Green construction boost as new service provides transparent environmental data on concrete products

The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) and consultants WAP Sustainability have taken a major step towards greener construction for the industry by launching on-demand Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for concrete producers in North America. The new EPD on-demand service will enable concrete producers to quickly, accurately and cost-effectively produce verified EPDs of their products. 
July 18, 2023
By Guy Woodford
A concrete mixer truck in front of a concrete batching plant. Pic: Aleksnt ID 167364905 Dreamstime.com

EPDs are becoming a key part of sustainable construction. They allow producers to show the environmental impact of their products across a number of metrics, including global warming potential, often referred to as a carbon footprint. Various US state and local governments have emerging Buy Clean initiatives, which require transparency around embodied emissions and rely on EPDs. Increasingly designers are also requiring EPDs to assess their designs and support their decarbonisation efforts. 

WAP
WAP Sustainability is working with the GCCA to help bring about a greener global construction industry. Pic: WAP Sustainability 

Andrew Minson, Concrete and Sustainable Construction director, said: “The cement and concrete sector is playing a key part in sustainable construction, but this requires transparent, objective and accessible data on the environmental impact of our products Our collaboration with WAP will allow concrete producers to quickly and cost-effectively produce EPDs that can demonstrate the contribution of their products to a sustainable world of tomorrow.” 

James Salazar, EPD director for WAP, said: “WAP’s partnership with the GCCA leverages the GCCA’s industry-leading computation engine with WAP’s easy-to-use software and full-service support As requirements for EPDs grow, we’re excited to offer credible and low-cost solutions through close partnerships with industry leaders like the GCCA.”

GCCA logo
The GCCA represent around 80% of the world's concrete industry outside China. Pic: GCCA

 

Under this partnership, the GCCA EPD calculation engine is integrated into WAP’s EPD On-Demand system (known as Theta EPDTM) to make it cheaper and quicker for North American concrete producers to provide EPDs The GCCA calculation engine has been independently verified and complies with relevant EPD standards and concrete PCRs The collaboration with WAP provides a streamlined solution for EPD preparation, documentation and verification to help producers scale EPD production. GCCA and WAP are working to expand their coverage worldwide with a focus on Europe.

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