very important role in this.
Regenerative means: it not only contributes to less damage to the environment (as 'sustainable' often means), but actively restores or improves ecosystems. Think of materials that store CO₂, improve the soil or stimulate biodiversity during cultivation or production.
Facades, walls and other surfaces and products made of hemp (insulation), (breathable) clay plaster or lime plaster, (recycled) wood or bio-based composite, bamboo, linoleum, cork, etc.
For example: a wall panel made of locally grown hemp fibers or non-edible residual fibers from food forests, (for example pepper stalks) bound with a natural binder and naturally dyed or coated, produced in a factory that runs on solar energy and that returns residual materials to agriculture as compost. That panel is regenerative and biobased.
Wilma Dijkgraaf-Hofmeijer is the initiator of ®SuperBio's.
©SuperBio's is the answer to the need for quality, visibility and connection between demand and supply: a platform where makers can present themselves in an accessible and aesthetically well-thought-out way.
'We have the best design decade ever before us.' And in this way we want to contribute to the speed of the transition with exclusively biobased and nature-based interior design. With this we support both the makers, their interests and those of (interior) architects and prescribers.
The organization behind the website works objectively and neutrally. We do not do resell activities.
SPRBio'S Collective
A selection of Productmakers from Superbio's platform participates in a (trade fair) collective. Makers are invited and can also spontaneously express their interest to participate collectively.
ProductMakers 100% or not (yet)
We distinguish product makers on this website who focus partly or completely (100%) on biobased and/or nature-based productions. The products are produced on a small and large scale. From industry to (social) workshop. From innovative 3d printing to craft. Often in the Netherlands, never outside Europe, to exclude (polluting) transports and other adverse effects. Product makers are fully responsible for uploading their data. From the WDH-NL organization we always look along and have personal contact with the Makers and know their products.
Please do not hesitate to contact one of the Makers email with other general questions or comments SUPERBio'S .
For questions about specific products or materials, visit the details on the Makers page . On the Makers page, you can filter by material type and product category.
For general questions you can email SUPERBio's .
A list: hemp (fibre panels, planks, beams.) Warm, fibrous appearance or just smooth to plaster. Top for insulation, acoustics and vapour-open ('breathing') walls.
Flax panels / flax loam . Super light panels of flax fibres (residual product from the linen industry). Fine structure.
Clay plaster , breathable and moisture-regulating. 100% natural: clay + straw, lime + hemp, possibly pigment. Grainy structure.
Mycelium panels , made of fungal threads and organic waste (such as hemp). Uneven, bumpy structure. Light.
Wood and veneer of European wood , think of FSC wood oak, poplar, birch, chestnut in panels or slats. Possibly on acoustic corn or wool felt for acoustic improvement.
Biobased panel material for walls, often made of flax/wood fibre(flour) + bioresin. Smooth, sleek, and can be processed like MDF – but then circular.
(Very) lightweight, for example from sugar cane or algae, suitable for light and transparent objects such as lighting. Corn processed into acoustically improving lightweight sheet material somewhat fibrous as wool felt.
Cork panels , useful as surface covering or 3D panels for acoustics and atmosphere.
Compost board made from leftover plant material or food. Fibrous. For interior walls.
Linoleum made from linseed oil seeds pressed from flax (attention: organic farming) processed with resin to give an even and smooth structure.
Fruit leather , food waste streams, such as orange peels, coffee grounds, rice husks . Can be used for accessories (due to the still limited width and strength.)
Plants and moss , used as a green wall for example, contribute to a healthy indoor climate and improved acoustics.
100% Biobased materials are fully biobased and degradable, into fully reusable raw materials.
For seating furniture you can choose from
biobased materials and nature-based materials such as certified domestic or European wood, bamboo, hemp, mycelium (mushroom/fungus threads), cork, PLA (bioplastic), flax or recycled textiles.
Thermal modification - energy-smart heating - of wood for better durability without chemicals.
3D printing with bioplastics (such as PLA or PHA) – often used in design furniture or components.
Laser cutting of thin sheets of bamboo, cork or recycled fibreboard.
Artisanal woodwork – still widely used in natural, locally produced furniture.
Organic glues or bio-epoxy – no toxic fumes, compostable or biodegradable.
Parts are interchangeable or adaptable for longer life.
Advantages:
Environmentally friendly and biodegradable.
Breathable, therefore ideal for wood and clay.
Matte, powdery appearance – gives a warm, natural look.
Good adhesion to porous surfaces such as wood, plaster, clay or lime plaster.
Biobased coatings – such as those based on citrus, soy or rapeseed (instead of synthetic paints).
CERTIFICATION
In addition to the EPD and LCA,
NF Environnement (France) – Environmental label for furniture.
Organic materials for floor finishes, provided they are organically produced : cork, flax (from which linseed oil is pressed for linoleum), eucalyptus, bamboo, hemp, jute, cotton, wool and hair (note: attention to animal welfare in case of choosing wool and/or goat/cashmere hair). In addition to sustainability, wear resistance, subfloor, fire safety and emission of harmful substances play a major role.
Hard floor finishes can be made with hemp and bamboo, but also soft finishes , where a fabric is made from the fibres.
In addition to the LCA and EPD:
. Blue Angel (Germany) 'the German Eco-label'. For low emissions and environmentally friendly floor coverings.
Cradle to Cradle (C2C) focuses primarily on reusability/circularity and material health.
The required and possible certifications depend on the type of wallpaper.
In the case of paper wallpaper, the FSC or PEFC comes from responsibly managed forests.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL DATABASE
The environmental database only includes interior products that are relevant to construction and have a permanent connection to the building. Think of:
Freestanding furniture, curtains, office chairs, etc. are excluded unless they are explicitly included as a permanent part of the building in the design and in the MPG calculation.
The interior products that are relevant for structures or buildings can be found in the National Environmental Database (NMD) which is managed by the National Environmental Database (NMD) Foundation.
This foundation works on behalf of the government, in collaboration with market parties from the construction sector, manufacturers and LCA experts. The National Environmental Database (NMD) also accepts European EPDs in many cases, provided that they meet the EN 15804 standard and have been drawn up in accordance with the requirements of the NMD. For this, they must be validated via a recognition or recording procedure.
EUROPEAN INITIATIVE - The EPD (Environmental Product Data)
There are European initiatives and databases that are comparable to the Dutch Environmental Database , but there is no fully central European database that does exactly the same. There are, however, a number of important European systems and organisations that record and harmonise environmental performance of construction and interior products.
1. EPD-systemen (Environmental Product Declarations)
EPDs are the European standard for reporting environmental performance of products (such as an LCA; a standardised environmental performance declaration ). They are drawn up in accordance with the EN 15804 standard for construction products.
They are widely used throughout Europe and recognised in BREEAM, LEED, and national MPG calculations, among others.
The EPD is a policy instrument of the European Commission to measure and report sustainability in buildings.
Example systems:
The International EPD System (Sweden) – environdec.com
MOTHER EPD (Duitsland) – ibu-epd.com
INIES (France) – inies.fr
Reuse of a biobased material (e.g. reused wooden beams) falls under circular and biobased (provided that the first time it is produced and extracted cleanly).
Nature-based means; naturally occurring on our earth.
A biobased product is made from raw materials of biological origin but can be industrially processed . For example, a biobased plastic made from corn starch, textile from hemp fibers, bioglue from vegetable oil. Think of: wood, hemp, flax, bamboo, cork, mycelium, bioresin, vegetable oils, sugars, starch, etc. Biobased does not automatically mean that it is fully sustainable, local or biodegradable.
(The origin is biological, so no fossil or synthetic materials, such as plastic or oil-based MDF.)