EPD additional content STRUCTODEK HD

Data

Background This product-specific plant-specific declaration was created by collecting production data from the facility in Danville, VA. All unit processes were modeled using primary data. Secondary data sources include those available in the ecoinvent v3.10 and US-EI 2.2 databases.

Product-specific packaging includes poly bags which are typically disposed of at the site of installation.

Allocation The BLUE RIDGE FIBERBOARD facility produces multiple types of panel products each year. To allocate electricity and natural gas consumption accurately to each product, total annual energy consumption was distributed based on the proportion of each product's annual production (by mass) relative to the total plant production. This approach assigns manufacturing activities proportionally to each product type.

All associated manufacturing resources and waste flows were allocated using the same approach. There are no co‐products produced during their manufacturing processes. The model used in the LCA ensures that the sum of the allocated inputs and outputs of a unit process shall be equal to the inputs and outputs of the unit process before allocation. This means that no double counting or omissions of inputs or outputs through allocation is occurring.

For recycled content, system boundaries were drawn consistent with the cut-off allocation approach. Post-industrial wood chips, which are used as an input into some of the included production processes, are assumed to enter the system burden-free in that burden associated with the production of virgin wood chips is not allocated to the fiberboard life cycle.

Cut-off criteria for the inclusion of mass and energy flows are 1% of renewable primary resource (energy) usage, 1% nonrenewable primary resource (energy) usage, 1% of the total mass input of that unit process, and 1% of environmental impacts. The total of neglected input flows per module does not exceed 5% of energy usage, mass, and environmental impacts.

The only exceptions to these criteria are substances with hazardous and toxic properties, which must be listed even when the given process unit is under the cut-off criterion of 1% of the total mass. No known flows are deliberately excluded from this declaration, and no substances considered to be hazardous or toxic according to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Subtitle C are present in the products. Therefore, these criteria have been met. Biogenic carbon is included in reported results.

Quality
The precision of the data is considered high. BLUE RIDGE FIBERBOARD personnel provided a detailed bill of materials, and facility managers provided utility information for the manufacturing facility. The raw material transportation distances were provided directly by the facility.

The data included is considered complete. The LCA model included all known material and energy flows. As pointed out in that section, no known flows above 1% were excluded and the sum of all excluded flows totals less than 5%, whether evaluated by mass, energy, or potential environmental impact.

The consistency of the model is considered high. Furthermore, the modeling assumptions were consistent throughout the model, with a preference for the ecoinvent v3.10 database.

Major system boundary exclusions

  • Manufacture and transport of packaging not associated with final product
  • Construction of major capital equipment
  • Maintenance and operation of support equipment
  • Human labor and employee transport
  • Disposal of final product, except for biogenic carbon balance reporting

Scenarios and additional technical information

Disposal of waste [C4] While the impacts from final product disposal are out of the scope of this cradle-to-gate study, ISO 21930:2017 requires that biogenic carbon emissions associated with product disposal be separately reported. The biogenic carbon emissions from product in module C4 total 3.58E+01 kg CO2.

Flow diagram

WRM BRF flow diagram0604

Major assumptions and limitations

  • Generic data sets used for material inputs, transport, and waste processing are considered good quality, but actual impacts from material suppliers, transport carriers, and local waste processing may vary
  • The impact assessment methodology categories do not represent all possible environmental impact categories; characterization factors used within the impact assessment methodology may contain varying levels of uncertainty
  • LCA results are relative expressions and do not predict impacts on category endpoints, the exceeding of thresholds, safety margins, or risks
  • This EPD covers only the cradle-to-gate impacts of products using a declared unit. The results listed in this EPD cannot be used to compare between products.

LCIA impact factors required by the PCR are global warming, ozone depletion, acidification, eutrophication, smog, and fossil fuel depletion; “These six impact categories are globally deemed mature enough to be included in Type III environmental declarations. Other categories are being developed and defined and LCA should continue making advances in their development. However, the EPD users shall not use additional measures for comparative purposes.”

LCIA results, resource use, output and waste flows, and carbon emissions & removals per declared unit (1 m³ of panel)

ParameterUnit
A1
A2
A3
Total
LCIA results
GWP, IPCCTOTAL
kg CO2 eq
5.43E+00
4.77E+00
1.94E+02
2.04E+02
GWP, IPCCBIOGENIC
kg CO2 eq
-3.58E+01
0
3.58E+01
0
GWP, IPCCFOSSIL
kg CO2 eq
4.12E+01
4.77E+00
1.58E+02
2.04E+02
GWP, TRACI 2.1TOTAL
kg CO2 eq
9.40E+00
4.71E+00
1.94E+02
2.08E+02
GWP, TRACI 2.1BIOGENIC
kg CO2 eq
-3.58E+01
0
3.58E+01
0
GWP, TRACI 2.1FOSSIL
kg CO2 eq
4.52E+01
4.71E+00
1.58E+02
2.08E+02
Ozone depletion
kg CFC-11 eq
1.74E-06
7.31E-08
8.02E-06
9.83E-06
Acidification
kg SO2 eq
5.19E-01
5.60E-03
3.44E-01
8.69E-01
Eutrophication
kg N eq
4.41E-01
4.09E-04
3.45E-02
4.76E-01
Smog
kg O3 eq
4.03E+00
8.61E-02
4.18E+00
8.29E+00
Respiratory effects
kg PM2.5 eq
3.85E-02
1.47E-03
2.34E-02
6.34E-02
Additional environmental information
Carcinogenics
CTUh
91.8%
0.130%
8.08%
100%
Non carcinogenics
CTUh
94.9%
0.730%
4.35%
100%
Ecotoxicity
CTUe
97.1%
1.58%
1.29%
100%
Fossil fuel depletion
MJ surplus
8.41E+01
9.00E+00
2.93E+02
3.86E+02
Resource use indicators
Renewable primary energy used as energy carrier (fuel)
MJ, NCV
3.11E+02
1.04E-01
1.13E+02
4.24E+02
Renewable primary resources with energy content used as material
MJ, NCV
1.82E+03
0
0
1.82E+03
Total use of renewable primary resources with energy content
MJ, NCV
2.13E+03
1.04E-01
1.13E+02
2.24E+03
Non-renewable primary resources used as an energy carrier (fuel)
MJ, NCV
9.65E+02
6.78E+01
3.74E+03
4.77E+03
Non-renewable primary resources with energy content used as material
MJ, NCV
2.86E+02
0
0
2.86E+02
Total use of non-renewable primary resources with energy content
MJ, NCV
1.25E+03
6.78E+01
3.74E+03
5.06E+03
Secondary materials
kg
0.00E+00
0
0
0.00E+00
Renewable secondary fuels
MJ, NCV
0
0
0
0
Non-renewable secondary fuels
MJ, NCV
0
0
0
0
Recovered energy
MJ, NCV
0
0
0
0
Use of net fresh water resources
m3
3.08E+01
4.98E-02
3.23E+00
3.41E+01
Abiotic depletion (fossil fuels)
MJ, LHV
1.11E+03
6.36E+01
2.23E+03
3.41E+03
Output flows and waste category indicators
Hazardous waste disposed
kg
7.25E+00
1.44E-02
2.02E-01
7.47E+00
Non-hazardous waste disposed
kg
8.25E+01
5.82E-02
9.39E+01
1.77E+02
High-level radioactive waste, conditioned, to final repository
kg
2.83E-04
7.60E-07
1.89E-05
3.03E-04
Intermediate- and low-level radioactive waste, conditioned, to final repository
kg
6.12E-04
1.49E-06
1.21E-02
1.27E-02
Components for re-use
kg
0
0
0
0
Materials for recycling
kg
0
0
0
0
Materials for energy recovery
kg
0
0
0
0
Exported energy
MJ
0
0
0
0
Carbon emissions and removals
Biogenic carbon removal from product
kg CO2
-3.58E+01
0
0
-3.58E+01
Biogenic carbon emission from product
kg CO2
0
0
0
0
Biogenic carbon removal from packaging
kg CO2
0
0
0
0
Biogenic carbon emission from packaging
kg CO2
0
0
0
0
Biogenic carbon emission from combustion of waste from renewable sources used in production processes
kg CO2
0
0
0
0
Calcination carbon emissions
kg CO2
0
0
0
0
Carbonation carbon removals
kg CO2
0
0
0
0
Carbon emissions from combustion of waste from non-renewable sources used in production processes
kg CO2
0
0
0
0