As Easy as EPD In a bid to offer more understanding of the impact categories of environmental product declarations (EPDs), Irene Mazzei PhD, Sustainability Lead at Stoane Lighting, and Professor Francesco Pomponi, Senior Associate at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge, break down the important terminology with some lighting-specific examples.
GREENLIGHT ALLIANCE IRENE MAZZEI & FRANCESCO POMPONI
The industry is seeing an increase in the use of environmental product declarations (EPDs). Equipment manufacturers are taking first steps with some indeed covering whole product ranges. There is an increased interest from architects and engineers in EPD data alongside the expanding database of information from other materials and products in the built environment. The specification community are also turning to EPD information to support their decision-making processes or respond to assessment and disclosure requirements under building level certification schemes, such as BREEAM or WELL. Many stakeholders are motivated to address one key environmental impact, carbon emissions. While a luminaire’s carbon emissionrelated impact can be evaluated from an EPD, there are several other impact indicators, each also important in their own ways. Establishing the importance of the various impact indicators for specific applications is a controversial subject that does not have a single answer. It is crucial, however, that a baseline knowledge is built on the meaning of impacts and their significance in the aspects that characterise lighting products and their use. In this article we explore these other impact categories, break down the terminology and give some lighting-specific examples of where some of the impact might come from. Impact indicators and their meaning Several common impact indicators are likely to be included in EPDs – sorry, this means a few more acronyms for the lighting industry to get familiar with. The examples listed here don’t necessarily indicate the biggest contributors in each category, nor consider where in the lifecycle of a product the biggest impact comes from, this will vary from one product and manufacturer to another.
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Global Warming Potential (GWP) Definition: Global warming potential describes the effect of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, related to their ability of retaining heat on the Earth’s surface. If you are interested in knowing the “carbon emissions” of a product then this is where to look. When we quantify the “carbon impact” of products, it’s the GWP value we use: “carbon” – or CO2 – is a greenhouse gas, as are also methane and nitrous oxide. They all contribute to global warming and therefore their effect is included in the GWP value. The total reported value for Global Warming Potential consists of the sum of GWP values related to the consumption of fossil fuels (GWP-F), land use (GWP-L) and biogenic carbon (GWP-B). These generate greenhouse gases due to emissions from combustion, deforestation, and processing of biomasses. However, for industrial processes, the total GWP value is mostly influenced by fossil fuel use-related emissions. Unit: Global Warming Potential is expressed in kilograms of CO2 (carbon dioxide) equivalents – or kg CO2 eq. This means the mass of all greenhouse gases emitted, represented as an equivalent mass of CO2 only. Example: The production of electricity necessary for manufacturing operations of the luminaire or to power a luminaire during its use is one of the main contributors to the total GWP of lighting products. The renewable electricity mix varies a lot globally, so it is common to see higher GWP in products manufactured or used in parts of the world with a higher prevalence of fossil fuel power generation. The EPD should make clear where the product is manufactured and being used for the purpose of calculating impacts.