Building Product Declarations Ecocycle Council guidelines

Transcription

1 Building Product Declarations Ecocycle Council guidelines BPD 3 June 2007

2

3 Foreword As a voluntary system for conveying environmental information about building products, building product declarations (BPDs) have a crucial role to play. The BPD system is based on a unique voluntary commitment within the construction sector and has now been in existence for more than 10 years. The BPD is an industry-wide format for the way information about the environmental impact of building products should be communicated. We have now updated the declaration and the instructions for it. The purpose of this is to make the process simpler and clearer for suppliers and users. The project for developing BPDs is part of Environmental Programme 2010, which has been developed by the Ecocycle Council for the voluntary environmental work of the construction sector. The project is included in the action programme called Utfasning av farliga ämnen [Phasing out hazardous substances]. This work has given rise to these guidelines for setting up BPDs. They contain a form that is intended to make it simpler for suppliers to enter data and for users to read declarations. The numbering system is now consecutive but, in all essentials, the previous structure has been retained. New, clearer instructions have been added to the form to show how to enter the data, and certain data have been highlighted as requirements to ensure that the declaration fulfils the guidelines of the Ecocycle Council. Hans Ewander of the Building Material Producers Association of Sweden has been responsible for the work, done within a working party comprising representatives of the four groupings within the Ecocycle Council: the building materials industry, construction clients and property owners, architects and technology consultants as well as contractors. Opinions have been submitted, on the proposals that have been set up, by more representatives of the same groups, and also by the Swedish Chemicals Agency and researchers. This work has been financed by the Ecocycle Council and the Network of Swedish Building Materials Industries. Companies and organisations that have been involved have also contributed a lot of their own time in producing this new version of the BPD. Building Product Declarations the Ecocycle Council Guidelines (BPD 3) is now being handed over to the construction and real estate sector in the hope that the guidelines will improve the quality, accessibility and use of BPDs. The Ecocycle Council would like to direct its warm thanks to all concerned! The Ecocycle Council Stockholm, June 2007 Ulrika Francke Chairman

4

5 LIST OF CONTENTS 1 Background The first instructions for building product declarations Experience Development of BPDs within Environmental Programme Purpose of building product declarations Design, content and quality Guideline contents Requirements for reporting data in BPD Industry adaptation based on form BPD Explanations of terminology Literature and websites Appendices

6 6

7 1 Background 1.1 The first instructions for building product declarations A conscious choice of building products assumes easily available information about chemical content and other environmental properties. The Ecocycle Council, in its action plan Miljöansvar för byggvaror inom ett kretsloppstänkande - ett utvidgat producentansvar [Environmental Responsibility for building products within a recycling philosophy extended producer responsibility] (1995) took on the task of designing and providing building product declarations as soon as possible, but by 1997 at the latest. The action plan entails a voluntary commitment as an alternative to comprehensive legislation and detailed regulation. A team made up of the parties concerned was commissioned by the Council to formulate instructions for the way in which building product declarations ought to be set up. Instructions for the way in which BPDs should be designed were presented as planned in autumn 1997 (Issue 1). These instructions were revised in spring 2000 (Issue 2). The document was distributed widely via the Council s network and the Swedish Building Centre more than 4,000 copies of Issue 1. A comprehensive training programme was implemented and the instructions (the 1997 version) were translated into both English and German. 1.2 Experience Building materials manufacturers and suppliers have produced BPDs on a relatively large scale. Today approx 4,000 5,000 building products are estimated to have declarations (2006 estimate). The majority of these are published on the companies websites. Some industries have entered facts in BPDs in a collective industry manner. Several players within the sector currently use data from BPDs for choosing building products with regard to environmental properties and human health. However, the supply and quality of declarations still does not correspond to expectations that the sector and the Ecocycle Council had. One reason for this is that a BPD is seen as complex and difficult to fill in. It is also difficult to procure all of the data required and certain suppliers may also lack interest in them, since it is believed there is no demand for the declarations. The Ecocycle Council s instructions have also contained certain ambiguities. The building product industry has perceived that the purchasers and other players do not request or require BPDs and that there may be a lack of competence among purchasers for assessing the information contained in the declarations. Initially, data reported on BPDs were of a qualitative nature, only then to have been gradually extended with more and more quantitative information. The market s requirements for quantified environment-related information about products are increasing, and perhaps particularly so within the construction sector. In recent years, therefore, systems for environmental product declarations (EPDs) have also been developed in compliance with ISO Type III in Sweden and Europe. These are based on lifecycle inventories (LCIs) / lifecycle analyses (LCAs). 1.3 Development of BPDs within Environmental Programme 2010 The Ecocycle Council has established that the issue of declaring a building material s environmental properties is of strategic significance. On this basis, the issue of further developing the BPD has been taken up within the framework of working on the Environmental Programme 2010 (previously called, in English, the Building Sector s Environmental Programme 2003). The environmental programme deals with two of the sub-programmes concerning phasing out hazardous substances and guaranteeing a good indoor environment. Both of these sub-programmes assume easily accessible information about the chemical content and other environmental properties of the building products that are being used within the sector. In one of the sub-targets within the sub-programme for phasing out hazardous substances, it is stated that By 2005 at the latest, the majority (approx ¾) of the relevant building products being marketed in Sweden will be provided with health and environment information that can make it easier to choose building products, building designs and installations. The sub-target has been formulated on the basis of the BPD. 7

8 In 2004, an overhaul was begun of the templates and instructions for building product declarations, and a proposal for a completely redrafted BPD was presented in December Against the background of several critical responses when circulated for consideration, the Ecocycle Council decided instead to set up a form and new improved instructions with the structure retained, in all essentials, in order not to force the extensive revision of all existing declarations. 1.4 Purpose of building product declarations It is possible to discern two important areas of use for BPDs: For environmental assessment of building products The BPD is the basis for an assessment that can be made in conjunction with project design or on purchase or in general for the future use of the specific building product. The assessment is aimed at the choice of suitable building products for their intended use. For documentation of built-in products To document environmental properties of built-in materials and products as a source of knowledge in the case of future measures, such as demolition or waste management, or for assessing the need to change to a more environmentally adapted product. A good level of competence is required by the person assessing the environmental properties of a building product based on the BPD. Certain skills and experience in chemistry and the prerequirements and conditions for building are necessary. 2 Design, content and quality The present guidelines for building product declarations, BPD 3, have been designed to ensure that the declaration should provide data about the building product within the areas indicated in the building sector s Environmental Programme 2010: Energy housekeeping Materials housekeeping Phasing out hazardous substances Guaranteeing a good indoor environment For energy housekeeping, the BPD is not the most suitable tool for guaranteeing that a finished installation or a whole building fulfils requirements for good energy housekeeping. Here, this is principally a matter of system solutions. The building products technical properties, the work environment issues of the building project and the environmental impact of the building products due to catastrophic situations are not taken up within the declarations neither do they deal with legislation and regulations linked to the construction business. On the other hand, there is agreement between requirements for reporting the contents in safety datasheets and BPDs. Since building products built into buildings are selected on the basis of information contained in the building product declarations, these data must be well substantiated and it must be possible to confirm them through various types of verification. 2.1 Guidelines contents The guidelines contain the documents a general description of the background the purpose of building product declarations the requirements that a BPD should fulfil in accordance with these guidelines a summary description of news in BPD 3 and a list of terminology explanations, the guidelines contain. The guidelines contain the documents that are to be used for setting up building product declarations. These are included as appendices, to ensure that they can be used as separate documents: 8

9 The form for BPDs. See appendix 1. The form is in Word format and is designed to be completed digitally. Instructions for setting up a BPD. See Appendix 2. The Instructions also include a reference list containing references from the structure in Instructions March 2000 (BPD 2) to where the data are given in BPD 3. To make it possible to fill in the form for building product declarations in the intended way, the instructions must be read in parallel with filling in the form. In certain cases, the instructions also provide further explanations and references to other information, which might be significant to the understanding of the way in which the form should be filled in. 2.2 Requirements for reporting data in BPD 3 The building product declarations are a voluntary industry-agreed system for reporting and assessing building products environmental performance, but to allow different products to be assessed and compared in as objective a way as possible, certain basic items of data will always need to be reported in a BPD. Fields highlighted in green on the form must be completed to ensure that the declaration fulfils the requirements in compliance with the Ecocycle Council s guidelines for a BPD. Other information ought to be given in as much detail as possible and where it is important to provide a full description of the environmental impact of the product throughout its entire lifecycle. Each declaration should contain an unambiguous definition of the products to which the declaration applies. It should also be possible to link each specific product to its current declaration. To make it possible to complete the form in the intended way, the instructions must be read in parallel with filling in the form. Since one of the purposes of the overhaul has been to make it easier for suppliers to fill in the data, check-boxes have been used wherever possible. To ensure that each data only needs to be entered in one place, certain items have been moved around. The numbering system has been changed so that the various sections now have consecutive numbering. References from Instructions for Building Product Declarations, March 2000, to where the information is contained in BPD 3, are contained on a list at the end of Appendix 2 Instructions. Fields highlighted in green have been inserted to show the minimum that should be completed to ensure that a declaration fulfils the requirements in accordance with these guidelines. To simplify the form, certain data have been removed as separate headings. The points that apply are made clear in the reference list, which is at the end of the instructions to these guidelines. Each section ends instead with a field for Other information. Further information that may be relevant to a correct environmental assessment of the product can be inserted there. In addition, in several places on the form, there are options for inserting comments and for referring to appendices or other documents that contain further information. To simplify the completion of information about the product s chemical content, the contents declaration for the supplied product and the finished built-in product have been combined into one place on the form. At the beginning, Item Number/ID designation fields have been added to ensure that there is no ambiguity about the product to which the declaration applies. Fields have also been added to make it clear when the declaration was set up or revised, and the production number or production date from which the revision applies. This should make it possible to handle historic information about a building product. 9

10 To make it more possible to search for building product declarations on the Internet, the introductory heading BUILDING PRODUCT DECLARATION BPD 3 must always exist in precisely this wording on all declarations made accessible via the Internet. This is then the search term for the declaration. 2.4 Industry adaptation based on the form BPD 3 Based on previous issues of the Ecocycle Council s instructions for building product declarations, certain sub-industries have produced industry-adapted templates for building product declarations. To a greater extent than was previously possible, form BPD 3 allows data to be marked as not relevant and it ought therefore to be less necessary to have such industry adaptations. In cases where industry adaptations are made, these should adhere to the form s structure and headings, and data should be inserted in the fields highlighted in green to ensure that the declaration fulfils the requirements in accordance with these guidelines. This also provides the uniformity desired in declarations for different building products, making things easier for the users. 3 Explanations of terminology Term Explanation Source BASTA Building product CAS number Chemical products The building sector s system for phasing out the use of especially hazardous chemical substances from chemical products and building products. Sales or supply unit intended for use in construction work. In a BPD, the terms building product or product are equivalent to construction product. A building product (or construction product) may be a chemical product or may contain or have been treated with a chemical product. An example of the latter is impregnated timber. A CAS number (Chemical Abstracts Service number) is a registration number for chemicals. It acts as an international identification number for chemical substances. The substances can be identified by their CAS numbers. In certain cases, however, CAS numbers are not given. This applies, for example, to names for groups where there can be numerous CAS numbers. Chemicals/chemical product: chemical substance and preparations (mixtures) of chemical substances (compounds). se TNC 95 and BMP 2003 Swedish Chemicals Agency s PRIO tool Swedish Chemicals Agency s PRIO tool Classification Assessment of the hazard constituted by a substance to environment or health. The classification is determined on the basis of the EU directive on the classification and labelling of hazardous substances 67/548/EC. Incorporated into Swedish legislation via Swedish Chemicals Agency Regulations KIFS 2005:7 and 2005:5 Swedish Chemicals Agency s PRIO tool 10

11 Cradle-to-gate EC number Gate-to-gate Hazard classification Hazardous waste Intermediate goods Lifecycle analysis Operation Product Recycling of waste Re-use Service life The term from cradle-to-gate is used to mean: All inflows and outflows from the extraction of raw materials to finished product. Identification number for chemical substances on the EU market. An inventory was made in 1981 to find out which substances appear on the market and which are new. Approx 100,000 "existing substances" were reported. In the EC no system, these numbers always begin with 200. New substances always start with 400. The term gate-to-gate is used to mean: Inflows (natural resources, intermediate goods, recycled materials, energy etc) for the registered product to the manufacturing unit, and the outflows (emissions and residual products) from it. If hazard categories are also named in Directives 67/548/EEC and 1999/45/EC and in the Environment Code. Waste that has one or more of the properties (H1 H 14) stated in Appendix 3 to the Waste Ordinance (2001:1063). Energy items, materials or products that have been processed in some way (e.g. diesel, reinforcement bars, lubricants). Compare natural resources that have been extracted directly (e.g. iron ore, clay) (LCA). Composition and evaluation of the inflows to and outflows from a product system throughout its lifecycle, as well as an evaluation of the potential environmental impacts of a production system throughout its entire lifecycle. Actions with an expected interval of less than one year that are aimed at maintaining the function in an administration object. (Operation covers supply of media, supervision and care.) In the building product declaration, the same as building product, see that definition. The procedure indicated in Appendix 4 to the Waste Ordinance covers, for example, energy extraction and further utilisation of metals, organic substances and inorganic materials and soil improvement. When goods are recycled for use in the same function. The time during which a building product or a building system lives up to or exceeds its performance requirements. Sub-headings may be financial or technical service life. Cf Reference service life or Estimated service life Swedish Chemicals Agency s PRIO tool KIFS 2005:7 The waste ordinance (2001:1063) ISO AFF definitions 99 Waste ordinance (2001:1063) TNC 95 TNC 95 ISO

12 Substance The classification list Waste Waste code Chemical elements and their compounds in natural or synthetic form, including any additives necessary for retaining the product s stability and any contaminants originating from the manufacturing process, but excluding any solvents that may be separated with no effect on the stability of the substance or on changing its composition. The Swedish Chemicals Agency Regulations KIFS 2005:5. The classification list contains examples of classifications for approx. 3,300 substances/groups of substances with regard to properties that are explosive, oxidising, fire, hazardous to health and environment. Every object, material or substance that is included in a waste category and of which the owner is disposing, or is intending or obliged to dispose of. The definition is established in EC Directive 75/442/EEC and has been introduced in Sweden through Chapter 15 Section 1 of the Environmental Code. The waste categories are stated in the Appendices 1 and 2 to the Waste Ordinance (2001:1063). Six-digit code in conformity with Appendix 2 in the Waste Ordinance (2001:1063) which is equivalent to a complete definition of the waste. KIFS 2005:7 KIFS 2005:5 EC directive 75/442/EEC Environmental Code Chap 15 Sec 1 The Waste Ordinance (2001:1063) 4 Literature and websites Waste ordinance (2001:1063) The Building Regulations of Sweden s National Board of Housing, Building and Planning (BBR) Building product declarations Instructions for setting up building product declarations, the swedish Ecocycle Council of the Building Sector, March 2000 Swedish Chemicals Agency Regulations (KIFS 2005:5) with EC-harmonised binding classification and labelling (the Classifications List) The Swedish Chemicals Agency Regulations (KIFS 1998:8) about chemical products and biotechnical organisms, reprinted in KIFS 2004:4 Swedish Chemicals Agency Regulations (KIFS 2005:7) on classification and labelling of chemical products Miljöbalken (1998:808). For example, at Environmental Programme 2010, Ecocycle Council. At Swedish Environmental Management Council, Swedish Chemicals Agency, BASTA, Ecocycle Council, 5 Appendices Appendix 1 Form for building product declaration, BPD 3 Appendix 2 Instructions for setting up building product declarations, BPD 3. 12