CAM Minimum Environmental Criteria

Does a CAM certificate exist?

Let's clarify: there is no CAM certification in the strict sense. What can be certified is the compliance with the Minimum Environmental Criteria of the main construction products, regardless of the fact that they are subject to CAM obligations. In fact, more and more manufacturers are deciding to request compliance with the prescribed requirements even without a legal obligation.

The Minimum Environmental Criteria (CAM.), defined in the DM 11/10/2017, were formulated by the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea with the aim of raising awareness and ensuring the use of environmentally sustainable solutions and products.

CAM verification is played on several fronts and on several levels, in fact it takes into account the building as a whole, and therefore evaluates the entire construction process, starting from the life cycle of the individual product used: from the recycled content to its disposal.

What needs do CAMs respond to?

CAM responds to the objective of reducing the environmental impact of a given production cycle, promoting more sustainable consumption patterns, the use of secondary resources and improving at the same time the health conditions of buildings and the lives of their inhabitants.

Their systematic and widespread application allows designers and clients to choose and prefer environmentally sustainable technologies and products. It produces a leverage effect on the market, inducing producers to adopt more and more virtuous processes and in line with the demands of the Public Administration, and to tend the market in a broader sense, in terms of sustainability and healthiness.

When are CAMs mandatory?

CAM in construction is mandatory:

• for public buildings: renovation new construction, and maintenance works
• for thermal and acoustic insulating materials, only in the case of energy requalification interventions that envisage the use of tax deductions (eg Ecobonus 110% - DL 34/2020) *.

* The Italian Decreto Rilancio requires that the Minimum Environmental Criteria be applied to insulating materials and in particular that the criteria described in par 2.4.2.9 (Decree of the Ministry of the Environment 11/10/2017) regarding the use of hazardous substances and the minimum content of recovered or recycled material present in the finished product be complied with.

Insulating CAM for Superbonus: which parameters must they respect?

To be qualified as eligible materials for the Superbonus, thermal and acoustic insulation solutions must meet the following criteria:

• they must not be produced using fire retardants that are subject to restrictions or prohibitions under applicable national or EU regulations;
• they shall not be manufactured using blowing agents with an ozone-depleting potential greater than zero;
• they shall not be produced or formulated using lead catalysts when sprayed or in the course of plastic foam formation;
• if made from an expandable polystyrene resin, the blowing agents shall be less than 6% of the weight of the finished product;
• if made from mineral wools, they shall comply with Note Q or Note R of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 (CLP) as amended;
• if the finished product contains one or more of the components listed in the table in paragraph 2.4.2.9, these must be made from recycled and/or recovered material according to the minimum quantities indicated, measured on the weight of the finished product.

What is required to certify a product as CAM?

In order to obtain the declaration of CAM compliance, it is necessary to proceed with:

Verification of the content of recovered or recycled material
Product certification, issued by a conformity assessment body, which certifies the recycled content through the explanation of the mass balance, which consists in the verification of a self-declared environmental statement, in accordance with ISO 14021.

Determination of the release of Volatile Organic Compounds - VOCs
Tests that ensure compliance with the limits of emissions of VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) reported in par. 2.3.5.5 (Decree of the Ministry of the Environment 11/10/2017)
Certimac certifies compliance with the Minimum Environmental Criteria of construction products subject to CAM obligation. We support producers of insulation materials in the calculation and verification of the percentage of recycled/recovered material and in the declaration of VOC emissions.

Discover the services of Certimac to certify the performance of your insulation and ensure their compliance with CAM.
Go to the “CAM Certification”