Good decisions require good information, and when it comes to good product sustainability decisions, Environmental Product Declarations or EPDs stand out from the rest of the pack.
Dr. Ferran de Miguel, Sustainability Manager at Fletcher Building and Dr. Barbara Nebel, CEO of thinkstep-anz talk about why EPDs are an ideal choice for product sustainability in the construction and built environment in a joint article for New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC).
The top nine reasons to develop an EPD.
A product EPD is based off an extensive Life Cycle Assessment study for the same product and quantifies the environmental impact of products across a wide range of environmental indicators, including its carbon footprint. With credible data and third-party verification, they offer a reliable method of gauging the environmental performance of building products and thus, can enable and encourage better decision-making.
Building product manufacturer Fletcher Building is no stranger to EPDs, having published nine EPDs across their brands including EPDs produced by thinkstep-anz for Golden Bay Cement, GIB® plasterboard, Pink® Batts® glass wool insulation and ColorCote® metal roofing and cladding.
Ferran de Miguel Mercader, Sustainability Manager at Fletcher Building said: “EPDs are a big part of our sustainability strategy,” further adding that they, “provide the opportunity to show the environmental impact of our building products in a transparent, comparable, and verified manner. Our customer then has the possibility to make an informed choice”.
Find out more about EPDs here.