Leading UK building products manufacturer Glidevale Protect has published third party, independently verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for three of its most popular construction membrane products to assist specifiers by providing clear sustainability and life cycle assessment data.
Created by One Click LCA and verified by the EPD Hub in accordance with EN 15804+A2 & ISO 14025 / ISO 21930, the product and factory specific EPDs for construction wall membranes Protect TF200 Thermo, Protect VC Foil Ultra, and Protect TF200, do not contain average calculations and have been assessed cradle to gate with modules A1-A3, C1-C4 and D, with the life cycle analysis (LCA) published in accordance with the reference standards ISO 14040/14044. Detailing key environment impact data, including global warming potential (GWP) calculations as well as total energy and water use, the EPDs form a transparent analysis of each product’s carbon footprint to give full reassurance in specification.
The development of these EPDs for Protect TF200 Thermo, Protect VC Foil Ultra, and Protect TF200, demonstrate Glidevale Protect’s continued commitment to and investment in sustainability. Protect TF200 Thermo is a reflective breather membrane for the external wall which can enhance the thermal performance of the final wall design, while Protect VC Foil Ultra is a reflective air and vapour control layer (AVCL) that offers low emissivity to enhance the thermal performance of internal walls, ceilings and floors. Both can be used together as a system to help maximise the energy-efficiency rating of a building and control the risk of condensation. Protect TF200 is a high-performance breather membrane designed as a secondary line of protection to external walls and to minimise the risk of interstitial condensation.
Detailed EPDs, such as these from Glidevale Protect, are instrumental in helping specifiers understand a product’s sustainability credentials when working to more stringent regulations, such as the uplift to Building Regulations Part L, as well as wider reaching whole building environmental assessment standards like BREEAM. EPDs quantifiably demonstrate the environmental impact of a product, and the data is independently verified and certified in line with internationally-recognised standards focused on the product’s whole life cycle.
John Mellor, Glidevale Protect’s sustainability lead said, “At Glidevale Protect, we believe that transparency is everything. As the sustainability of any project relies on the performance of the individual products specified, it’s essential for specifiers to know they can rely on trusted product data in order to achieve full compliance. That’s why we’ve invested in developing EPDs for three of our most frequently specified products to give specifiers access to all the information required both now and in the future, providing full transparency and traceability.”
The new EPDs form a key part of Glidevale Protect’s ongoing commitment to sustainability. This has two facets: firstly to look at ways of improving the environmental performance of its products to provide customers with market-leading energy-efficient solutions, and secondly to reduce the embodied carbon of its products through improvements to the manufacturing process. The company has already made strides through various initiatives, including new systems to track recycling levels and energy consumption across its UK-based manufacturing facilities, and closed-loop recycling of its waste offcuts, which are put back into specific products via a locally-based supply chain.
More information can be found at glidevaleprotect.com or follow Glidevale Protect on LinkedIn.
Source: Architecture Today