INDUSTRY COMMENT: BPF


BSEE


Evaluating the environmental impacts of product choice for hot and cold water supply in building


This is the fourth arcle in a series by the Brish Plascs Federaon Pipes Group aimed at aiding building specifiers and engineers in considering the environmental benefits of product materials for hot and cold water systems. The previous three arcles covered jargon, methods, life cycle stages and links to environmental commitments, leading to this key explanaon of an Environmental Product Declaraon (EPD); a fair and consistent means of presenng the life cycle assessment (LCA) of a product and how it can be used by the building designer to enhance longterm sustainability in construcon


BULLETIN 4: INTERPRETING ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DECLARATIONS (EPDs)


The EPD itself


Life Cycle Assessment for a piping system in a fair and consistent manner. We looked at the


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importance and benefits of an independently verified EPD to compare construction products in the first article in this series (August 2019) and the need for a ‘cradle to grave’ approach in the second (October 2019). An independently verified EPD combines the life cycle assessment with a consistent set of rules for construction products and provides the most recognised method of quantifying environmental impacts of products/ processes/systems. It is trustworthy and transparent data in an easily usable form and means building specifiers and designers can directly compare products provided that the same life cycle stages and functional units have been used. According to BS EN 15804, each EPD needs to contain essential information which is structured so that the product can be easily compared to an alternative: uA precise product description including the manufacturer, functional unit and components included; uThe robustness of process, including standards used, date and period of validity, independence of the expert undertaking the work and the verifier; uThe LCA, from stages of product life considered, calculated effect of each activity on environmental impacts, use of resources, creation of waste streams during production and use of the product; u Technical data,


including the values used to construct the LCA and the scenarios set.


Plastic piping in hot and cold water systems


Independent studies have been carried out by the Belgian research


Read the latest at: www.bsee.co.uk


ut simply, an Environmental Product


Declaration is a means of


presenting the


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According to BS EN 15804, each EPD needs to contain essenal informaon which is structured so that the product can be easily compared to an alternave


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organisation VITO, to measure the environmental footprint of various plastic pipe systems based on life cycle assessment. This work was validated by the Denkstatt sustainability consultancy in Austria. EPDs are available for four types of hot and cold water systems inside buildings: uCross-linked polyethylene pipe systems;


uPolymer/aluminium/ polymer composite pipe systems; uPolypropylene random co-polymer pipe systems; uPolybutene pipe systems. Each pipe system is defined by a European Standard (EN), adopted in the UK as a British Standard (BS EN). The EPD therefore represents hot and cold water pipes made by all BPF Pipes Group members.


More detail on this subject can be found in the full Environmental Bulletin 4 at: www.bpfpipesgroup.com/ sustainability-and-the- circular-economy/overview/ Next bulletin: How by applying the knowledge gained from the series, an EPD can be used to make a fact-based decision on the best environmental solution for a project.


BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER APRIL 2020 13


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