Oregon Concrete EPDs

  EPD Resources & Publications   
 



 

Participating Oregon Concrete Producers 


Any concrete company in Oregon that has a third-party verified Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), for one or more of their concrete mix designs, may be listed here in the future (Subject to eligibility and verification criteria).

Links to company registered EPDs:
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EPD Advantages:
Get LEED V4 Project Points   |   Offer Low Environmental Impact Concrete Choices   |   Target Plant Process Improvements  


 

   

Learn About Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)

What’s an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)?
An EPD is a third-party verified label that discloses the quantified environmental impacts of producing a product. EPDs can enable comparisons between products serving the same function. EPD labels are governed by the ISO 14025 standard. All EPDs must follow the same “accounting standards” published in the product category rule (PCR) for each product. In the case of ready mix concrete, the product category rule was developed by the Carbon Leadership Forum and can be found on their website here: http://www.carbonleadershipforum.org/2017/01/03/concrete-pcr/

For concrete mixes, EPDs are calculated and published for individual concrete mixes at specific plants. Identical mix designs produced at different plants in the same company may have different environmental impacts based on the plant’s efficiency, the raw materials used, and the transport distances for raw materials.  

An EPD is valid for 5 years. A concrete plant can choose to redo an EPD at anytime if they’ve improved their sourcing or manufacturing and want to reassess and disclose their improvements. Product improvements over time may help contribute to “points” in the LEED V4 green building rating system.    

Are other concrete producers publishing EPDs?
Yes. NRMCA’s website has a list of other concrete companies that have produced plant specific EPDs for their concrete mixes. Additionally, the National Ready Mix Concrete Association (NRMCA) published an industry average EPD in December of 2014 and is updating the EPD in 2016.

Why would a concrete company want EPDs?
The biggest market driver in 2016 is the LEED V4 building rating system.  EPDs for building products (including concrete mixes) can be awarded points in LEED V4. LEED V4 is no longer giving points for recycled aggregate and locally sourced materials, which were the typical ways concrete producers contributed to LEED points in the past. The new rating system highly encourages EPDs. Concrete producers with EPDs will find more opportunities to contribute to LEED projects. 

Besides the demand from LEED projects, public and private sector clients may ask for EPDs to help them select a low impact concrete mix. Most concrete producers already have the knowledge and experience producing low carbon concrete mixes that have less Portland cement and high supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) content. EPDs will allow clients to select low impact mixes and may help clients contribute to public or private carbon reduction targets. 

EPDs also provide a quantitative measurement of a product’s impact that can be used as a baseline for future product improvement. Finally, EPDs identify a product’s “hotspots” or the portion of the product's lifecycle that has disproportionately higher environmental impacts than other contributing areas. This will help concrete producers target their process improvements in the areas that matter most. 


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    For Concrete Producers:
     
   

Verification

Where will I submit my EPDs for 3rd party verification?
Concrete producers will have a choice between numerous program operators. Program operators can be any organization that runs a voluntary program for the development and use of “Type III environmental declaration”, which are EPDs. Each program operator must follow the same set of operating rules, which are defined in ISO 14025. Most program operators will have numerous 3rd party consultants that could do the actual verification of the EPD. 

Common program operators for building products include but are not limited to:

NRMCA

UL Environment

ASTM

NSF International

(Please contact us if you would like to make other resource recommendations for this section. Be sure to include the web address of the resource tool.)

What will I need to submit for verification of my EPD?

Generally, each plant will need to submit:

  • Plant specific profile of materials, fuels, energy, and water consumed and waste produced for the most recent 12-month period of production. (see spreadsheet)
  • Raw material sources, distances, and modes of transport.  (see spreadsheet)
  • Background data report for each mix being verified. The “background report” is an MS Excel spreadsheet that is exported directly from the EPD tool.

How long will verification take?
Estimates range from 1 week to 4 weeks depending on the accuracy of data submitted and the availability of the verifying agent.  

Are all environmental impacts of concrete production reported in the EPD?
No. Only a selection of environmental impacts is reported. In fact, the product category rules require that all EPDs state the limitations of the EPD in the document itself.

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Common Technical Questions

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EPD Resources & Publications


User Tutorial for CSI EPD Tool - Training Webinar

On Tuesday, July 19, 2016,  PCA hosted a web-based User Tutorial for the CSI Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Tool. The technical content was presented by Amanda Pike of Quantis who used the CSI Tool in the development of PCA's 3 U.S. industry average cement EPDs. She covers a brief overview of EPDs and the LCA process, and tours the Tool capabilities and reporting outputs for a Self-Declaration and requisite LCA background report needed for 3rd party verification of a full EPD. The program includes FAQ's from the webinar.

Watch the pre-recorded webinar:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BEMDKfIjqE


 
Additional support


Will OCAPA and DEQ provide 1 on 1 technical support?


Yes, to a certain extent. DEQ can provide some technical assistance and demonstrations of how the tool is being used. DEQ and OCAPA plan to update the FAQs as needed and add more technical topics to help benefit everyone using the tool. If you have a technical question, simply contact DEQ.

Who can I contact for more information?

Questions about EPDs, online tool, technical issues:

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