Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) provide transparent data on a product’s carbon impact throughout its lifecycle. Although a relatively recent initiative, the number of manufacturers signing up for the voluntary declaration is growing.
Increasingly, housebuilders are requiring the data to make an informed choice when selecting materials which meet the sustainable requirements of their construction project.Stewart McGregor, technical manager at dry mortar specialists CPI EuroMix, explains the company’s onboarding process with EPDs and why it is a benefit to building performance.
EPDs are becoming integral to the building process. Their relevance is in accordance with the development of digital modelling to provide an overall assessment of a building’s structural materials. EPDs not only allow specifiers to make more informed decisions based on a product’s carbon performance, but they also allow manufacturers to gain a competitive edge, depending on their product’s rating.
CPI’s EPD considers the bigger building picture
CPI’s EPD took about six months to compile. It led to us becoming one of the first, if not the first, UK manufacturers on the market to possess an EPD for masonry mortar. Our EPD has a dedicated webpage, enabling customers to access the carbon ratings of our dry mortar product range. By providing quick, easy access to this information via our webpage improves the specification process, with the enhanced clarity designed to improve the build process.
Cradle-to-grave calculations
Unlike many manufacturers whose EPDs are based on cradle-to-gate calculations, CPI’s declarations are developed using cradle-to-grave methodology. We include the emissions incurred during the raw material’s extraction, product manufacture and the CO₂ emitted beyond ‘the gate’, which means including energy used in transferring the material to site and its end-of-life disposal.
Including cradle-to-grave carbon calculations in our EPD not only builds greater clarity into the construction process for supply chain customers, it indicates where we can improve our CO₂ footprint as a company. For example, our EPD calculations revealed that 70%-to-80% of our products’ carbon output occurred during the raw material phase. This is an outcome we cannot affect – without cement, there is no mortar. However, because of our EPD findings, we have exchanged CEM I cement, for a lower-carbon, CEM II solution.
CPI EuroMix is currently updating its EPD, which will take into consideration changes made across our sites, including installing solar panels to reduce our energy usage, and using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuel in three of our manufacturing plants.
Bespoke product data
As well as providing core lifecycle assessment and environmental impact data within our EPDs, we offer more bespoke details in relation to our mortar range. It’s our belief that easy access to this type of performance data is crucial to providing customers with the knowledge to construct better-quality buildings that are less impactful to the environment.
EPDs in years to come will likely progress from a voluntary provision to one that is integral to properties meeting ever-stringent energy standards. CPI EuroMix is happy to be ahead of the curve in this respect, and we hope to see other manufacturers follow suit. The direction of travel is towards a low-carbon built environment, which we’ll reach a lot sooner if we journey together with the same commitment to sustainable practices and principles.
For further information visit: www.cpieuromix.com
