WISA plywood’s Environmental Product Declarations help to understand the environmental impact of construction material throughout its whole lifecycle

UPM Plywood has published Environmental Product Declarations for their WISA products, in compliance with the standardised EPD model. These third-party-verified and internationally comparable Environmental Product Declarations help building contractors and designers better understand the environmental impact of construction products and materials.

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a voluntary and reliable way to present a product’s environmental impact throughout its whole lifecycle, from raw material sourcing to disposal. UPM Plywood’s Environmental Product Declarations have been created according to the EN 15804:2012+A1:2013 and ISO 14025 standards for four product groups: coated and uncoated spruce plywood, and coated and uncoated birch plywood. Most of UPM Plywood’s products fall under the product groups covered by the declarations.

The Building Information Foundation RTS has approved UPM Plywood’s EPDs and published them on their website at epd.rts.fi. The EPDs have also been published on the international ECO Platform EPD list. Therefore, they have been approved in all European EPD programmes that are part of the system. The EPDs are also available at UPM Plywood’s website at https://www.wisaplywood.com/downloads/certificates-and-labels/.

“The third-party-compiled and -verified EPDs provide open and unbiased information on the environmental impact of our products. With the help of these EPDs, the designer of a low-carbon building, for example, can choose plywood with the most appropriate environmental impact”, says Sanna Kontinen, Environmental Manager at UPM Plywood.

“We wanted to be one step ahead in the publication of Environmental Product Declarations. Relatively few EPDs have been created for construction products, but one day they will be mandatory. By creating the EPDs now, we gather valuable information and experience on what needs to be considered during the EPD process”. Kontinen says.

In UPM Plywood’s EPDs, each product’s environmental impact throughout its whole lifecycle has been divided into four phases. These phases are: the environmental impact of the product’s manufacturing process, construction, use, and dismantling and disposal. The Lifecycle Assessment also takes into account the use and transportation of raw materials and energy, and the waste, by-products and emissions generated in the product’s lifecycle, among other things. The results of the assessment are presented in different impact categories that include climate change, ozone depletion, acidification of soil and water resources, eutrophication, and depletion of non-renewable energy assets and mineral resources.
https://www.upm.com/about-us/for-media/releases/2019/06/wisa-plywoods-environmental-product-declarations-help-to-understand-the-environmental-impact-of-construction-material-throughout-its-whole-lifecycle/

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