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COMMENT


EPDs: Helping to build the sustainable buildings of the future


Barry Rust of Tata Steel discusses the role of Environmental Product Declarations as a weapon for tackling the obstacles the industry faces in ensuring a truly sustainable, transparent and responsible supply chain


W


ith improved awareness and constant news coverage on the effects that the human race is having on the environment, society is increasingly questioning the impact industry is having on the world. With the UK Green Building Council estimating that the built environment generates a shocking 40 per cent of the UK’s total carbon footprint, it’s no surprise that our sector is of particular concern. Determining the environmental impact of a construction project is a complex task, particularly if one is to take a holistic view from cradle to cradle, or indeed cradle to grave. Because of this,


Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are becoming an important validation tool within the construction industry; developed by manufacturers to provide transparent data about the environmental impact of their products and to enable specifiers to make informed purchasing decisions, assisting their client in constructing a truly sustainable building. Essentially, an EPD is a document that contains life-cycle inventory data to provide a transparent overview of a product’s impact on the environment. This Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can take into account everything from the extraction of raw


TRANSPARENT EPDs provide transparent data about the environmental impact of products, helping enable specifiers to make informed decisions in creating sustainable buildings


ADF OCTOBER 2019


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