Habitat Hardware only stocks environmentally and socially responsible building and hardware products that have been tried and tested. Selected manufacturers will have made a genuine attempt to reduce energy, water and resource consumption during all phases of their product’s lifecycle. All products will have demonstrated cost benefits to the end user along with ongoing environmental and social benefits.

Habitat Hardware will document the extent of each manufacturer’s social and environmental commitment for the benefit of our customers.

All manufacturers will be willing to submit their product for third party environmental impact assessments by EcoSpecifier.

Habitat Hardware will be guided by its customers in the selection of product. If you have a particular product that we do not stock and you feel that it would meet our environmental, social and financial sustainability requirements please visit our Product Suggestion page and let us know the details.

Aspects considered in selecting a product include:

• Where is the product manufactured?
• Is the product locally manufactured and assembled using locally abundant building materials?
• Does the product demonstrate waste minimisation during the manufacturing and construction process?
• Has their been an effort to minimise the use of packaging or ensure that the packaging is biodegradable or fully recyclable?
• Has the product been designed for longevity and durability?
• Has the product life cycle been considered by designing with recyclability or re-use in mind?
• Has the product been designed to enable a reduction in the use of finishes, such as paints and coatings?
• Is the product manufactured using a renewable energy source
• How is the product distributed (air, rail, road, sea)?
• Has the manufacturer considered the amount of embodied energy contained the product?
• Has the manufacturer considered the amount of embodied water contained the product?
• Does the product incorporate recycled materials?
• Does the manufacturer use low toxin materials in the production of the product?
• Is the manufacturer or supplier willing to cooperate with the Habitat Hardware Purchasing Policy which emphasises the need for manufacture/supplier to work with us to address and improve on the above criteria?
• Is the manufacturer of the product willing to provide us with a MSDS and other environmental statements detailing the potential environmental and health hazards associated with their product and are they comfortable with allowing us to share this information with our customers even though it may not be required by law?
• Is the manufacturer willing to submit each product for an Ecospecifier environmental assessment on their own accord?
• Is the manufacturer exhibiting any “Green Washing” tendencies?