With the official launch of the USGBC’s LEED version 4 at Greenbuild Nation in November 2013, Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are becoming hot new topics of discussion. With LEED v4, project teams will be able to achieve LEED credits for conducting a whole building LCA and/or choosing products with a 3rd party validated EPD. The goal behind allocating credits for these options is fostering transparency.
According to the US EPA, LCA is an integrated concept for managing the total life cycle of products and services towards more sustainable consumption and production patterns.
How it works:
- Compile an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases.
- Evaluate the potential environmental impacts associated with identified inputs and releases.
- Interpret the results to help you make a more informed decision.
For manufacturers, LCAs are a way of completely analyzing a product’s environmental impact at each stage of its life cycle: extraction or harvesting, pre-processing, manufacturing, transportation, use, disassembly, re-manufacturing and/or disposal.
LCAs can be conducted on construction materials, electronics, precious metals, wastewater treatment plants, consumables such as coffee or alcoholic beverages, and software systems, to name only a few examples.
LCA results can be reported in multiple formats; for some industries such as carpet/flooring and furniture, the EPD format for reporting LCA information has become commonplace.
EPDs are a type of eco-label for products and follow the reporting format outlined by the ISO 14025 standard, as well as the Product Category Rule (PCR) available for specific products. EPDs provide a standardized set of information categories for reporting LCA results; when EPDs also use the same PCR, it is possible to conduct side-by-side product comparisons.
Why bother to seek out products with EPDs? Specifying products with EPDs on a LEED v4 project can assist the project to gain points under the Materials & Resources category, but more importantly, EPDs identify resource inputs and environmental and health outputs, and can help guide informed design decisions which minimize resource waste.
EPDs are created in 4 steps:
Step 1: Develop PCR or Use Existing PCR
PCRs are created by single companies, companies in partnerships with others or companies in partnerships with LCA experts in an open consultation process, and are reviewed by an independent panel prior to publishing. PCRs in North America typically comply with ISO 14025.
PCR development is overseen by Program Operators such as UL Environment or NSF International, which develop guidance for creating PCRs and EPDs. To find out more about PCRs, visit www.pcrguidance.org, an open initiative created to develop global guidance for PCRs and EPDs.
Step 2: Conduct LCA
Conducting a LCA requires significant access to information on the product’s composition, extraction and manufacturing locations, core upstream and downstream processes and use of resources. It is essential to have high quality data in order to generate a good quality LCA.
Many North American companies offer custom LCA services and tools to assist manufacturers in conducting LCA on their products, such as the Athena Institute’s free EcoCalculator with pre-defined assembly and envelope configurations for commercial and residential building assemblies.
Alternatively, a company can build in-house EPD capacity by enrolling an employee in a professional LCA program such as the Interuniversity Research Centre for the Life Cycle of Products, Processes and Services and Sustainability Learning Centre.
Steps 3 & 4: Develop, Verify and Publish EPDs
Once the LCA is complete, the EPD can then be developed, verified and published with a Program Operator. The EPD, once verified, will be published on the Program Operator’s website along with a 2 page Transparency Brief, similar to a nutritional label, which briefly summarizes key results.
Transparency is the ultimate goal of LCAs, EPDs and HPDs. As the industry moves towards transparent reporting formats, collecting and analyzing product information is crucial for making better product decisions, and improving design.
By: Julie Hardy cSBA, LEED AP and Veronica Owens BA, MMC Cert, LEED AP
Edited by: Helen Carruthers B.Sc., LEED AP BD+C, GGP
Light House Sustainable Building Centre Society, Vancouver, BC