AGENDA EXPLORING THE What are designers/specifiers...

Precast Show 2017

NPCA 1

precast.org/education

EXPLORING THE GREENER SIDE OF

CONSTRUCTIONWHAT THE NEXT GENERATION OF SPECIFIERS

ARE LOOKING FOR?LM6

Jamie Meil, Athena Sustainable Materials Institute


AGENDA

• What are designers/specifiers looking for?• Greener products with verified claims/data

• What is an EPD?

• How to read an EPD

• EPDs in LEEDv4• MR credits and their inner workings

• Creating EPDs• Precast Industry Wide EPDs case study

• Sustainable Plant Program – intent & progress


WHAT IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DECLARATION?

Environmental FactsOne square meter of carpet

Life cycle impact from cradle to one year of usage

Energy Consumption

Total nonrenewable primary energy 209.12 MJ

Total renewable primary energy 4.02 MJ

Total primary energy 213.14

Resource Consumption

Nonrenewable resources 15.40 kg

Water 0.5338 m3

Waste Produced

Non-hazardous waste 15.52 kg

Hazardous waste 0.0706 kg

Impact Measures

Acidification potential 2.06 mol H+ Equiv.

Eutrophication potential 0.0044 kg N-Equiv.

Global warming potential 10.61 kg CO2-Equiv.

Ozone depletion potential 9.34E-07 kg CFC 11-Equiv.

Smog potential 0.50 kg NOx-Equiv.

Not this:

It’s this:

An EPD is a way to transparently disclose

environmental performance data

TYPES OF ECO-LABELS

1. Third-party certificationsA “seal of approval”, usually involves a logo. Examples: Energy Star, EcoLogo, FSC.

2. Self-declarationsE.g. “100% recycled”; “biodegradable;” “compostable”.

3. Environmental product declarationsNot a certification; a simple statement of environmental facts.

BENEFITS OF EPDS

1. UnbiasedThird-party programs and self-declarations reflect opinion and judgement.

2. TransparentThird-programs and self-declarations are typically opaque.

3. Widely applicableUsers bring their own judgement criteria when viewing the data.

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SOME HISTORY

• EPDs have been around for some time.

• Heaviest and longest use in Europe.

• EPDs in Europe are seen in many sectors.

• ISO standards have been developed for EPDs.



Do we really know which bag is the greenest choice?

We need data – otherwise we’re just guessing

• Amount of material and energy used and wastes created in making the product.

• Greenhouse gas emissions due to making, using and disposing of the product.

• Water used to make the product.

• Air and water pollution caused in making, using and disposing of the product.

EPDS PROVIDE THE DATA NEEDED FOR DECISIONS

Impact category Unit1 m3 precast concrete,

cradle to gate

Global warming kg CO2 eq. 482

Acidification H+ moles eq. 128

Respiratory effects kg PM2.5 eq. 0.85

Eutrophication kg N eq. 0.071

Photochemical smog kg NOx eq. 0.739Solid waste kg 93.7Water use m3 0.836Abiotic resource depletion kg Sb eq. 2.79E-04Ozone depletion CFC-11 eq. 4.35E-08

Total primary energy MJ 5,059.2

Non-renewable, fossil MJ 4,455.0Non-renewable, nuclear MJ 274.0Renewable (SWHG) MJ 317.1Renewable, biomass MJ 13.02

WHAT LCA DATA LOOKS LIKE


What we measure in life cycle assessment:

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North Face “Denali” jacket – LCA used to quantify benefits of recycled polyester and a new dyeing process.

Levi’s “Care Tag” – LCA showed that washing and drying is the biggest part of jeans’ footprint.

Cold Water Tide -LCA showed P&G that hot water usage is the biggest part of detergent footprint.

LCA MOTIVATIONS FOR INDUSTRY

Corporate responsibility: examine your environmental footprint with intention of improvements for social good.

Cut costs: respond to an economic incentive to reduce environmental footprint (e.g. carbon tax).

Communication: To develop EPDs or other forms of disclosure to meet market demand.

Marketing: create a beneficial corporate image by appearing pro-active and leading-edge; differentiate corporate culture and product from competitors.

LCA LIMITATIONS

• LCA measures some important environmental impacts, but not all of them.

• LCA does not replace metrics for other impacts –things like biodiversity and toxicity.

• Therefore, EPDs do not tell the whole story about product sustainability.

• Corporate sustainability strategy should include, but not stop with, LCA.


HOW TO READ AN EPD


Program Operator

EPD OwnersScope (cradle to gate)

Product identification

Adherence to standards


PCR (Product-specific EPD standards)

Expiration date

Product quantity

Geographic applicability

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Reference to the full LCA report


Product content


LCA boundary (what’s included)


Method and other technical details of the underlying study


Data source and LCA tool


LCIA method

LCA Results

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Category Indicator Unit Result

Life cycle impact assessment

Global warming potential kg CO2 eq. 298.8

Acidification potential kg SO2 eq. 5.0

Eutrophication potential kg N eq. 0.3

Smog creation potential kg O3 eq. 58.6

Ozone depletion potential kg CFC-11 eq. 1.9E-03

Primary energy consumption

Total primary energy MJ, HHV 2,620.2

Non-renewable (fossil, nuclear) MJ, HHV 2,574.1

Renewable (solar, wind, biomass, hydroelectric, &

geothermal)

MJ, HHV 46.1

Material resources consumption

Total material resource consumption kg 1,066.7

Non-renewable materials kg 1,065.8

Renewable materials kg 0.9

Fresh water l 1,597.3

Waste generated

Non-hazardous kg 65.2

Hazardous kg 10.0

Cradle-to-gate summary results per metric ton of structural precast panelTHINK OF THE EVOLUTION IN FOOD LABELING….


EPDS IN LEED


Source: Jane Anderson blog on thinkstep.com, October 2015. These numbers may be slightly low, as they

only reference EPDs that conform to the EN 15804 standard.

USA

LEED CREDITS FOR EPDS

“Building product disclosure and optimization -environmental product declarations”

• This is a LEED v4 MR credit (and also available in the same form as Pilot Credit 52)

• LEED intention: Motivate industry to do LCA in the hope that this will lead them to environmental improvements.

• Worth up to 2 points.

(PS: There’s another new LEED credit, worth at least 3 points, for whole-building LCA. Intention: motivate design teams to reduce the impact of their “products”.)

HOW TO EARN THE CREDIT

• Assemble enough product EPDs and earn 1 point• Assemble enough “good” products and earn 1 more

point.

From LEEDv4 Reference Guide

Finished element examples –metal studs, wallboard, concrete masonry units

Component product examples –concrete admixtures are considered separate products because each component (admixture, aggregates, cement) serve different functions; each component is therefore a separate product

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ASSEMBLING ENOUGH EPDS

• Need at least 20 products with EPDs, from at least 5 different manufacturers

• But some EPDs only get partial credit• Industry-average is worth half a product• An LCA report only (no EPD) is worth a quarter product

Industry-average EPD is worth half a product

Brand-name EPD is worth a whole product

HOW THE PRECAST EPDS CAN HELP

“½ product” + “½ product” + “½ product” = “1.5 products”

The project team needs another “18.5 products” to earn one LEED point

WHO CAN USE THESE?

A manufacturer can affiliate with an industry-average EPD if “the manufacturer is explicitly recognized as a participant by the program operator.”

EARNING THE SECOND POINT

At least 50% of the value of all installed products must be:

• Better than average in at least three LCA metrics (requires industry averages for everything – we’re not there yet).*

• Or they must comply with a (still-to-be-developed) USGBC approved program.

Double-credit for local products.

There is a cap capped on the use of structure and envelope products for this credit (no more than 30% of the value of compliant products).

* A credit interpretation has added information: To qualify as “better than average”, the product manufacturer must have participated in the industry-average study. Another option is to show improvement of a product over time, by comparing to a previous EPD.


CREATING EPDS

CREATING THE PRECAST EPDS

Manufacturer

LCA Practitioner

EPD Program Operator

CPCI, NPCA, and PCI commissioned the work

Athena Institute conducted LCA study, published the LCA report, responded to peer review, and prepared the EPDs. All in accordance with the PCR and ISO standards.

ASTM led development of the PCR, per ISO standards, and verified and registered the EPDs.

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LCA FOR PRECASTSTUDY DETAILS

• 99 plants participated

• Good geographic representation, US and Canada

• Concrete mixes selected by an association-led technical committee

• The result is the environmental footprint for “average” precast products


Manufacturers create LCA data on products

Manufacturers publish the data in EPDs

Manufacturers use the data to drive product changes for smaller footprints

Architects collect EPDs to earn a LEED point

Product LCA data is incorporated in whole-building LCA tools

Architects do whole-building LCA aiming for a smaller footprint to earn at least 3 LEED points


NORTH AMERICAN PRECAST CONCRETESUSTAINABLE PLANT PROGRAM

Environmental Performance Standards

• Dust control• Process Water, Storm Water and

Chemical Management• Noise Control

Sustainability Performance Standards

• Energy• Materials• Transportation

Environmental and sustainability requirements

are based on the LCA outcomes.


NORTH AMERICAN PRECAST CONCRETESUSTAINABLE PLANT PROGRAM


Sustainable Plant Program

Report Publicly Released

North American Precast Concrete

Sustainable Plant Program

www.sustainableprecast.ca

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SUMMARY

• An EPD is a summary of an extensive LCA report.

• EPDs are a transparent, non-judgemental communication vehicle.

• LCA measures some (not all) environmental impacts.

• LCA supports data-driven sustainability choices.

• LEED is trying to motivate manufacturers and designers to do LCA and make improvements.

• EPDs are not yet comparable and require specialized knowledge to interpret.

• But the data behind them is valuable and useful.precast.org/education

The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute

Ottawa, ON, Canada and Kutztown, PA, USA

www.athenasmi.org [email protected]

http://www.athenasmi.org/

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