Sustainable Building Products & Materials Edge Environment Briefing Paper

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Disclaimer The research and findings in this paper are based on best available science and data at the time of writing. However, the intended purpose of this document is to use generic information to challenge conventional thinking, not to cover the sometimes significant variability in environmental performance between technologies, production sites, geographic location, supply chains, etc. This publication contains general information only and Edge Environment Pty Ltd is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified professional advisor.

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Sustainable Building Products & Materials The use of more sustainable building products and materials has become an essential component of new construction developments. A significant proportion of projects now target an environmental rating, which sets clear sustainability targets. The manufacturing and construction industry recognise the need to supply products and materials that have a low environmental impact. The growing number of ‘green’ building products and materials and the numerous methods of rating environmental performance has caused confusion for specifiers and purchasers. It can be difficult to thoroughly assess the sustainability credentials of products and materials, and to understand the meaning and appropriate use of different environmental claims. For example: 

How are products assessed in Green Building ratings?

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What is the difference between the available environmental certifications?

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What are the key characteristics to consider when evaluating environmental claims and credentials?

Ultimately the goal of any environmental rating mechanism is to allow specifiers and purchasers to make informed decisions about the products or materials they are choosing. This briefing paper provides an overview of current sustainability trends and Australia specific building rating tools. The paper explains the various methods of demonstrating environmental performance of products and materials and provides details of well-recognised certification schemes.

Sustainable Building Trends The uptake of ‘Green Building’ continues to increase on a global scale. In a recent worldwide survey 51% of the architects, engineers, contractors, owners and consultants surveyed anticipate that more than 60% of their work will be ‘green’ by 2015, up from 28% in 2012 1. Building construction in Australia has long since had a sustainable focus. Property developers support the notion that sustainable developments can offer significant social and environmental benefits whilst maintaining commercial viability. In the three years 2012 to 2015, Australian companies expect to increase their levels of green building at higher rates than from 2009 to 20123. Edge Environment conducted an industry survey2 on Environmental Certifications for Building products, with the intent of establishing if and to what extent the architects and designers consider environmental certifications as a differentiator when selecting or purchasing building products. The results of the survey showed that: •

74% of participants think environmental certifications are a differentiator when selecting building products;

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78% of participants have intentionally procured products with environmental certifications;

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96% of participants are influenced (directly & indirectly) by Green Star; and

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Environmental performance has an influence of 26% on average when selecting or purchasing building products.

Global recognition to reduce resource consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions continue as key drivers for sustainable building. However, social aspects of sustainable development such as improved health and wellbeing and responsible sourcing of products and materials are increasingly being measured and reported.

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The life cycle approach to Materials and Resources credits in the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) v4 offers incentives for project teams to specify products from manufacturers that provide full transparency of their product's environmental performance. Recognition is given to standardised reporting of the material contents of building products, and the health effects associated with these materials (i.e. Health Product Declarations™ (HPD)).

Building Rating Tools and Certifications Rating tools and independent environmental certification of buildings are key drivers for sustainable development. Rating tools consider the environmental impacts of a whole development and generally include themes such as; Management; Energy, Water; Indoor environmental quality; Materials; Waste; Transport; Emissions and Site Ecology. Rating tools have historically focused on minimising consumption of resources such as energy and water and minimising the production of waste. The current trend is to give more recognition to sustainable sourcing of products and materials, as well as for assessing how the life cycle of individual products and whole buildings can be optimised in terms of environmental impact. The most prevalent rating system used within Australia is the Green Building Council of Australia’s (GBCA) Green Star system. The system contains a suite of tools which are used to rate different development types at both the design and as-built project stages. The new Green Star Design and As Built tool will be used on projects from late 2014. A number of new Green Star credits recognise the need for sustainable products and materials: 

Product Transparency and Sustainability – Points are awarded for demonstrating the environmental credentials of products and materials used within the project;

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Responsible Sourcing of Construction Materials – Points are awarded for sustainable sourcing of materials used to construct the project; and

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Materials Life Cycle Impacts – Points are awarded for demonstrating environmental improvements using whole building Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

Demonstrating the environmental performance of products and materials is vitally important to ensure their contribution to green ratings is recognised.

Methods for demonstrating environmental performance of products and materials An environmental certification is a voluntary means of environmental regulation and development. Manufacturers and suppliers can choose to verify their product or material against predefined environmental criteria. The use and meaning of the certification will vary depending on the level of independence. For example: 

First-Party Environmental Certification or self-certification indicates that the manufacturer or supplier of the product or material offers assurance regarding its claimed environmental credentials. Self- certified products or materials will not meet the requirements for purchasers who are seeking a form of independent verification. ISO 14021 provides guidance for best practice environmental product self-declarations;

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Second-Party Environmental Certification refers to a method in which a product or materials environmental credentials are certified by an industry association relevant to the product or material. These associations are in some cases directly involved in the creation of performance standards, operation of certification schemes and verification of environmental credentials for the products or materials; and

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Third-Party Environmental Certification is conducted by an independent body hired by the manufacturer or supplier. Third-party certification ensures an independent assessment of products and material declaring that the specified requirements of the independent body are met. ISO 14024 and ISO 14025 are the key international standards for third party environmental claims.

There are a number of ways the environmental performance of products and materials can be demonstrated, they include:

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) LCA is an internationally accepted method of evaluating the environmental impacts of products and materials following international standards ISO 14040 and 14044. LCA studies assist manufacturers and suppliers in examining inputs such as natural resources, materials and fuel and outputs such as waste. Conducting an LCA allows analysis of key environmental impact categories and identifies opportunities where better environmental performance can be achieved. Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) is an emerging aspect in the life cycle assessment domain. Social and socio-economic LCA complement environmental LCA and Life Cycle Costing, contributing to a complete assessment of goods and services within the context of sustainable development. Tools such as the Social Hotspot Database are driving an improvement in social conditions worldwide by providing the data and tools necessary for improved visibility of social hotspots in product supply chains. A product LCA can be used to underpin or produce certifiable environmental credentials.

Ecolabels An ecolabel is generally awarded following environmental certification to ISO 14024. An ecolabel confirms a product or materials environmental performance against its chosen certification type. Most certification services have a brand or logo (ecolabel) which is applied to products and materials certified under their scheme. There are almost 500 different ecolabels in use by 25 industry sectors in 197 countries around the world4. This results in significant uncertainty about the meaning and relevance of different types of label. Some well-recognised environmental certification schemes within Australia are: 

Carpet Institute of Australia –Environmental Certification Scheme;

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Ecospecifier GreenTag GreenRate – Certification is applicable to furniture, flooring and assemblies;

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Australasian Furnishing Research and Development Institute. AFRDI Standard 150, is applicable to commercial furniture;

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Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) certification is applicable to furniture, flooring, assemblies, paints and cleaning products; and

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Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability (MTS) Sustainable Materials Rating Technology (SMaRT) certification.

The above certification schemes are recognised the Green Star 2014 materials credits, whereas most international certifications cannot be used to demonstrate leading environmental performance.

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Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) EPDs are verified documents that report environmental data and characteristics of products in accordance with the international standard ISO 14025. An EPD is a standardised reporting format for a product on Life Cycle Assessments (LCA). Products and materials with an EPD are usually acknowledged in relevant building rating tool credits. EPDs provide information on the environmental impact of raw material acquisition, energy use and efficiency, content of materials and chemical substances, emissions to air, soil and water and waste generation. Product and company information is also included. Some examples of international EPD schemes are IBU based in Germany , UL in the US, and The International EPD System based in Sweden. The EPD schemes operate in compliance with the international standard ISO 14025 (2006) - and for construction products, typically, the European standard EN 15804. The Australasian EPD Program, aligning with the International EPD System is currently being launched in Australia and New Zealand.

Product or Material Stewardship Schemes Product or Material Stewardship Schemes are a method to encourage manufacturers, suppliers and purchasers to share responsibility for reduction, reuse, recycling and recovery of products and materials. It also helps manage environmental impacts arising from the disposal at the end of its life. Stewardship schemes are often seen as complementary to environmental certification and EPDs as stewardship schemes focus on best practice processes rather than measurements of performance and impacts. Some examples of product stewardship schemes in the building products industry include: 

The Australian polyvinyl chloride (PVC) industry’s Product Stewardship Program. This is a voluntary initiative by The Vinyl Council of Australia setting out a series of commitments to address environmental and health issues associated with the life cycle of PVC;

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The Australian Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) operates a system for different stakeholders interested in forest issues to work towards responsible forest management. In providing this system, FSC promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests;

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The Steel Stewardship Forum (SSF) is developing a sustainability certification scheme called Responsible Steel which will provide certification of compliance with nominated sustainability criteria for all sectors of the steel supply chain, incorporating the full life cycle of steel from mining through steel making, processing and fabrication to use, re-use and recycling;

Certain manufacturers of products such as furniture and storage operate their own stewardship schemes, in which they are responsible for taking back the product at the end of its service life and either reusing or recycling it.

Reused Products or Materials These products or materials are generally regarded as items that have previously been used in another project. It should be demonstrated that reused items directly substitute a new item without significant changes to the structure or function of the item. ISO 14021 for Type II environmental product declarations is the most relevant ISO standard to communicate reuse, recycled content, recyclability and compostability of products.

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Performance achievements As illustrated there are numerous ways of demonstrating a product or materials environmental performance. Each available pathway for environmental certification offers its own benefits and restrictions. The use of EPD or LCA offer an overview of the product or material’s complete environmental performance, ecolabels signal overall environmental preferability, whereas other forms of environmental certification may focus on a specific environmental performance indicator. Environmental rating tools generally award credit to products and materials demonstrating one of the following forms of environmental attributes or performance: 

Ecolabels for environmental preferability. The Type I eco-label is one of the most widespread third party certifications. ISO compliant eco-labels intend to signal that the product is environmentally preferable according to the rules and within the class of comparable products, according to the ecolabel programs standards;

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Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). One of the main purposes of EPDs is to provide comprehensive and comparable information based on LCA. The EPD certification is not evidence for environmental preferability per se;

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Stewardship Programs focus on best practice processes rather than measurements of performance and impacts. Product stewardship is an approach to managing the impacts of different products and materials. It acknowledges that those involved in producing, selling, using and disposing of products have a shared responsibility to ensure that those products or materials are managed in a way that reduces their impact, throughout their lifecycle; and

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Reused products, products with recycled content, products that are recyclable, etc. This category of environmental attributes should not be considered a proxy for environmental preferability, but rather one management approach to reduce waste and improve resource efficiency.

Conclusion Sustainable development represents a significant portion of the construction industry, impacting a wide range of building sectors. Environmental rating tools are placing an increased importance on the use of sustainable building products and materials and the use of these products and materials is only expected to increase with the impact of building products and materials representing a larger percentage of a buildings overall impact. This market driven requirement provides an important incentive for manufacturers to provide building products and materials with environmentally recognised credentials. For more information on Edge Environments involvement with sustainable building products and materials, please contact Clint Craggs ([email protected] or 02 9438 0100).

References 1World Green Building Trends, Smart Market Report, McGraw Hill Construction, 2013, p5. 2 Results of the “Environmental Certifications for Building Products” Survey, Edge Environment, July 2013 3World Green Building Trends, Smart Market Report, McGraw Hill Construction, 2013, p36. 4 http://www.ecolabelindex.com/

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