Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement No. 40051958

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WORLDWORKPLACE

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UNDERSTANDING THE ABC’S OF EPD’S

KUEHNE+ NAGELSHIPS ITSELF TO A NEWWORKPLACE

THREE HGETS ‘CREATE’-IVE

[ green fm ]

FACTS & STATSNow mandated in Germany for building materials on new constructionprojects, EPDs are starting to gain wider acceptance in North America.

14 CFM&D September 2011 www.cfmd.ca

S ustainability has enteredthe mainstream of busi-ness, which is a welcomeoccurrence. But with ithas come a frenzy of un-

substantiated green claims and tidalwaves of greenwashing. It’s no wonderthere is massive confusion and misun-derstanding about what constitutes anauthentically sustainable product. Forthose of you responsible for assessingand specifying the products are used tobuild and furnish the workplaceswhere so many of us spend a goodportion of our lives, cutting throughthis clutter can be a challenge. How-ever, solutions to this vexing situationare at hand. Life Cycle Assessment(LCA), for instance, is a recognized an-alytical tool that factors in the com-plete life cycle of a product inevaluating its potential environmentalimpact, and it is progressively becom-ing more acceptable among manufac-turers, helping consumers to makebetter-informed decisions. Furtherhelping to lift the veil on the confu-sion, myths and misunderstandings as-sociated with green marketing claimsis the Environmental Product Decla-ration, or EPD. EPDs represent the ultimate in

transparency and credibility – state-ments of full disclosure based on the

life cycle performance of products.Globally, they are emerging as an ac-cepted reporting tool for the comingdecades, looking beyond the potentialenvironmental impacts occurring dur-ing a product’s use phase and consid-ering the impacts from all life cyclephases, from raw material capturethrough to recycling/end of life.Specifically, accounting for this timingarc, an EPD documents:• Product ingredients and thesources where they come from

• Water and energy consumptionthroughout the life cycle

• Waste generated throughout thelife cycle

• Assessment of environmental im-pacts at each life cycle phase ofthe product – looking at suchconditions as smog, acid rain,habitat destruction, eutrophica-tion, etc.

Also characteristic of an EPD isthat it represents volunteered infor-mation. Though not a rating tool andminus any thresholds to meet, it isstandardized ISO 14025/TR andLCA-based, requiring third-partyverification, which organizationssuch as UL Environment andCIRAIG provide. An EPD is meantto assist specifiers and procurementofficers, like you, providing clarity sothat you can make informed com-parisons between products, and then,hopefully, the appropriate decisionon which products to select. By pro-viding this full life cycle review, anEPD empowers you to reach yourown conclusion; a label no longer

needs to do all the thinking for you.Product sustainability analysis and

reporting methods are ever evolving,and LCAs and EPDs are among themost comprehensive tools we havetoday, but as with anything, there arelimitations. While there exists no sin-gle standardized tool that disclosesfull environmental and social impactsthroughout a product’s life cycle,manufacturers can supply a combina-tion of third-party verifications andcertifications. At InterfaceFLOR, forinstance, in our efforts to providecomplete transparency, in addition toEPDs, all of our products haveNSF/ANSI-140 (Sustainability As-sessment for Carpet) certification.

BY NADINE GUDZ

EPDS: THE FUTURE OF ECO-LABELLINGInterfaceFLOR’s Director ofSustainability explains whyEnvironmental ProductDeclarations (EPDs) are theultimate in transparency andhow you can put them to use

�EPDs help to make the confusion, mythsand misunderstandings associated withgreen marketing claims more transparent.

16 CFM&D September 2011 www.cfmd.ca

The certification considers envi-ronmental attributes such as use ofrenewable energy to make the prod-uct, recyclability, and recycled con-tent as well as human health criteria. LCAs and EPDs can be great spark

plugs for conversation about sustain-ability, providing you and your keymanagerial team with a golden op-portunity to engage, discuss and shareideas. Then, when meeting with yourpotential and existing suppliers, don’tbe afraid to ask relevant questions, orraise the bar as need be on your ex-pectations. After all, corporate trans-parency is equally as valuable – and asnecessary – as product transparency, soask your vendors to supply an EPD orother type of third-party verifiedLCA documentation, question a man-ufacturer’s overall commitment tosustainability and consider its corpo-rate mission and culture, use of re-newable energy, water reduction andzero waste strategy. And just what kinds of questions

should you be asking your vendorsand suppliers? InterfaceFLOR haseight sample questions to get youstarted:• How does your company reportthe potential environmental im-pacts associated with your prod-ucts’ life cycle, i.e. raw materialextraction and processing, man-ufacturing, use, transportation,and end of life?

• Which ISO protocol(s) doesyour company follow for re-porting the potential environ-mental impacts associated withthe full life cycle of your prod-ucts?

• Which third party audits yourcompany’s environmentalclaims?

• How has your company influ-enced your supply chain to helpyour company achieve greatersustainability?

• How has your use of Life CycleAssessment changed your com-pany or product strategy?

•What criteria does your companyuse to evaluate new materials,technologies, or processes?

• What does success look like interms of sustainability? How issuccess measured? How do youremployees participate?

• What is the most audacious goalyour company is striving to-wards in sustainability?

WHERE IT CAME FROM… WHERE IT’SGOING…EPDs have been enthusiastically em-braced in Europe, where they origi-nated. In Germany, it’s now mandatedthat for all new construction projectsan EPD must be supplied for buildingmaterials. EPDs are gradually meetingwith acceptance in North America.

BSF, Invista, Starbucks and Steelcaseare among some of the sustainabilitytrailblazers who have committed toLCAs and EPDs. Here in Canada,Rona and Liberté Dairy are examplesof companies who are leading thecharge. InterfaceFLOR is one of thefirst among contract furnishings man-ufacturers globally to provide EPDs –and the first carpet manufacturer inthe Americas to publish an EPD. By2012 this eco-labelling will be appli-cable to its entire portfolio of flooring.EPDs represent the future of eco-la-

belling, making it possible to compareproducts based on environmental im-pact reduction. They serve to illumi-nate choices in much the same waythat ingredient and nutrition fact la-bels on food can support healthychoices. In the U.S. it took more than15 years to reach consensus andachieve standardized nutrition labelsthat now are mandatory, but 15 yearsis a luxury we can ill afford for thehealth of our planet.One hopeful sign that could accel-

erate more universal acceptance ofEPDs is a recent move by the USGBCwith the rollout of its LEED® PilotCredit 43 certification. In this “Betatest,” building projects utilizing mate-rials that have sustainability certifica-tions will earn added points towardLEED – those with third-party veri-fied LCAs, receiving more; those withEPDs even more points. While this isjust a pilot program, it offers greatpromise that we interpret to be astrong endorsement for EPDs, and ithas the potential to close the confu-sion gap on how we define greenbuilding and green building products.Yes, the transition is happening be-

fore our eyes… steadily… progres-sively. What’s exciting is that youhave a role in making it happen. Askthe tough questions. Aim to makebetter-informed choices. With everyproject you work on, you can beleading the way to a new era in eco-labelling. | CFM&D

Nadine Gudz is InterfaceFLOR’s Director of Sustainability Strategy. For more in-

formation, visit www.interfaceflor.ca or www.interfaceglobal.com. Or visit Inter-

faceFLOR at one of two Toronto shows: IIDEX/NeoCon Canada, September 22 &

23, Booth # 721; or Greenbuild 2011, October 4-7, North Exhibition Hall, Booth #823.

�By 2012 InterfaceFLOR’s use of EPDeco-labelling will be applicable to itsentire portfolio of flooring products.

�Life Cycle Assessment factors in aproduct’s complete life cycle to assessits potential environmental impact.