Green Material Cards

What are Green Material Cards

A Green Material Card is a document describing one product incorporated into a building — with information relevant to the requirements of the selected certification. The scope of the Green Card includes, among other things, the content of volatile organic compounds, the availability of an EPD environmental declaration, the share of recycled raw materials, the origin of wood, the presence of substances on the REACH list, as well as the certification criteria it helps meet.

The cards form a control system. A material should not be incorporated before its card is approved. It sounds like a formality, but it is the only moment in the entire process when it is still possible to say “no” — once installed, the product stops being a decision and becomes a fact.

The purpose of this system becomes clear only when you look at how certification is lost in practice. Not at the design stage. The design is usually fine. It is lost on site, with a substitute proposed by a subcontractor because the product in the specification had a three-week lead time and the concrete was waiting. Someone approved the substitute based on technical parameters and price. No one checked emissions, because there was nowhere to check them.

This is what distinguishes this service from material consulting. Consulting determines what to choose and operates at the design stage. The cards ensure that what was chosen actually ends up in the building — and that evidence exists when the assessor arrives.

The scope includes:

1. deriving material criteria from the requirements of the target certification
2. developing a card template tailored to the project
3. implementing the system in tender and contract documentation
4. providing instruction for the contractor and subcontractors
5. ongoing verification of cards before incorporation
6. assessing substitutes proposed during implementation
7. maintaining the register and submitting the evidence package

Expert Opinion

“In most buildings, the BMS works exactly as it was set up on the day of handover. The problem is that the building has changed since then.”

Dominika Bryła

Head of ESG, Technical & Certification Consultancy

Check the current rating of your building

Benefits

Protecting points from being lost during implementation

Verification before incorporation instead of settling matters after the fact, when the only option is replacement or giving up the criterion.

Evidence collected on an ongoing basis

Documentation is created together with the building. Reconstructing it after the works are finished is often impossible — the subcontractors have already left the site.

A clear criterion for the contractor

The contractor knows in advance what may be used. This reduces disputes and shifts the conversation from discretion to contract terms.

Substitutes without stopping the schedule

A ready-made assessment path makes it possible to resolve a request within days instead of choosing between the deadline and certification.

A package ready for the assessor

An organized register shortens verification and reduces rounds of follow-up questions.

Material for taxonomy and reporting

The same set supports DNSH criteria (Do No Significant Harm – the principle of “do no significant harm”) and later reporting.

Project implementation from A to Z

Customization of solutions

Constant support and advice

CRREM

We will guide you through the entire design process

Criteria – We translate certification requirements into measurable thresholds. Result: clear acceptance criteria before construction starts.
Template and contractual implementation – We prepare the material card and include the obligation to submit it in the tender documentation. Result: a contractual requirement, not a request to the contractor.
Instruction – We train the contractor and subcontractors on how to complete the cards and on the deadlines. Result: cards submitted correctly from the start.
Ongoing verification – We check each card before installation and recommend approval or rejection. Result: control while the decision can still be changed.
Substitute handling – We assess changes in terms of their impact on the score and indicate permissible alternatives. Result: construction continuity without risk to certification.
Register and evidence package – We maintain a register of approved products and compile the documentation. Result: a ready evidence package for submission.