Shopping for building materials can be a daunting task, especially factoring in considerations like project budget, delivery method, and product availability. But the struggle actually begins long before an order is placed – in many cases, you need to be an expert analyst to decipher all the labels crowding the product label. What does it all mean, anyway?
It’s easy to assume that the more labels or seals a product has, the more trustworthy it is. However, not every label measures the same factors (e.g., some reflect rigorous certification standards, while others simply offer transparency). Thus, not every label is relevant to your project needs, and it’s quite possible to snatch up products that are heavily decorated but offer you no additional value and may even have unreported issues.
If you consistently work with the “pedal to the metal,” you don’t necessarily have time for in-depth detective work. Instead, use the following insights to demystify packaging labels beforehand to better inform your building material selections for every project.
Understanding Label Types – Certification and Transparency
Before diving into specific label types, it’s important to understand the two major categories that most labels fall under – transparency labels and certification labels.
Think of a transparency label as a nutrition label for a building product. It doesn’t indicate a particular product’s superiority; rather, it offers a window into the materials and processes used to create that product. Whether or not the product is better than others is up to you to decide based on your standards and requirements.
Think of a transparency label as a nutrition label for a building product.
Products with transparency labels will display one of three types – a label focused on sustainability criteria, a label specifying occupant building health, or a combination label addressing both.
A certification label, on the other hand, indicates that the building product meets a certain set of criteria. However, some certifications are more stringent and encompassing than others, so the mere presence of a certification label isn’t always an indicator of high quality.
Sustainability Labels
Beyond the two major label categories, there are more specific classifications within each. Here, we’ll focus on transparency, diving deeper into sustainability labels. The two most common types are the Environment Product Declaration (EPD) and International Living Future Institute’s Declare label.
An EPD is a document that tells the sustainability story of a product. The most important part of that story is its life cycle assessment (LCA), which is defined by the following stages:
- A1-A3: the product stage – getting materials and making the product
- A4-A5: transporting and installing the product
- B1-B5: the product’s life, its maintenance, and repair
- C1-C4: the product’s end of life
A “cradle-to-grave” assessment is one that covers all stages, quite literally from “birth” to “death.” According to the European Environment Agency’s official definition, tracking begins with the extraction of natural resources from the ground and ends with disposal.
While the EPD doesn’t have to be a cradle-to-grave assessment, it should identify what stages it covers and the resulting environmental impact in each of those stages. Examples of potential environmental impacts that could be listed by stage include: Global Warming, Ozone Depletion, Acidification, Eutrophication, Photochemical Ozone Creation, Abiotic Resource Depletion, and Smog Formation.
Also to consider, like any “story,” no two EPDs are identical, and the information can come in many forms (with some running as long as 40 pages). Further, not all building products have an EPD, though manufacturers can be asked to create one and provide the information contained in the report.
Product Category Rules
All EPDs are built following Product Category Rules, or PCRs. Where an EPD is the nutrition label that specifies the ingredients of a product, PCRs are the recipes that dictate how to use those ingredients. There are different PCRs for different categories of products, so to make an informed decision while reading through various EPDs, you need to verify that the EPDs follow the same PCRs. EPDs based on different PCRs will give you different information, possibly skewing your analysis if you don’t catch the nuances. As you jot down information and check EPDs against your project’s criteria, be sure to note any PCR differences between products.
When it comes to locating EPDs, most can be found on individual product websites, usually by specification downloads, or through comprehensive websites that list products with EPDs (and other labels), like Sustainable Minds’ Transparency Catalog.
EPD Types
Just as there are different label categories and different sustainability label types, there are different types of EPDs, too.
The most common type of EPD is Single-Company Product Specific, which is usually required by different building certification standards – if you’re working on a LEED building certification, this is identified as “Product-specific Type II EPD.” This type can be customized by adding your location.
Next is a Group EPD, which covers a group of products from the same manufacturer that differs environmentally by less than 10%. Last is an Industry Sector or Average EPD, which averages a product or products from several manufacturers and/or locations. This one is the least desirable because it may average the products that need to be compared, as opposed to a more individualized assessment of each.
To simplify the process of reading through an EPD, search for these items:
- Type of EPD
- EPD Number & Expiration Date (EPDs need to be renewed every 5 years)
- Declared Unit
- Flow Diagram (Stages A1-A3, A4-A5, B1-B5, or C1-C4)
- Environmental Impacts
- PCR
- Certifications
The more you explore, the more data you’ll accumulate. Making a spreadsheet to compare these items can simplify the process of narrowing your options to only the best choices (see below). The effectiveness of this strategy may surprise you when it helps you to identify one or two options that are clearly above the rest.
Other information to consider including in your analysis that may not be found on EPDs are cost, warranty, and product age. Identifying the product age can help you eliminate new products that may not have been specified before, meaning there could be problems with the product that have not been identified yet. Additionally, high product costs are common deal breakers for clients, so factoring cost into any analysis is prudent.
Our hope is that our partners and clients will benefit from informed decisions about building materials, particularly in today’s market. The more knowledge we share within the industry, the more our communities will benefit and thrive.
Watch for future articles, where we’ll move beyond EPDs to break down the various components of the Living Future Institute’s Declare label.
