environmental product declaration (epd)
K&A is pleased to provide an ISO 14025 compliant EPD for KreyslerFire - a high performance fire resistant FRP cladding product featuring highly customizable shape, size and finish options, designed for outdoor and indoor architectural use.
Link to our official listing with SmartEPD, the Program Operator.
The various LCA studies we've performed over the last 15 years in collaboration with Stanford's Environmental Engineering Department have helped us understand the details of how our processes and materials impact the environment. This has made us better informed about what process and materials we use and gives us better perspective on how what we offer compares to alternative construction products and materials.
LCAs are the backbone of an EPD, so creating an EPD for KreyslerFire is a natural extension of our long-standing commitment to understanding the environmental impact of our materials. This EPD, which complies with ISO 14025 standards including third party peer review, organizes our findings into a standardized format presenting the data for wider comparison.
In addition to helping us understand the impacts of our products, our EPD contributes to the transparency requirements of LEED Version 4 Materials and Resources credits. Meeting these criteria helps us illustrate the sustainable qualities of our products, which in turn aids projects seeking LEED certification.
Polyester resin only makes up about 15% of the product, but is a big contributor to the impact across most categories. This makes researching alternative resins, “bio-resins”, and finding nearby suppliers with sustainable practices an obvious path to reducing impacts.
We seek projects that truly leverage the advantages composites have to offer over alternative materials and believe that there is a powerful role they can play in the sustainability of future construction. Their light weight means transportation impacts are much lower. They are a natural fit for custom engineering for specific uses, avoiding over-engineering or a one-size-fits all approach to construction. With FRP's low thermal conductivity it's use as a building enclosure could play a big part in the design of buildings to have a much lower impact during their occupancy.
Environmental impact in general is an incredibly complex issue. While a lot of progress is being made to understand the impact of the built environment on the planet, there's a long way to go. One of the challenges we see is the quality of the information that is used as the basis for LCAs and EPDs. Much of the manufacturing data is self reported, filtered by intellectual property protections, and prone to bias as companies try to avoid negative impressions of their products.
We're eager to collaborate with our customers and our industry partners to better understand this complex issue and do our part to improve efficiency and reduce the impact of the built environment on our planet.
About Kreysler
Read More about Kreysler & Associates …