The Uni-Bell PVC Pipe Association (PVCPA) recently published the first North American industry-wide environmental product declaration (EPD) for water and sewer piping.
The document has been verified by NSF Sustainability, a division of global public health organization NSF International. The EPD, developed in compliance with international environmental management guidelines (ISO 14025), benchmarks the impacts of seven PVC pipe products across their life cycles.
Impacts covered include PVC pressure pipe for potable water, reclaimed water and sewer force main systems, as well as PVC non-pressure pipe for storm sewer and sanitary sewer systems.
The EPD pinpoints areas of greatest environmental impact as well as the environmental benefits of utilizing PVC piping. For example, the use phase of pressurized potable water pipe, during which pumps overcome friction to move water through pipe, was found to contribute the greatest environmental impacts throughout the product’s entire life cycle. The EPD also identified advantages in this stage such as the smooth interior surface of PVC pipe that minimizes friction and therefore energy consumption. PVC pipe is also corrosion resistant and has a proven durability in excess of 100 years, requiring less frequent replacement.
Related Stories
| Jul 11, 2013
Pennsylvania legislators work on bill to update demolition codes following fatal building collapse
Pennsylvania lawmakers are working on a bill to update demolition codes, in the wake of a fatal building collapse in Philadelphia in June.
| Jul 11, 2013
Lawsuit challenges modular apartment project in New York City
A plan to build pre-fab apartment buildings at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, N.Y., has been challenged by a lawsuit filed by the Plumbing Foundation in Manhattan Supreme Court.
| Jul 5, 2013
OSHA to launch program to protect workers from isocyanate exposure
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced a new national emphasis program (NEP) to protect workers from serious health effects caused by occupational exposure to isocyanates.
| Jul 5, 2013
New California building code expected to boost energy demand response technology
The California master building code, set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2014, includes a few changes that could push automated, open-standards-based demand response into the mass market.
| Jul 5, 2013
USGBC adds several new LEED pilot credits
The U.S. Green Building Council has added several new LEED pilot credits to the LEED Pilot Credit Libraryin the past few months.
| Jul 5, 2013
Spray Foam Coalition supports new professional certification program for applicators
The Spray Foam Coalition (SFC) of the American Chemistry Council announced its support of the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance’s (SPFA) new Professional Certification Program for spray foam applicators.
| Jul 5, 2013
Some industry insiders see design-build as easier path to LEED certification
The design-build construction delivery method may have advantages during a LEED certification process.
| Jun 27, 2013
Lease-accounting legislation could hurt construction industry
Regulatory bodies have proposed changes in how leased equipment is treated on a corporate balance sheet.
| Jun 27, 2013
AGC urges Congress, Obama to reject caps on construction workers in immigration legislation
The unemployment rate in the construction sector in May was the lowest it has been in five years, which could signal a coming worker shortage, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.
| Jun 27, 2013
California legislators make push for prevailing wage law
California lawmakers introduced new legislation that would cut off state construction funds from charter cities that don’t mandate the equivalent of union-scale wages on public-works projects. Of the 482 cities in California, 121 are charter cities.
