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

See how we make it greener

LCA results

Life cycle stage A1 Raw material Supply A2 Upstream transport A3 Manufacturing

Information modules:
Included (X)
| Excluded (MND)*

*Modules A4, A5, B, C, and D are excluded.

(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

Impact category Unit
Acidification kg SO2 eq Kilograms of Sulfur Dioxide equivalent
Acidification processes increase the acidity of water and soil systems and causes damage to lakes, streams, rivers and various plants and animals as well as building materials, paints and other human-built structures.
1.09E-02 2.62E-03 6.18E-05
Eutrophication kg N eqKilograms of Nitrogen equivalent
Eutrophication is the enrichment of an aquatic ecosystem with nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) that accelerate biological productivity (growth of algae and weeds) and an undesirable accumulation of algal biomass which impacts industry, agriculture, drinking, fishing and recreation and causes death of fish and shellfish, toxicity to humans, marine mammals and livestock, and reduces biodiversity.
2.38E-03 1.13E-04 1.94E-05
Global warming kg CO2 eqKilograms of Carbon Dioxide equivalent
Global warming is an average increase in the temperature of the atmosphere near the Earth’s surface and in the troposphere, which can contribute to change in global climate patterns and is caused by the increase of the sources of greenhouse gases and decrease of the sinks due to deforestation and land use. Global warming - 100 a refers to the reporting period of 100 years. GW leads to problems in human health, agriculture, forest, water source and damage to species and biodiversity as well as coastal areas.
3.61E+00 2.15E-01 1.14E-01
Ozone depletion kg CFC-11 eq Kilograms of Trichlorofluoromethane equivalent
Ozone depletion is the reduction of ozone in the stratosphere caused by the release of ozone depleting chemicals. Ozone depletion can increases ultraviolet B radiation to the earth which can adversely affect human health (skin cancer and cataracts and immune-system suppression) and other system (marine life, agricultural crops, and other vegetation) and causes damage to human-built materials.
5.09E-08 3.40E-09 1.07E-09

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.

Rating systems

The intent is to reward project teams for selecting products from manufacturers who have verified improved life-cycle environmental performance.

LEED BD+C: New Construction | v4 - LEED v4

Building product disclosure and optimization

Environmental product declarations

  • Industry-wide (generic) EPD ½ product

  • Product-specific Type III EPD 1 product

LEED BD+C: New Construction | v4.1 - LEED v4.1

Building product disclosure and optimization

Environmental product declarations

  • Industry-wide (generic) EPD 1 product

  • Product-specific Type III EPD 1.5 products

Collaborative for High Performance Schools National Criteria

MW C5.1 – Environmental Product Declarations

  • Third-party certified type III EPD 2 points

Green Globes for New Construction and Sustainable Interiors

Materials and resources

  • NC 3.5.1.2 Path B: Prescriptive Path for Building Core and Shell

  • NC 3.5.2.2 and SI 4.1.2 Path B: Prescriptive Path for Interior Fit-outs

BREEAM New Construction 2018

Mat 02 - Environmental impacts from construction products

Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)

  • Industry-average EPD .5 points

  • Multi-product specific EPD .75 points

  • Product-specific EPD 1 point