Part of the BRE Trust

Environmental Profiling and EN15804 EPDs

Andrew DutfieldCentre for Sustainable ProductsFlooring Sustainability Partnership 14th March 2013

– The Environmental Profiling Process

– Cross listing against existing certificates

– Listing on Green Book Live

– EN15804 EPD

Overview of Presentation

How BREEAM Assessments feed through to the product level

Generic Building Type

Commercial

Education

Healthcare

Retail (fashion and durability)

Residential

Industrial

Building level (element specification)

Ground floor

Upper floor

Roof

External wall

Window

Internal Wall

Floor finishes

Insulation

Landscaping

Product level (product specification)

Cradle to grave life cycle assessment using BRE Environmental Profiles Methodology

Overview of BREEAM credits

Minimum Standards

· Energy· Management· Health & Well-being· Water· Waste· Land Use & Ecology

Tradable Credits

· Energy· Water· Materials· Transport· Waste· Pollution· Health & Well-being· Management· Land Use & Ecology

Envi

ronm

enta

l Wei

ghtin

g

Final ScoreC

ateg

ory

Scor

esPass ≥ 30Good ≥ 45Very Good ≥ 55Excellent ≥ 70Outstanding ≥ 85

Innovation Credits· Exemplary Performance Requirements· Approved Innovation Credits

BREEAM Materials Credits

Credit Name Max no credits available

Mat 01 Life Cycle Impacts 6Mat 02 Hard landscaping & Boundary Protection 1

Mat 03 Responsible Sourcing of Materials 3Mat 04 Insulation 2

Mat 05 Designing for Robustness 1

BRE Environmental ProfileType III Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) based on following standards:

– ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044: 2006 Life Cycle Assessment

– ISO 14025: 2006 Type III Environmental Labels

– ISO 21930: 2007 Environmental Product Declarations for Construction Products

The BRE Global Environmental Profiles Process

Application and Proposal

Data collection

Data review

Verification site visit

Producing the Environmental Profile

Annual Verification

Client and BRE

Client

BRE with Client support

Client and BRE

BRE

Client and BRECertification only

Certification only

What’s behind an Environmental Profile?

Factory Data– Outputs– Inputs – Energy– Transport– Emissions – Waste

OverviewDeriving the underlying data: Life Cycle Assessment

Production Construction Use End of life

Cradle to grave

OverviewCalculating a single indicator: Ecopoints

Impacts

Analysis

Normalisation

Weighting

Ecopoints

BRE Impact Categories UnitsClimate change Kg CO2 eq. (100 yr)

Water extraction m3 water extracted (gross)

Mineral resource extraction Tonnes of mineral extracted

Stratospheric ozone depletion Kg CFC-11 eq.

Human toxicity Kg 1,4 dichlorobenzene (1,4-DB) eq.

Ecotoxicity to fresh water Kg 1,4 dichlorobenzene (1,4-DB) eq.

Nuclear waste (higher level) mm3 high level waste

Ecotoxicity to land Kg 1,4 dichlorobenzene (1,4-DB) eq.

Waste disposal Tonnes of solid waste

Fossil fuel depletion MJ

Eutrophication Kg phosphate (PO4) eq.

Photochemical ozone creation Kg ethene (C2H4) eq.

Acidification Kg sulphur dioxide (SO2) eq.

Normalisation

– The impact of one European citizen per year

– Allows direct comparison of impacts

Environmental Issue ImpactClimate Change 12.3 t CO2 eq. (100 yr)

Water extraction 377m3

Mineral extraction 24.4 tonnesStratospheric ozone depletion 0.217 kg CFC-11 eq.Human toxicity 19.7 t 1,4-DB eq.Ecotoxicity to fresh water 13.2 t 1,4-DB eq.Higher level nuclear waste 23700 mm3

Ecotoxicity to land 123 kg 1,4-DB eq.Waste disposal 3.75 tonnesFossil fuel depletion 6.51 toe

Eutrophication 32.5 kg PO4 eq.

Photochemical ozone creation 21.5 kg C2H4 eq.

Acidification 71.2 kg SO2 eq.

Weightings

– Required to achieve relative importance

– ..and for a single score– Created by a panel of 10

European experts.– Peer reviewed– Geographically specific to

Europe

– Basis of BRE Ecopoints

100 Ecopoints = impact of 1 EU citizen per year

Environmental Issue Weighting (%)

Climate Change 21.6Water extraction 11.7Mineral extraction 9.8Stratospheric ozone depletion 9.1Human toxicity 8.6Ecotoxicity to fresh water 8.6Higher level nuclear waste 8.2Ecotoxicity to land 8.0Waste disposal 7.7Fossil fuel depletion 3.3Eutrophication 3.0Photochemical ozone creation 0.20Acidification 0.05

How Ecopoints transfer to A+ to E ratings

Ecopoints for Floor Finishing Options

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61

years

Eco

poin

ts p

er m

2m

2

Functional unit

C

E

D

B

A

A+Point of installation

Ecopoint scale– Different scale of ecopoints for each building element, and sometimes different

scales for each building type– Based on generic profiles

A+ E

A+ E

Ecopoints per m2

Healthcare

Offices

Education

DCBA

DCBA

AA+ EB C D

What do you get from an Environmental Profile?

Certificate Environmental Product

Declaration

Environmental Profiles Report

What don’t you get from an Environmental Profile?

Qualitative Impacts

- Responsible sourcing - Social impacts

Economic Impacts - Life cycle costing

Physical Properties- Thermal properties- Acoustic properties

Emissions In-situ- IAQ and VOCs

Benefits of an Environmental Profile

• Green Guide Rating can be used to compare:– Materials with similar functions– Specifications with similar functions– Building designs over their expected

lifetimes

• Credits in BREEAM

• Product differentiation

• Competitive advantage

• Open new markets

Cross-listing against Existing Certificates

Criteria for cross-listing:– The product to be cross-listed against must

have an existing Environmental Profile Certification.

– The product to be cross-listed must have no additional manufacturing by the owner or by the company buying in the product. (It is the same product that has been certified e.g. re-branded with a different name)

– Cross listing is dependent upon valid certification of original product.

Future Update to EN 15804BRE Methodology update/alignment

BRE Methodology

ISO 21930

EN 15804superseded

EN 15804BRE Methodology update/alignment

ProductionA 1 - 3

ConstructionA 4 - 5

UseB 1 - 7

End of lifeC 1 - 4

ReuseRecyclingRecovery

D

Cradle to gateCradle to gate with optionsCradle to grave (Optional)

(Optional) (Optional)

Variants of EPD

Average productOr

Manufacturer-specific product

Product rangeOr

Product-specific

Declared unitOr

Functional unit

Business to business

OrBusiness to consumer

Creating an EPD

Data collection

Data review

LCA, modelling

Verification

Publication of EPD

Creating an EPD

Data collection

Data review

LCA, modelling

Verification

Publication of EPD

Client (and LCA Practitioner)

LCA Practitioner, with client support

LCA Practitioner

Independent verifier

Programme Operator

What does an EPD contain?As required by the Standards:

Owner, operator, validity

Type of EPD, information modules covered

Product details

Scenarios, calculations & results

Any other relevant product information

Results of LCA

Damage to environment

Climate Change,

Acidification, Eutrophication,

etc.

Waste & other output flows

Hazardous waste,

Materials for reuse and

energy recovery, etc.

Resource use

Renewable and non-renewable

resources, Water

consumption, etc.

but currently excludes toxicity…

Information Transfer Matrix

Summary, aspects of note

– Ownership– Comparability– Usage scenarios– Reference Service Life– Verification

– Sample of BRE’s EN 15804 EPD:

Thank you

Andrew Dutfielddutfielda@bre.co.uk