UL Environment Inc. released a White Paper to help educate all stakeholders about Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and help clarify the role of the EPD Program Operator. The new guidance document, “Transparency and the Role of Environmental Product Declarations,” accompanies the announcement of newly certified EPDs for Interface and Kingspan Insulated Metal Panels and release of a Thermal Building Envelope Insulation Product Category Rule.
The report – available here – provides guidance on:
- Market demand for EPDs;
- ISO 14025 compliant EPD creation process;
- Importance of life cycle analysis in the EPD creation process;
- Why Product Category Rules (PCRs) needed;
- Necessity for PCR harmonization;
- Role of the EPD Program Operator; and
- What’s next for EPDs, including the management of public data.
An EPD is an internationally accepted, third-party reviewed report detailing a product’s environmental impacts throughout its lifecycle, and often include additional performance, health, and company information. EPDs promote transparency and facilitate comparison of impacts among products in the same category.
Life cycle-based assessment tools are rapidly being embraced by the construction and building industry as an emerging component of green building certification processes. EPDs are currently rewarded by various green building rating systems such as CHPS and BREEAM. The USGBC recently started to recognize EPDs through Pilot Credit 43 and the draft version of the LEED 2012 includes credits that encourage the use of EPDs. BD+C
Related Stories
| Feb 2, 2012
Delk joins Gilbane Building Co.
Delk to focus on healthcare construction programs and highly complex higher education facilities for Gilbane Building Company’s Southwest region.
| Feb 2, 2012
Next phase of construction begins on Scripps Prebys Cardiovascular Institute
$456 million Institute will be comprehensive heart center for 21st Century.
| Feb 1, 2012
Increase notched in construction jobs, but unemployment rate still at 16%
AGC officials said that construction employment likely benefited from unseasonably warm weather across much of the country that extended the building season.
| Feb 1, 2012
Replacement windows eliminate weak link in the building envelope
Replacement or retrofit can help keep energy costs from going out the window.
| Feb 1, 2012
‘Augmented reality’ comes to the job site
A new software tool derived from virtual reality is helping Building Teams use the power of BIM models more effectively.
| Feb 1, 2012
New ways to work with wood
New products like cross-laminated timber are spurring interest in wood as a structural material.
| Feb 1, 2012
Blackney Hayes designs school for students with learning differences
The 63,500 sf building allows AIM to consolidate its previous two locations under one roof, with room to expand in the future.
| Feb 1, 2012
Two new research buildings dedicated at the University of South Carolina
The two buildings add 208,000 square feet of collaborative research space to the campus.
| Feb 1, 2012
List of Top 10 States for LEED Green Buildings released?
USGBC releases list of top U.S. states for LEED-certified projects in 2011.
| Feb 1, 2012
ULI and Greenprint Foundation create ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance
Member-to-member information exchange measures energy use, carbon footprint of commercial portfolios.