Environmental Product Declaration
What is an EPD?
EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) is a multipage document describing the environmental impacts – in particular climate impacts – of a product based on a life cycle assessment (LCA). It is created by reference to a LCA based on the manufacturer’s processes for sourcing raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, use and disposal of the product, using internationally recognised standards like ISO 14025 and EN 15804. After a rigorous independent review process of the data, methods and conclusions, the EPD is submitted to a program operator for publication. As products and manufacturing processes evolve, the EPD is updated, usually every 5 years, for significant changes.</pr>
A key component of a published EPD is the global warming potential (GWP) figure, expressed in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per unit (meter squared for flooring) or kg CO2-e / m2. A lower GWP figures means that the life cycle of the product, including its manufacture, have a lower contribution to global warming; whereas a high GWP figure means a greater contribution to global warming.
For building products such as flooring, there is often a focus on the ‘embodied carbon’ in a product represented by the ‘A1 – A3’ component of the total GWP figure, being the greenhouse gas emissions associated with raw materials, transport and manufacturing.
An EPD serves to provide valuable transparency to the public regarding the environmental impacts of building products and in particular their climate impacts. They inform the environmental evaluation of building products for building certification schemes such as LEED, Green Star, and WELL.
What are the benefits of an EPD?
An EPD can contribute to the achievement of credit points under leading green building rating schemes, including Green Building Council of Australia’s Green Star Program, which helps buildings achieve a Green Star rating.
They also assist in accounting for minimising the embodied carbon association with construction and support more informed decision making about the environmental impacts of construction materials including flooring.
Our solution dyed nylon carpet tile products with Enviro Bac® now have a certified EPD and we look forward to expanding our EPD coverage to our full carpet tile range over the coming year. Discover these ranges today.