Environmental Product Declarations for 2014 PNW Timberlands Conf 4 18-14

Fostering sustainable organization and industry growth

How Environmental Product

Declarations Support Wood

Products Markets

Vicki Worden, Worden Associates, Inc.

[email protected]; 202-841-2999, Twitter: @vworden

For:

Pacific Northwest

Timberlands Management

Seminar

Thanks and Credit Due

This presentation was created using content owned by

the American and Canadian Wood Councils. Worden

Associates, Inc. shares this content with permission.

www.awc.org www.cwc.ca

Learning Objectives

• What are EPDs?

• What is Life Cycle Assessment?

• What are the market drivers for “green”

products?

• How do EPDs support wood products

markets?

• What other initiatives may influence wood

product markets?

What are EPDs?

EPDs are declarations of potential

environmental impacts

Nutrition labels = food

nutrition reporting

EPDs = product and service

environmental impact reporting

plus primary energy

consumption

Source: USDA Nutrition Label

Figure 1: Excerpt from

page 10 of 15 of ULE certified

EPD on North American Softwood Lumber.

EPD Impact Assessment Results

Figure 1: Excerpt from

page 10 of 15 of ULE certified

EPD on North American Softwood Lumber.

“[W]ood products can displace more fossil-fuel

intensive construction materials such as

concrete, steel, aluminum, and plastics, which

can result in significant emission reductions.”

- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

International trends

EPDs are being developed worldwide, with the

largest momentum in Europe and Asia.

We’re on the leading edge

These EPDs and ‘transparency

briefs’ are third-party verified

by UL Environment

Additional EPDs

EPDs Available Here

AWChttp://www.awc.org/greenbuilding/epd.html

CWChttp://www.cwc.ca/index.php/en/design-with-wood/sustainability/life-cycle

Concrete

Flooring Ceilings

Industry-wide vs. brand specific

Cross-Laminated

Timber

Fostering sustainable organization and industry growth

What is Life Cycle Assessment?

Life Cycle AssessmentQuantifying Potential Environmental Impacts Through Data

Collection

Figure 2: Image credit: “Life Cycle Assessment of Illuminants: A Comparison of Light Bulbs, Compact Fluorescent Lamps and

LED Lamps,” by Phillip Wright, November, 2009, report summarized here: www.wrtassoc.com/archives/286.

This graphic

demonstrates

“life cycle

assessment.”

Data

collection at

each stage of

the product’s

life cycle

captures

information

on potential

environmenta

l impacts.

Extraction

EPDs Use Boundaries Set in LCA Data

Collection Process

B2B

“Cradle-to-gate” or

“business-to-

business”

B2C

“Cradle-to-grave” or

“business-to-

consumer”

Figure 3: Image credit: “Life Cycle Assessment of Illuminants: A Comparison of Light Bulbs, Compact Fluorescent Lamps and

LED Lamps,” by Phillip Wright, November, 2009, report summarized here: www.wrtassoc.com/archives/286.

Extraction

Cradle to Gate vs. Grave

Life Cycle Assessment

• Life cycle assessment must be conducted following ISO standards

• EPDs in turn are created following a process described by Product Category Rules (PCRs), which are created based on ISO requirements

• EPDs are created from LCA data

• Data is collected from mills and manufacturing operations

• Data is crunched by academics

• A life cycle assessment report is created and is the source of EPD data

• The LCA report is independently verified

• Results are re-packaged as an EPD

• EPDs are independently verified

• LCA is not

– Life Cycle Cost Analysis

What are the Market Drivers for

EPDs, LCA, and ‘Green’

Product Value?

Using wood helps reduce your

environmental footprint

March 28, 2014

YALE STUDY

Journal of

Sustainable

Forestry.

“Using more wood

and less steel and

concrete in building

and bridge

construction would

substantially reduce

global carbon

dioxide emissions

and fossil fuel

consumption.”

More from Yale’s

2014 Study

Increasing the wood harvest to the equivalent of 34% or more of

annual wood growth would have profound and positive effects:

– Between 14% and 31% of global CO2 emissions could be avoided by

preventing emissions related to steel and concrete; by storing CO2 in

…wood products; and other factors.

– About 12% to 19% of annual global fossil fuel consumption would be saved

including savings achieved because scrap wood and unsellable materials

could be burned for energy, replacing fossil fuel consumption.

Wood-based construction consumes much less energy than

concrete or steel construction. Through efficient harvesting and

product use, more CO2 is saved through the avoided emissions,

materials, and wood energy than is lost from the harvested forest.

Last Word

Yale’s 2014 Study

• “[D]iversity can be maintained by harvesting

some of the forest growth. And the harvested

wood will save fossil fuel and CO2 and

provide jobs — giving local people more

reason to keep the forests.”

- Chadwick Oliver, the Pinchot Professor of Forestry and

Environmental Studies, director of the Global Institute of

Sustainable Forestry at F&ES and lead author of the new study.

U.S. Trends

Executive Order 13514

• Energy, water, and waste reduction

requirements.

• USFS argues that agencies can

substitute lower embodied energy

and lower carbon emitting building

materials to meet EO requirements.

• GSA is largest real estate developer

in the world and has explored the

possibility of EPD requirements for

procurement purposes.

"Wood has a vital role to

play in meeting the

growing demand for green

building materials.”- U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack

United States Government

• President’s Climate Change Action Plan

• Better Building Initiative – 20% increase in energy efficiency of commercial bldgs. by 2020

• Greening the Government Executive Order

• Biobased Markets Program

• Energy Star Building Certification

• Environmentally Preferable

Purchasing

• FTC’s Green Guides

• GSA&DOD – Green Globes or LEED

• EPA on Ecolabels

• Green Globes®

• LEED ®

• ASHRAE 189.1

• International Green Construction Code

• CalGreen

• Architecture 2030 and Challenge for Products

• Living Building Challenge

• Passive House

Myriad of Programs

Green Building Certification Trends

2013 - 4,000 Projects

New Construction (NC)

Existing Buildings (EB)

Commercial Interiors (CI)

CI

NCEB

Building codes

Life Cycle Assessment Included

in Codes

+

Recognition of Life Cycle Assessment

(product, assembly, or in the whole-building design)

Programs Also Recognize EPDs

Programs

Calls for changes in building

design to achieve carbon

neutrality by 2030.

Aims to reduce the

embodied carbon-

equivalent footprint

in building products

by 50 percent by

2030.

Residential - February 2014 – McGraw Hill

• 2013 - Green homes comprise 23% of the overall

residential construction market = $36 billion

• 2016 - grow between 26% to 33% = $86 to $105

billion

• Top drivers – code changes, quality, availability,

affordability of green products, energy costs,

competitive advantage

Residential Growth of Green Building

Commercial Growth of Green Building

• February 2013 – McGraw Hill

– 2015 - 51 percent of respondents planning more

than 60 percent of their work.

– 2013 - 28 percent

– 2008 - 13 percent

• August 2013 – USGBC stats

– 2016 -55% of all commercial and institutional

construction - $140 billion

– 2012 - 44% - $96 billion

‘Green’ Messaging Leads to Stronger Sales

According to Forbes,

Navigant Research

Report says:

“Worldwide market for

green construction

materials will grow to $254

billion”

$254

$116

$138

2020 Market

2013 Market

Growth

“…wood construction is

on the rise….”

Article, 7/30/2013 by Jennifer Hicks

Article, by Brent Ehrlich, 7/29/2013

“In the past 20 years, engineered wood technology and

production methods have improved the performance of

timber products, and for commercial buildings they now

offer an intriguing alternative to concrete and steel in many

structural applications – while offering environmental

benefits.”

‘Green’ Messaging Leads to Stronger Sales

Fostering sustainable organization and industry growth

In conclusion

These widespread trends point toward

the benefits of and need for EPDs

AWC & CWC Cooperative Effort

"Our industry has long been

committed to transparency

regarding the environmental impact

of its products and encourages

other building material producers to

do the same.

For the first time, users have a

science-based and third-party

verified tool to understand and

weigh what environmental factors

are important to them when making

their product selections."

- Robert Glowinski, American Wood

Council President & CEO, May 7, 2013

“The EPD process is one that is

open and transparent, outlining

where wood products have optimal

environmental performance

capabilities as well as areas where

various products have a need for

improvement,” said CWC President

Michael Giroux.

“This form of comparison data can

help equal the playing field for

competing products and mitigate

any past false stigmas that may

have existed without scientific or

justified proof.”

- Michael Giroux, Canadian Wood Council

President, May 7, 2013

Fostering sustainable organization and industry growth

Questions?

Vicki Worden

[email protected]

202-841-2999

Twitter: @vworden

Also: #buildwithwood