16 June 2026
VERDE Certificate and Cradle to Cradle Certified® Products Program Agree to Recognition in Categories of Achievement
The GBCE VERDE Sustainability Certification System for buildings recognises the validity of the Cradle to Cradle Certified® product standard as justification for compliance with its requirements, especially those focused on the prescription of materials and their circularity, and on people's health.
Green Building Council Spain (GBCE) and Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2CPII) have reached an agreement to recognise the Cradle to Cradle Certified® seal within the VERDE certification system.
In practice, this means admitting this seal, based on its categories and scope, as a recognised document to justify the different requirements within the VERDE scheme.
This recognition of the Cradle to Cradle Certified® seal across different categories of analysis can contribute to facilitating compliance and improving qualification in some requirements, both in the latest GBCE version VERDE Buildings 2030, and in previous versions Buildings 2022 and Buildings 2020.
GBCe VERDE Buildings 2030: structure and scope
The latest version of VERDE 2030 Buildings reorganised all thematic areas into eight major blocks, where environmental, social, and economic aspects are evaluated.
In total, the system includes:
- 26 criteria
- 113 requirements
The sections revised to align with Cradle to Cradle Certified® focus especially on:
- People’s health
- Product circularity
- Air quality
- Waste reduction and revaluation
- Design for adaptability
What Cradle to Cradle Certified® Product Program evaluates
Cradle to Cradle Certified® is a Type I environmental label, aligned with the principles and procedures defined in the ISO 14020 and 14024 standards.
It is a voluntary third-party certification that identifies products designed for a safe, circular, and responsible economy. It recognises achievements across five sustainability categories based on life cycle analysis:
- Material Health: ensuring that materials are safe for people and the environment
- Product Circularity: promoting the circular economy through the design, manufacture, and management of products
- Clean Air & Climate Protection: promoting clean energy generation and environmental protection
- Water & Soil Stewardship: protecting soil and water resources
- Social Fairness: promoting fair and safe social practices that ensure people’s rights
Value for the VERDE certification
Yolanda del Rey, GBCE’s Director of Certification, states:
“Using materials that have obtained the Cradle to Cradle Certified® seal is a guarantee when it comes to obtaining the necessary information to justify the requirements of the VERDE certification due to the rigorous and extensive analysis it carries out.”
Aya Ulan, Director of the Circular Products Cradle to Cradle area at Eco Intelligent Growth, the only accredited organisation for product assessment in Spain, adds:
“A building is the sum of its decisions. Each Cradle to Cradle Certified® product is evidence that those decisions were made with responsibility for people, the planet, and the future. For VERDE to recognise this standard is not a symbolic gesture, it is the recognition that excellence in the built environment cannot be measured without measuring the quality of its components.”
Ren DeCherney, Director – Built Environment at C2CPII, notes:
“C2CPII is thrilled to be recognized in VERDE. Designers and architects have on average 26x the spending power as an average consumer, and working with C2C Certified® can expand their positive impacts beyond the walls of a single project to an entire supply chain. The recognition in VERDE ensures that designers’ impacts go even further, scaling up to the building level. We are excited to work together to create a built environment that is healthy, circular, and made fairly.”
Aligning VERDE Buildings 2030 with European and global frameworks
The alignment of VERDE 2030 with the European Level(s) framework, the European Union Taxonomy, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) allows certified projects to:
- Demonstrate their contribution to European and global policies
- Facilitate access to sustainable financing
- Improve their market positioning
The new version also enables the preparation of specific reports aligned with these frameworks, providing clear and understandable information on building performance and operation.
The VERDE certificate is also recognised by GRESB as a valid certification system for inclusion in the GRESB Real Estate Assessment, with the category of Full Points Validation Status, reinforcing its technical robustness and alignment with the most demanding ESG standards.
About Green Building Council España
GBCE is an association that promotes the transformation towards a sustainable model in the building sector. It belongs to the international World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) network, present in more than 70 countries and with 36,000 members.
GBCE provides training—such as the European Taxonomy specialisation module—and sustainable building certification through its VERDE tool, as well as the adaptation of the European DGNB system in Spain. It also promotes projects and initiatives for building decarbonisation.
The association is a benchmark for sustainable building in Spain and aims to represent companies, organisations, and individuals committed to sustainability and energy efficiency in construction and refurbishment.
About Cradle to Cradle Certified®
Cradle to Cradle Certified® is a leading multi-attribute standard used globally by designers, brands, and manufacturers to design and produce products that benefit people and the planet.
It provides a framework for evaluating product performance in terms of circularity and sustainability.
About Eco Intelligent Growth (EIG)
Eco Intelligent Growth (EIG), part of Grupo Construcía, is a consultancy specialised in circular economy and innovation. Its three service areas are:
- Business transformation
- Built environment
- Circular products
EIG is an accredited assessor for obtaining Cradle to Cradle Certified®.
