LCA results & interpretation Cascadia Clip®
Scope and summary
- Cradle to gate
- Cradle to gate with options
- Cradle to grave
Application
The Cascadia Clip® fiberglass thermal spacer is a thermally-improved cladding support product created by combining glass fibers and catalyzed polyester resin in the pultrusion process. The product creates a thermal break separating the building structure from the exterior cladding support framing and is available in eight different sizes to accommodate insulation thicknesses.
Declared unit
The declared unit is 0.6096 m (24 linear inches) of the Cascadia Clip® fiberglass thermal spacer support system, consisting of a single clip unit and metal rails with the clip spaced at one per 24 inches. The exterior cavity depth is sufficient to accommodate 101.6 mm (4 inches) of insulation plus depth of support components outboard of the insulation layer to which the cladding is attached. Fasteners are excluded.
Mass per declared unit: 0.869kg
Manufacturing data
Reporting period: May 2022 – April 2023
Location: British Columbia, Canada
What’s causing the greatest impacts
All life cycle stages
Activities during the supply of raw materials (A1) are responsible for much of the impacts in each impact category. The next highest impact contributor is transportation (A2) in most of the impact categories. Manufacturing (A3) accounts for a notable impact only in the ozone depletion and global warming impact categories.
Raw materials acquisition
This stage (A1) dominated the results for all impact categories. This module includes the raw materials acquired and preprocessed by the suppliers, including upstream packaging. The glass fibers and catalyzed polyester resin are combined in the pultrusion process. This stage has the highest contribution across the total ten impact categories compared to the transportation and manufacturing stages.
Transportation
Transportation (A2) of raw materials is the second highest contributor to all product life cycle impacts. This module includes the raw material transportation from suppliers to the Cascadia manufacturing facility. Most of the ingredients sourced in North America are transported by semi-truck, whereas materials sourced from overseas use a mix of road transportation by semi-truck and sea transportation by ship.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing (A3) is the smallest contributor to all product life cycle impacts. This module includes clip fabrication and manufacturing waste treatment processes. The clip fabrication process includes cutting the fiberglass, drilling, packaging, and cleaning. The metal rail steel is produced and coated with Galvalume™ corrosion-resistant coating. Fiberglass production waste, incoming raw material packaging waste, and non-hazardous wastes are transported to a landfill, and recyclable packaging wastes are transported to a recycling facility or reused within the plant.
Sensitivity analysis
Sensitivity analyses were performed to check the robustness of the results where the highest potential environmental impacts are occurring. As the bulk of impacts are attributed to raw materials acquisition and transportation, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to explore the possibility of changing one of the raw materials suppliers to a more adjacent supplier.
Global warming potential was evaluated for sensitivity since Cascadia is interested in the potential CO2-equivalent emissions of its products. The change in supplier location to one who was local to Canada resulted in a +/-3% change in total life cycle impacts.
How we're making it greener
The Cascadia Clip® was created to help measurably improve a building's overall energy performance, by reducing thermal bridging through the exterior cladding assembly without sacrificing structural or fire performance.
- Made from non-organic, chemically inert pultruded fiberglass, the clip is not susceptible to corrosion, rot, decay, mildew, insect damage
- Used in successful NFPA 285 testing
- Carries a comprehensive IAPMO-UES code evaluation
- Designed & manufactured in North America
- Modelled service life of 200 years
LCA results
Life cycle stage | A1 Raw material Supply | A2 Upstream transport | A3 Manufacturing |
Information modules:
|
(X) A1 Raw material supply | (X) A2 Transport | (X) A3 Manufacturing |
SM Single Score
Impacts per declared unit | 1.92E-01 mPts | 1.40E-02 mPts | 3.70E-03 mPts |
Materials or processes contributing >20% to total impacts in each life cycle stage | Energy and materials consumed during metal and glass fibers processing. | Truck transportation to Cascadia facility. | Energy consumed during clip fabrication (electricity and fuels). |
TRACI v2.1 results per declared unit
Life cycle stage | A1 Raw material supply | A2 Transport | A3 Manufacturing |
Ecological damage
Human health damage
Additional environmental information
Impact category | Unit | |||
Fossil fuel depletion | MJ surplus Mega Joule, lower heating value Fossil fuel depletion is the surplus energy to extract minerals and fossil fuels. |
4.65E+01 | 2.80E+00 | 1.52E+00 |
Ecotoxicity | CTUe Comparative Toxic Units of Ecotoxicity Ecotoxicity causes negative impacts to ecological receptors and, indirectly, to human receptors through the impacts to the ecosystem. |
2.54E+00 | 3.53E-01 | 1.50E-03 |
References
LCA Background Report
Cascadia Cascadia Clip® Fiberglass Thermal Spacer LCA Background Report, Cascadia 2023; SimaPro Analyst 9.5; ecoinvent v3, Industry data 2.0, and US-EI 2.2 databases; TRACI 2.1.
ISO 14025, “Sustainability in buildings and civil engineering works -- Core rules for environmental product declarations of construction products and services”
ISO 21930:2017, "Sustainability in Building Construction — Environmental Declaration of Building Products" serves as the core PCR along with Sustainable Minds Part A.
SM Part A: LCA calculation rules and report requirements, version 2023
August, 2023. Part A review conducted by the Sustainable Minds TAB, [email protected].
SM Part B: Cladding Support Components and Systems, 2022
Oct 31, 2022. Part B review conducted by the Sustainable Minds TAB, [email protected].
Download PDF SM Transparency Report/ EPD
SM Transparency Reports (TR) are ISO 14025 Type III environmental declarations (EPD) that enable purchasers and users to compare the potential environmental performance of products on a life cycle basis. They are designed to present information transparently to make the limitations of comparability more understandable. Environmental declarations of products that conform to the same PCR and include the same life cycle stages, but are made by different manufacturers, may not sufficiently align to support direct comparisons. They therefore cannot be used as comparative assertions unless the conditions as defined in ISO 14025 Section 6.7.2. ‘Requirements for Comparability’ are satisfied. In order to support comparative assertions, this EPD meets all comparability requirements stated in ISO 14025:2006. However, differences in certain assumptions, data quality, and variability between LCA data sets may still exist. Any EPD comparison must be carried out at the building level per ISO 21930 guidelines, use the same sub-category PCR where applicable, include all relevant information modules, be limited to EPDs applying a functional unit, and be based on equivalent scenarios with respect to the context of construction works. Some LCA impact categories and inventory items are still under development and can have high levels of uncertainty. To promote uniform guidance on the data collection, calculation, and reporting of results, the ACLCA methodology (ACLCA 2019) was used.