www.armacell.com/epd
Münster, 15 June 2015 – Armacell is now the first manufacturer of flexible technical insulation materials to present environmental product declarations which are based on an independent life cycle assessment (LCA). Environmental product declarations (EPDs) are becoming more and more important in the construction industry: they provide a transparent, independent and reproducible analysis of the environmental impacts of construction products and give detailed information with sound data and figures. As a ‘sustainability passport’ EPDs form the basis for designing green buildings in accordance with certification schemes such as LEED, BREEAM or DGNB.
Optimal insulation is the key to energy efficiency
Construction is one of the most raw-material- and energy-intensive industries. The building sector is the single largest consumer of raw materials worldwide and the great¬est producer of greenhouse gas emissions. Some 30 % of all raw materials are used to build and maintain buildings. 30 to 40 % of greenhouse gases result from the construction, use or disposal of buildings. In the industrial nations a huge amount of energy is used in transport and industry, but the building sector accounts for the majority – around 40 % of European energy consumption! To meet the growing demand for energy and protect the climate, energy efficiency in the building sector must continue to be improved. The key to energy efficiency is insulation. Optimal technical insulation is the simplest, fastest and most cost effective measure for increasing energy efficiency.
Brilliant energy balance
Insulation materials are among the few industrially made products which save more energy over the product life cycle than is needed in their manufacturing. So they are per se ‘ecologically valuable’. Comparing the primary energy input identified in the Armacell LCA with the energy saving achieved shows that using ArmaFlex insulation materials saves 140 times more energy than is needed for their manufacturing, transport and disposal. The energy input needed to manufacture ArmaFlex has paid off after just 50 days. The environmental product declarations certified by the Institut für Bauen und Umwelt e.V. (IBU) not only make statements on the primary energy requirement, they also contain information about the extent to which the products contribute to the greenhouse effect, acidification, over-fertilization, depletion of the ozone layer and smog.
Transparency and commitment
“With the environmental product declarations we create a unique degree of transparency for our ArmaFlex products. We provide architects, specifiers and those inviting tenders with reliable information for designing sustainable building projects. At the same time we commit ourselves to continuing to improve the environmental friendliness of our products and thus sharpening our competitive edge,” explains Patrick Mathieu, CEO of the Armacell Group.