Latest news from Kiwa

Beavers have a great ability to shape the environment and their engineering skills are already famous all around the world. Of course, everyone knows about their ability to build dams, but did you know, for instance, that these curious animals are unusually romantic?

Remote auditing has been possible for some time already, thanks to useful and safe digital tools. Especially in times of physical distancing, it's an excellent way to carry out audits. But what exactly is remote auditing, when can it be used and how does Kiwa do it?

The Corona virus spreads throughout the world and presently occurs in all countries that Kiwa is present in. To help contain the spread of the virus, this policy guides our employees and subcontractors in how to cope with (the effects of) the virus and the impact it may have on the services we offer our customers.

Last week Kiwa’s Internet of Things (IOT) security experts checked in at the Standardization and Cyber ​​Security Act Conference in Brussels. During this event, leading experts from the cyber security industry spoke in various panels about the importance of standardized certification of cyber security products and services in the context of the European Cyber ​​Security Act.

The accelerated notch pipe test (aNPT) is developed to test PE100-RC pipes. It is performed exactly like the usual NPT (ISO 13479), but with one important difference: instead of using water, the pipe is placed in a detergent solution.

Japan invests heavily in hydrogen. The government has an extensive hydrogen roadmap. Toyota is leading the industry with its development of the Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car. And by using hydrogen Japan aspires to make the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 the most durable Games ever organized. From September 23 till 28 there will be a Dutch Innovation Mission Hydrogen to Japan. Wolter Veenhoven will represent Kiwa during this mission.

The Ocean Cleanup is a Dutch initiative to clean up the plastic trash in the oceans. For this the organization uses a long half-circle plastic floater. This encloses the plastic, after which it is collected by a ship and removed for recycling.

Between now and 2021 Dutch technical university TU Delft will conduct research into the safety of Internet of Things equipment, such as smart thermostats, refrigerators and security cameras. If a product is found to be unsafe by TU Delft, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, supporter of the research, will contact the manufacturer to improve it.

Fashion retailer H&M Netherlands has received the ISO 50001 certificate for energy management from Kiwa. This makes H&M the first Dutch non-food retailer with this important certification. The H&M group wants to want to contribute to sustainable solutions for the effects of the greenhouse effect and climate change and has met all ISO 50001 requirements

Kiwa is now an empowered Certification Body CB and recognized test center for HP Keymark, the independent voluntary European certification mark supporting heat pump quality in the European market. This means Kiwa’s heat pump experts can test equipment and components against applicable standards and provide manufacturers with the HP Keymark certificate.

Kiwa, as an international accredited certification body for solar products, is attending Intersolar Europe 2019 in Munich. From May 15-17 we’ll present our wide range of services dedicated to both the primary and secondary Solar Market.

A recent study Kiwa conducted for grid provider Netbeheer Nederland shows the Dutch natural gas network can be relatively easy adapted for hydrogen gas distribution. As manager of the Gastec QA quality mark, Kiwa anticipates this with a new quality mark Approval Requirement (AR) (Dutch: Keuringseis, KE) 214 ‘Suitability for hydrogen gas’.

Kiwa has evaluated customer satisfaction and we are proud that the outcome of the survey is very positive; in general, we score an 8.0 for our services, an improvement of 0.15 compared to 2016.

Kiwa awarded CSC bronze to Consortium Grensmaas on 2 October. The CSC certificate (Concrete Sustainability Council) provides producers with proof that concrete products, concrete mortar and raw materials for concrete are produced in a sustainable and responsible manner. Consortium Grensmaas is the first gravel supplier in Limburg with CSC.

Hydrogen as an indispensable link in the energy transition: Kiwa sees the benefits.

Independent research by the Netherlands Institute for Building Biology and Ecology (NIBE) shows that Leadax, a Dutch invention as an alternative to lead, causes 31% less damage to the environment than the heavy metal. Kiwa has certified the product on the basis of a Kiwa Covenant.