Professional Educational Series BSS 741. Interpreting Transparency Documents: How LCAs, EPDs, and HPDs Assist Designers with Product Selection

Transcription

1 Professional Educational Series BSS 741 Interpreting Transparency Documents: How LCAs, EPDs, and HPDs Assist Designers with Product Selection

2 Copyright This presentation is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. Reproduction and distribution of this presentation without written permission of the sponsor is prohibited. 6

3 Course Description This course considers how architectural transparency documents promote environmentally sustainable buildings. Attendees will explore the creation of LCA, EPD, and HPD documents, and explore how to use these documents as tools for product evaluation and specification. The relationships between transparency documents and third-party organizations such as and UL and LEED will be discussed. 7

4 Learning Objectives After completing this course you will be able to: Identify the most common architectural transparency documents: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), and Healthcare Product Declaration (HPD) publications. Explain how an EPD is authored, from LCA through Product Category Rules (PCR) to third-party verification. Understand that an HPD is a specifiable, standardized product health information disclosure. 8 Describe how transparency documents are used to meet USGBC LEED v4 rating system requirements.

5 Green Building: Then and Now The first LEED buildings were certified in LEED has > 55,000 projects in 140 countries. There are > 185,000 LEED professionals globally. LEED has created a whole new economy for building products and companies. LEED v4 will incorporate credits that provide points for companies that publish EPDs. 9

6 Greenwashing Building products companies have published many claims as part of this new green economy. Some of these published claims are inaccurate, false or written in a manner that misleads the consumer. The term for this practice is Greenwashing. Credibility of the true claims may be compromised due to a flood of unsubstantiated claims. 10

7 Alphabet Soup what do these acronyms mean? LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) is a method for identifying the environmental impact of a product over its lifespan (extraction, manufacture, distribution, use & disposal/recycling). PCR (Product Category Rule) describes the scope and methodology for performing a LCA. EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) is a simplified presentation to communicate LCA results. ISO (International Organization for Standardization) founded in 1947, is the world s largest developer of voluntary international standards. HPD (Health Product Declaration) Standardized format for conveying details about product content and associated health information. 11

8 Environmental Labels what do they actually mean? Environmental Labeling According to the ISO series (includes 14020, 14021, 14024, 14025) Environmental labeling is designed to assist businesses with measuring and communicating their environmental impacts. ISO establishes guiding principles for the development and use of ALL environmental labels and declarations 12

9 Environmental Labels what do they actually mean? ISO Type I environmental labeling TYPE I verified, single attribute a third party program indicating overall environmental prefer-ability of a product within a particular product category based on life cycle considerations 13

10 Environmental Labels what do they actually mean? ISO Type II environmental labeling TYPE II NOT verified, self-declared This is a label that is only put on products that satisfy the criteria set by a manufacturer 14

11 Environmental Labels what do they actually mean? ISO Type III environmental declarations TYPE TYPE III verified, environmental product declarations (EPDs) provides environmental data of a product pre-set parameters set by a third party based on life cycle assessment (LCA) verified by qualified third party 15

12 A Simple Environmental Progression (developing an EPD) Conduct and verify LCA Develop (or search available) PCRs Create EPD 3rd party verification & registration 16

13 A Simple Environmental Progression (developing an EPD) Conduct and verify LCA Develop (or search available) PCRs Create EPD 3rd party verification & registration 17

14 Life Cycle Assessment (the process) Life cycle assessment is conducted per ISO /44 Standards. LCA requires an understanding of all inputs and outputs throughout the product life cycle. LCA is comprised of 4 phases (see below). 1 Goal and scope definition 2 Life cycle inventory 3 Life cycle impact assessment 4 Interpretation 18

15 Typical Impact Categories / LCA Air: Smog, ozone depletion, criteria air pollutants Water: Use, eutrophication, acidification Human Health: Cancer-causing and non-cancer-causing Global Warming Potential: Heat absorbing ability of gases relative to CO 2 (carbon footprint) Fossil Fuel Depletion: Non-renewable fuels (natural gas, oil, gasoline, etc.) 19

16 Typical Impact Categories / LCA Embodied Energy: The sum of all energy inputs (fuel, materials, human resources, etc. necessary to take a product from cradle to grave) Waste Generation: Quantity of materials entering a waste stream (before being sent to landfill/composting/incinerating/recycled) Habitat Alteration: Quantifying how human activity can alter an environment and threaten organisms and species Eco-toxicity: How chemicals affect the environment and the organisms living within it 20

17 Life Cycle Assessment (the process) LCA considers the entire life cycle of the product. Extraction of raw materials. manufacturing distribution use reuse recycling final disposal LCA is not typically used to communicate externally comparative impacts LCAs usually contain proprietary information. LCA is an essential component of an EPD It is the EPD which communicates impacts to the world. 21

18 Life Cycle Assessment (the process) Manufacturers can use in-house resources to develop an LCA or use a third-party provider. Third-party providers currently conducting LCAs for EPDs include: PE International Inc. Quantis ATHENA Sustainable Materials Institute 22

19 Life Cycle Assessment (positive gain for the manufacturer) Ideally, manufacturers will use their LCA as detailed self-examination. This will/may cause changes and ultimately improve their product s environmental profile. 23

20 A Simple Environmental Progression (developing an EPD) Conduct and verify LCA Develop (or search available) PCRs Create EPD 3rd party verification & registration 24

21 Product Category Rule (PCR) Just the Facts Full product transparency with EPDs A set of specific rules for developing EPDs (According to ISO ) PCRs can be developed by a manufacturer or industry association/committee Subject to review by an independent board Once PCRs are established for a specific category, they tend to remain constant for all similar products to follow seeking an EPD This consistency facilitates comparison 25

22 A Simple Environmental Progression (developing an EPD) Conduct and verify LCA Develop (or search available) PCRs Create EPD 3rd party verification & registration 26

23 Environmental Product Declaration (what it should contain) Just the Facts Full product transparency with EPDs Product Description Raw material content Performance information Photograph Intended applications 27

24 Environmental Product Declaration (what it should contain) Just the Facts Full product transparency with EPDs Manufacturing Process Description Methodology Environmental impacts Health and safety issues 28

25 Environmental Product Declaration (what it should contain) Just the Facts Full product transparency with EPDs LCA Summary Methodology The applicable Functional Unit Any other information which the manufacturer feels should be publicized 29

26 Functional Unit Comparison Some technical marketing pieces will use the wrong functional units for comparison because they show the manufacturer s product in a more favorable light. 30

27 Functional Unit Comparison Comparison of LCA data (in the EPD) should be made using appropriate functional units based on how the product is used. 31

28 A Simple Environmental Progression (developing an EPD) Conduct and verify LCA Develop (or search available) PCRs Create EPD 3rd party verification & registration 32

29 Environmental Product Declaration (the Program Operator) Just the Facts Full product transparency with EPDs Program Operator tasks are: Appoint the third party verifier for the verification of the EPD Establish the required procedure for the verification Invite industry and LCA experts to participate in development of Product Category Rules (when needed) Engage a committee of third party experts to review the committee s work 33 Publish the completed and verified EPD

30 Environmental Product Declaration (the Program Operators) Program Operators currently working in North America: UL Environment NSF Sustainability ICC Evaluation Service Institute for Environmental Research & Education Earthsure EPD Scientific Certification Systems FP Innovations (CA) 34

31 Environmental Product Declaration (who wants it?) Without EPDs, comparing LCAs is like comparing 35

32 Environmental Product Declaration (who wants it?) but with EPDs, comparing LCAs is like comparing because the instructions and guidelines allow for comparable assessments of products in the same category. 36

33 EPD Required? (the world view) France ( Le Grenelle Environnement ) Defined government policy on ecological and sustainable development issues. Proposed that all high-volume consumer products imported into the country be accompanied by an EPD. 37

34 EPD Required? (the world view) United Kingdom (BREEAM) Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology currently encourages the use of EPDs as a guidance tool to help licensed assessors select green building products. 38

35 EPD Required? (the world view) Masdar City, Abu Dhabi A large scale eco-city project in the United Emirates is encouraging the use of EPDs and LCAs to evaluate the products used in its construction. 39

36 EPD Required? (in the United States) Executive Order Requires U.S. federal agencies to leverage federal purchasing power to promote environmentally-responsible products and technologies. U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) will incorporate compliance with standards for sustainability and EPDs as a factor in government purchasing decisions in

37 EPD Required? (LEED matters to GSA) October 25, 2013 GSA concluded that the U.S. Green Building Council s LEED green building rating system can and should be used in government buildings There are currently more than 4,000 LEED certified government projects with another 8,000 in the pipeline as registered projects 41

38 Environmental Product Declaration (LEED Pilot Credits) The LEED Pilot Credit Library is a testing ground for new and innovative credit ideas There are about 40 active Pilot credits A Pilot Credit offers one (1) point LEED project teams may pursue an unlimited number of pilot credits, however points awarded is limited by the number of Innovation credits available up to 5 for LEED 2009 projects. 42

39 LEED Pilot Credit 61 (MRpc61): (Material Disclosure and Assessment) OPTION 2: Multi-attribute optimization Use products that comply with one of the criteria below for 50%, by cost, of the total value of permanently installed products in the project. 43

40 LEED Pilot Credit 61 (MRpc61): (Material Disclosure and Assessment) Global Warming Potential (greenhouse gases) Depletion of the ozone layer Acidification of land and water sources, Eutrophication, Formation of tropospheric ozone, Depletion of nonrenewable energy resources All are things addressed via the window into a LCA; the EPD 44

41 Environmental Product Declaration (Pilot credit 61 evolves into LEED v4 BD+C) MR CREDIT: BUILDING PRODUCT DISCLOSURE AND OPTIMIZATION EPDs OPTION 2: essentially the same as LEED Pilot Credit 61 *LEED v4 official launch is at GreenBuild in Philadelphia, November LEED v4 will be phased in and as such project teams can register their projects under LEED 2009 until October

42 LEED Pilot Credit 52 (MRpc52): (Material Multi-Attribute Assessment) OPTION 1: Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Use at least 20 different permanently installed products sourced from at least five different manufacturers With a Product-specific EPD - 46

43 Environmental Product Declaration (Pilot credit 52 evolves into LEED v4 BD+C) MR CREDIT: BUILDING PRODUCT DISCLOSURE AND OPTIMIZATION EPDs OPTION 1: essentially the same as LEED Pilot Credit *LEED v4 official launch is at GreenBuild in Philadelphia, November LEED v4 will be phased in and as such project teams can register their projects under LEED 2009 until October, 2015.

44 LEED Pilot Credit 76 (MRpc76): (Material Ingredient Reporting) OPTION 1: Material Ingredient Reporting Use at least 20 different permanently installed products sourced from at least five different manufacturers that use a Health Product Declaration (HPD) 48

45 Health Product Declaration (Pilot credit 76 evolves into LEED v4 BD+C) MR CREDIT: BUILDING PRODUCT DISCLOSURE AND OPTIMIZATION MATERIAL INGREDIENTS OPTION 1: Material Ingredient Reporting Essentially the same as MRpc76 49 *LEED v4 official launch is at GreenBuild in Philadelphia, November LEED v4 will be phased in and as such project teams can register their projects under LEED 2009 until October 2015.

46 Health Product Declaration (What is it?) The Health Product Declaration Open Standard is a standard format that systematizes reporting language to enable transparent disclosure of information regarding building product content and associated health information. 50

47 Health Product Declaration Collaborative (who is driving this effort for transparency?) 51 Board of Directors replace Urban Studio Durst Organization ASSA ABLOY HLW International Health Product Declaration Collaborative Sustainable Built Environments Pankow Mary Davidge Associates HDR BuildingGreen, Inc. Boora Architects Staples SmithGroupJJR Google Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems Healthy Building Network

48 How Does an EPD Help a Designer? A standardized tool From a standardized method It is the definition of due diligence for product evaluation EPDs are specifiable 52

49 How Does an HPD Help a Designer? A standardized tool From a standardized method It is the definition of due diligence for product evaluation HPDs are specifiable 53

50 Is There a Tool that Summarizes an EPD? (Transparency briefs) An EPD is typically pages in length UL Environment (in collaboration with Perkins+Will) developed the Transparency Brief A 2-sided executive summary highlighting the key EPD information. 54

51 55 What does an HPD look like?

52 Course Summary We have reviewed the following topics: Understand how Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Product Declaration publications help architects and owners select sustainable products Explain how publications such as Product Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Product Declarations are tools to evaluate environmental impacts Review how Environmental Product Declarations and other certifications contribute to sustainable design. 56 Understand how these vehicles are becoming part of the LEED v4 point system

53 Thank You for Your Participation Questions? 57

54 60 Interpreting Transparency Documents: How LCAs, EPDs, and HPDs Assist Designers with Product Selection