The North American precast concrete industry is pleased to announce the release of environmental product declarations (EPDs) in three key precast concrete product categories.
The EPDs will allow architects, engineers, building owners and other specifiers to better understand the environmental impacts of precast and prestressed concrete products.
The precast concrete industry-wide EPDs are now available for the following products: architectural and insulated wall panels, structural precast concrete products and under- ground precast concrete products.
Third-party verified EPDs
An EPD is a standardized, internationally recognized, comprehensive tool for providing information on a product’s environmental impact. Information in the EPD documents is based on an ISO-compliant life cycle assessment (LCA) and verified by a third-party. The detailed analysis considers all processes in the manufacturing of a product, including raw material and energy extraction, preliminary production and the manufacture of end products.
EPDs and LEED
The industry-wide EPDs, jointly released by the Canadian Precast/ Prestressed Concrete Institute (CPCI), the National Precast Concrete Association (NPCA) and the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI), are issued within clearly defined product groups based on the precast concrete product category rules (PCR). Using products with EPDs can contribute to LEED credits. LEED v4 has incorporated a new credit for EPDs that have been third-party verified by an approved program operator.
CPCI, NPCA and PCI are the leading technical resources for the precast concrete industry in North America. From this body of knowledge, building codes, design guides, educational programs, certification, sustainability programs and new research ideas are derived. This joint industry initiative develops, maintains and disseminates the body of knowledge necessary for designing, fabricating and constructing sustainable and resilient precast concrete structures.
Download a copy of the precast concrete EPD on underground precast concrete products.