The sustainability of buildings is becoming increasingly important, driven by legal requirements and growing consideration in tenders. But how can construction projects be objectively evaluated and compared? This is where certification systems such as LEED, BREEAM, and DGNB come into play. For architects, engineers, planners, and developers, having in-depth knowledge of these systems is essential. In this article, we’ll show how Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), Product Category Rules (PCR), and Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) contribute to sustainability certification—and why aquatherm is the perfect sustainable solution for your piping systems.
Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) provide transparency about the environmental impacts of construction products such as plastic piping systems. They serve as a foundation to compare products and make informed decisions for sustainable building. EPDs are crucial in meeting the requirements for sustainability certifications.
The Product Category Rules (PCR) define the requirements for the preparation of EPD for a specific product category. They also contain the specifications for carrying out the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), the selection of environmental indicators, the presentation of the results, and their verification. The aim of the PCR is to ensure that similar products are objectively assessed in the same way so that subsequent EPDs are comparable and verifiable. There are more than 180 different categories for which PCR have been issued. Sources of published Product Category Rules include the International EPD System's PCR Library, the Environmental & Development Foundation's PCR Public Library, and UL’s Product Categories (PCRs).
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the method of quantifying the environmental impact of a product over its entire life cycle. This means from the extraction of raw materials to production, transport, use, disposal, or recycling. LCA considers various aspects such as energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste generation, and toxicity. As described, the LCA is based on standardised data collection according to the Product Category Rules. Techniques used in LCA are described in ISO 14040 "Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Principles and framework", and ISO 14044 "Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Requirements and guidance". A LCA considers either the entire life cycle of a product or parts of it. Therefore, a distinction is made between three different approaches to assessing the product life cycle:
The pipe systems of aquatherm are evaluated according to the concept "cradle to gate". In addition, the aquatherm EPDs also include modules C (disposal phase) and D (next product system) in accordance with the requirements of the revised standard EN 15804+ A2.
In order to evaluate and minimise the environmental impact of our products, we at aquatherm have had environmental product declarations drawn up in accordance with the above-mentioned international standards.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally recognised certification system for sustainable buildings developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC). With LEED, you rate your building according to various criteria such as energy efficiency, water consumption, material selection, space quality, and site development. The more environmentally friendly your building scores in the criteria, the more points it receives. Depending on the number of points (credits) achieved, your building can receive one of the four certification levels:
The current version, LEED v4.1, was introduced in 2019. LEED v4.1 has made a number of changes and improvements from previous versions, including in the area of materials and resources (MR Materials and Resources). In this area, buildings are rated according to the use of environmentally friendly and health-friendly building products.
Points or credits are awarded in these criterions for LEED certification:
If you are planning a sustainable building project, EPDs for building materials, building products and building components are the most important factor in the sustainability assessment of your building. This is because the EPDs provide you with the basic information that is relevant for building certification. You can obtain the EPDs directly from manufacturers such as aquatherm or retrieve them from international as well as country-specific databases.
According to the German Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V. (IBU), "Internationally recognised EPDs (...) are therefore important cornerstones for building certification systems such as DGNB, BNB, BREEAM and LEED." As the IBU describes on its website, EPDs not only enable you to carry out Life Cycle Assessments and evaluate buildings, but also to plan them integrally. Architects and professional planners can use EPDs to compare different building components, construction methods, and options already in the design phase, which therefore selects the ideal combination of building products for the building in question.
As a manufacturer of plastic piping systems, aquatherm provides you with the Environmental Product Declarations for your project, so simplifies the sustainability assessment and certification of your building. With our EPDs, we create an added value for you regarding sustainable solutions of your pipe system and your eco-balance. In this way, you not only contribute to a better future with us, but also gain future security for your property.
Download our free document here to learn more about the background and your benefits with EPDs.
