Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)

May 26, 2022

It only takes roughly 15 minutes to crank out an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for a new mix once you have set up your plant information. Watch this video that captures the story of generating an accurate EPD:

Terminology

General Program Instructions (GPI): The GPI establishes the rules for operating an EPD program in accordance with ISO 14020 & 14025.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analyzes mixtures from around the country to determine the sensitivities of the variables in the mixtures and how they relate to the environmental outputs of the system. The LCA has to be conducted in accordance with ISO 14040 & 14044. Once the LCA is complete, then the Product Category Rules (PCR) take the lessons learned during the LCA to derive the relationships that are the key to the development of the EPD.
Product Category Rules (PCR): The PCR is developed by a committee comprised of industry experts and LCA practitioners who comb through the data and all of the upstream databases to get as much valuable data as possible to ensure the LCA and EPD scope is properly defined. There are multiple committees and third-party verification steps throughout the process and additional ISO standards (ISO 21930) are followed. Analysis of roughly 100 mixtures over 10 years have culminated in version 2.0 of the PCR for asphalt mixes. Once the PCR is finalized, the Environmental Product declaration software has to be engineered or re-engineered with the most current data to remove as many data gaps as possible.

NAPA Emerald Eco-Label Software

Thousands of man-hours went into the process that culminated with version 2.0 of the NAPA Emerald Eco-Label Software that was released in April 2022. Once the legwork to input the variables for each of your asphalt plants is complete, the process to develop a publishable EPD is about 15 minutes.

Once you have completed the webinars you can follow the additional links on the site to obtain a data gathering spreadsheet that will assist you in making a comprehensive review of the variables that need to be accounted for in order to produce an accurate EPD.

This step will be the most time-consuming step for the end-user and depends on how your company already collects many metrics and how detailed they are. You will need at least 12 months of data. The more data you have to support your production the more accurate your EPD will be.

EPDs can be used for marketing your mixtures and as proof of the GHG reductions your facility can produce related to your RAP use and other energy-saving operations you have conducted to optimize your processes. You can also use them to track your plant operations and mixture designs over time while you demonstrate your commitment to sustainability.