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E nvironmental P roduct D eclarationEPS INSULATIONAccordingtoISO 14025INSTALLATIONSpecifying the appropriate product for a building application and installing it properly have a critical impact on thelong-term performance of a building assembly. There are various building codes and industry standards – both atnational and regional levels – that establish best practices for product specification and installation. To provide highperformance, long-lasting buildings, it is imperative for building and design professionals to be well informed about allapplicable building codes and product standards, as well as manufacturer recommendations Strict adherence to properinstallation requirements ensures all insulation products serve as effective design solutions that complement oneanother and ensure greater comfort, safety and lower maintenance while leaving a smaller footprint on the environment.END-OF-LIFE MANAGEMENT & RECYCLINGRecycling has always been an integral part of operations at EPS processing plants. Cutting scrap is recycled andincorporated into the production cycle to make new EPS insulation. Recycled EPS can also be processed into newproducts such as plastic lumber.INDOOR AIR QUALITYEPS insulation products have a low volatile nature and are interior friendly. EPS has never incorporated CFCs, HFCsand HCFCs in its production process. Intertek Testing has verified EPS insulation VOC emissions through thestandard methods of California Specification 01350: Standard Method for the Testing and Evaluation of VolatileOrganic Chemical Emissions from Indoor Sources Using Environmental Chambers.Many EPS manufacturers are certified for indoor air quality as low emitting products by UL GREENGUARD. You canview individual company UL GREENGUARD listings on SPOT.LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT RESULTS & ANALYSISPRODUCT SYSTEM BOUNDARIESThe Life -Cycle Assessment for EPS insulation quantifies energy and resource use, solid waste andenvironmental impacts for the following phases in the life cycle: Raw material acquisition (e.g., feedstocks for plastic resin), and intermediate steps to convert thefeedstocks into EPS resin. Transportation of virgin EPS resin and recycled EPS to EPS insulation manufacturers. Manufacturing of EPS insulation. Packaging for incoming materials to the insulation manufacturer, as well as packaging for the shipment ofEPS insulation. Transporting EPS insulation to customers or a distribution center. Installation and maintenance of the insulation are included in the study. Installing the insulation is performedmanually and maintaining the product does not require additional energy or resources. End-of-life management of insulation and secondary packaging (including disposal, incineration, or recycling).7

E nvironmental P roduct D eclarationEPS INSULATIONAccordingtoISO 14025The principal purpose of the LCA is to provide updated environmental impacts associated with EPS insulation fromcradle to grave. The illustration below details EPS insulation production and subsequent life cycle stages.EPS INSULATION SYSTEM BOUNDARIESIntermediate Inputs from Technosphere Treatment of Water Capital Equipment Human CapitalElementary Inputs from Nature Water Raw MaterialsRawMaterialAcquisitionEPS onEPS InsulationExternalRegrindInstallation& UseEnd-of-LifeIndustrial Waste Recycling & DisposalElementary Outputs to Nature Water Airborne Emissions Waterborne EmissionsIntermediate Outputs to Technosphere Treatment of Waste Water Capital Equipment to be Recycled— Within Study Boundary— Outside Study Boundary8

E nvironmental P roduct D eclarationEPS INSULATIONAccordingtoISO 14025USE OF MATERIAL & ENERGY RESOURCESTable 1 shows the primary energy demands per functional unit. Energy resource consumption is broken down bytype and by resources. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the results graphically.Basis: 1 m2 with a thermalresistance RSI 1 m2K/W andservice life of 60 years2.5%38.0%UraniumFossil OilTotal Primary EnergyMJNON-RENEWABLE RESOURCESFossil Oil26.50Coal3.80Natural Gas53.9%37.60Uranium5.4%Natural GasCoalFigure 1: Non-Renewable Primary Energy Resources1.72RENEWABLE RESOURCESHydropower0.18Landfill OTAL71.4Table 1: Primary Energy Demand for EPS Insulation3.5%0.60%Wind ss66.2%Landfill GasFigure 2: Renewable Primary Energy Resources9

E nvironmental P roduct D eclarationEPS INSULATIONAccordingtoISO 14025FUNCTIONAL UNITThe functional unit used for this study is 1 m² (10.765 ft2) of insulation material with a thickness that givesan average thermal resistance RSI 1 m² K/W (R-value 5.68 ft2 hr F/BTU) and with a building service life of60 years. The thickness of the ASTM C578 Type I EPS insulation required for the functional unit is 4.01centimeters (1.58 in).Note: The EPD data is derived from the LCA of EPS Insulation and Cradle-to-Gate LCA of EPS Resin reports byERG/Franklin Associates. Percentages have been rounded and may not total to 100%.GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSISThe geographic scope of the analysis is insulation manufactured, used, and disposed of in North America.End-of-life management of insulation was modeled based on all insulation being taken to a construction and demolition(C&D) landfill. This included transport and landfill machinery. The insulation was modeled as inert within the landfill.INVENTORY & IMPACT ASSESSMENTThe LCA study addresses global, regional, and local environmental impact categories. For most of the impactcategories examined, the TRACI 2.1 methodology, developed by the United States Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) specific to U.S./Canadian conditions and updated in 2012, is employed.For the category of acidification, units of TRACI 2.04 were used in accordance with the Product Category Rule. Forthe category of Global Warming Potential (GWP), contributing elementary flows are characterized using factorsreported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2013 with a 100 year time horizon.DATA QUALITY ASSESSMENTPrimary data was collected from three EPS resin manufacturers in North America – one in Canada, one in the U.S.,and one in Mexico. Data was provided by one plant for each manufacturer. A straight average of these three resindata sets was used for the average EPS resin data set.Primary data was collected from a total of 29 insulation manufacturing plants (23 in the U.S. and six in Canada). Thefollowing companies provided data for this assessment: ACH Foam Technologies, Inc., Atlas EPS, InsulationTechnology, Inc., Insulfoam, NOVA Chemicals Inc., Plasti-Fab Ltd., VersaTech, Inc., Styropek. All insulation datasets were weighted using production amounts provided by each plant.The data quality goals were to use data that are (1) geographically representative for each insulation system basedon the locations where material sourcing and resin manufacturing operations, insulation manufacturing, distribution,and end-of-life management take place, and (2) representative of current industry practices in these regions. EPS-IAprovided current, geographically representative data for both the EPS resin and the EPS insulation system. Thosedata sets used in the models that were not collected for this analysis were drawn largely from reliable publisheddatabases (U.S. LCI Database) or from the ERG/Franklin Associates confidential database of primary NorthAmerican unit process data. The data sets used were the most current and most geographically and technologicallyrelevant data sets available during the data collection phase of the project.10

E nvironmental P roduct D eclarationEPS INSULATIONAccordingtoISO 14025METHODOLOGYThe LCA has been conducted following internationally accepted standards for LCA methodology as outlined in theISO 14040 and 14044 standards, which provide guidance and requirements for conducting life cycle assessments.However, for some specific aspects of life cycle assessment, the ISO standards have some flexibility and allowfor methodological choices to be made. These include the method used to allocate energy requirements andenvironmental releases among more than one useful product produced by a process, the methodology used toallocate environmental burdens for recycled content, and the methodology used for end of life management. Thefollowing sections describe the approach to each issue used in this study.ENERGY DEMANDFigure 3 shows total energy demand for the lifecycle of the insulation system. The production ofraw materials makes the largest contribution (81.8percent) of the total energy demand for the EPSinsulation. Insulation manufacturing also makes asignificant contribution at 12 percent of the total.The manufacturing process for EPS insulationincludes expansion of the resin, regrinding andconverting scrap for reuse in the process, and, atsome plants, combustion of captured blowingagent emissions. Transportation steps make upalmost five percent of the total energy. A littlemore than two percent of that energy comes fromdistributing the insulation to the distributioncenters and users. Packaging the resin andinsulation requires very little energy. Theinsulation is installed manually, so no energy isrequired to complete that process. The use of theinsulation also requires no energy. One percent ofthe total energy is required to dispose of theinsulation, which includes transport to the C&D(construction and demolition) landfill, as well asfor landfill equipment.2.6%Distribution12.3%0%Installationand portation - EPSResin to InsulationManufacturer0.4%Packagingof EPS Resinand Insulation81.8%Raw Material AcquisionFigure 3: Total energy Demand for EPS Insulation11

E nvironmental P roduct D eclarationEPS INSULATIONAccordingtoISO 14025Table 2 displays the percent of total energy required as feedstock as well as the energy required for process andfuel-related energy. A little less than half (46 percent) of the total energy is used to create the plastic material used inthe EPS insulation. If only the process and fuel-related energy is examined, two-thirds of the energy still comes frommaterial acquisition and almost a quarter is used by the insulation production.Basis: 1 m2 with a thermal resistance RSI 1 m2K/Wand service life of 60 yearsCumulative EnergyNon-RenewableEnergyRenewable EnergyMJMJMJRaw Material Acquisition58.457.11.32Packaging of EPS Resin and Insulation0.270.220.05Transportation-Resin to Insulation1.501.500.0023Insulation 9Installation and ercentageCumulative EnergyNon-RenewableEnergyRenewable Energy%%%Raw Material Acquisition81.8%80.0%1.9%Packaging of EPS Resin and Insulation0.4%0.3%0.1%Transportation-Resin to Insulation2.1%2.1%0.0%Insulation %Installation and ALTable 2: Cumulative, Non-Renewable, and Renewable Energy Demand for EPS Insulation12

E nvironmental P roduct D eclarationEPS INSULATIONAccordingto0%GLOBAL WARMING POTENTIALTable 3 and Figure 4 show life cycle GWP resultsfor the insulation systems. The raw materialproduction of the insulation system accounts forthe largest share of GWP (70 percent), followed byinsulation manufacturing at 20 percent. The GWPemissions from the raw material stage are mainlyassociated with fossil fuel resources used as fueland as feedstocks for the plastic resin and blowingagent. GWP from insulation manufacturing includesemissions from combustion of fuels used in theinsulation manufacturing process, emissions fromoperation of a thermal oxidizer used to destroyblowing agent emissions at the manufacturing plant(including carbon dioxide from combustion of boththe fuel and pentane burned in the thermal oxidizer),as well as emissions associated with production ofthe electricity used in the insulation manufacturingprocesses. More than 8 percent comes fromcombustion of the fuels used to transport the resin, aswell as the transportation during distribution. End-oflife management of disposed EPS insulationcontributes a little more than 1% of the total GWP forthe insulation system; this is largely carbon dioxideemissions from the combustion of the fuels used totransport and distribute the insulation during landfilling.1.4%Installationand Use4.6%ISO turing3.9%Transportation -EPSResin to InsulationManufacturer0.3%Packagingof EPS Resinand Insulation70.3%Raw Material AcquisionFigure 4: Global Warming Potential Results for EPS InsulationBasis: 1 m2 with a thermal resistance RSI 1 m2K/Wand service life of 60 yearsGlobal Warming PotentialPercentage of Totalkg CO2 eq%Raw Material Acquisition1.9670%Packaging of EPS Resin and Insulation0.00740.3%Transportation-Resin to Insulation0.113.9%Insulation on and Use00.0%End-of-Life0.0381.4%2.79100%TOTALTable 3: Global Warming Potential Results for EPS Insulation13

E nvironmental P roduct D eclarationEPS INSULATIONAccordingtoISO 14025WATER CONSUMPTIONConsumptive use of water in this study includes freshwater that is withdrawn from a water source or watershed andnot returned to that source. Consumptive water use includes water consumed in chemical reactions, water that isincorporated into a product or waste stream, water that becomes evaporative loss, and water that is discharged to adifferent watershed or water body than the one from which it was withdrawn. Water consumption results shown foreach life cycle stage include process water consumption as well as water consumption associated with productionof the electricity and fuels used in that stage. Electricity-related water consumption includes evaporative lossesassociated with thermal generation of electricity from fossil and nuclear fuels, as well as evaporative losses due toestablishment of dams for hydropower.Water consumption results are shown in Figure 5. Process water consumption for EPS insulation manufacturing isassociated with generation of electricity used in the processes, as well as extraction of oil and gas for material andfuel uses. These account for almost half of the consumed water. The insulation manufacturing itself accounts for 29percent of the water consumed, due to steam production and cooling water makeup.2.3%Distribution0%Installationand Transportation - EPSResin to InsulationManufacturer0.4%Packaging of EPS Resinand Insulation65.9%Raw Material AcquisionFigure 5: Consumptive Water Use for EPS Insulation14

E nvironmental P roduct D eclarationEPS INSULATIONAccordingACIDIFICATIONFor the EPS insulation system, raw materialproduction accounts for almost two-thirds of thetotal acidification potential, followed by insulationmanufacturing (17.8 percent) and thetransportation of resin and distribution, whichtogether account for over 15 percent. Thecombustion of natural gas, coal and oil is thelargest contributor to the acidification potential.Figure 6: Acidification Potential Results for EPS Insulation5.9%Distribution0%Installationand UsetoISO .0%Transportation - EPSResin to InsulationManufacturer0.4%Packaging of EPS Resinand Insulation63.2%Raw Material AcquisionSOLID WASTESolid waste results include the following types of wastes: Process wastes that are generated by the various processes from raw material acquisition through production ofinsulation (e.g., sludges and residues from chemical reactions and material processing steps) Fuel-related wastes from the production and combustion of fuels used for process energy and transportationenergy (e.g., refinery wastes, coal combustion ash) Postconsumer wastes that include the landfilling of the insulation and packaging included, plus ash from the 18%of the packaging that are managed by WTE combustion.Results for solid waste by weight are shown in Table 4. The largest share of solid waste for all insulation systems ispost-consumer solid waste (insulation disposed at the end of its useful life). The next largest contributor is rawmaterial production, which accounts for 10% of the waste for the EPS insulation. Raw material solid wastes arelargely associated with production and combustion of fuels (particularly coal used to generate electricity used inraw material production processes) and the production of crude oil and natural gas used as feedstocks for the EPSresin and blowing agent. The insulation manufacture creates approximately 5 percent of the total solid wastes,which include some off-spec resin sent to landfill, as well as solid wastes from emissions control devices. The smallamounts of packaging used does not make a large contribution (1 percent) to solid waste results.15

E nvironmental P roduct D eclarationEPS INSULATIONAccordingtoISO 14025The total solid waste is also separated by hazardous and non-hazardous wastes, as well as by the fate of the solidwaste. Hazardous waste accounts for only 0.03 percent of the total solid waste for the EPS insulation, while nonhazardous makes up the remaining. More than 99 percent of the solid waste is landfilled, with only 0.02 percentbeing incineration and less than 0.01 percent used for waste-to-energy.Basis: 1 m2 with a thermal resistance RSI 1 m2K/Wand service life of 60 yearsHazardous WastesNon-Hazardous WastesTotal ousWaste usWaste TotalkgkgkgkgkgkgkgkgkgRaw 041.1E-060.00210.0790.081Packaging of EPSResin and 5.3E-050.0110.011Transportation-Resinto lation and UseEnd-of-LifeTOTALPercentage of TotalHazardous WastesNon-Hazardous WastesTotal ousWaste usWaste Packaging of EPSResin and ion-Resinto 9%99.7%99.97%Raw MaterialAcquisitionInstallation and UseEnd-of-LifeTOTALTable 4: Solid Waste by Weight for EPS Insulation16

E nvironmental P roduct D eclarationEPS INSULATIONAccordingISO 14025toRESULTS SUMMARYA summary table including result totals in each category for EPS insulation is displayed in Table 5. Normalizedresults for EPS insulation for all results categories are presented in Figure 7. For each results category, the valuesare displayed on a percentage basis, with each phase of the LCA shown based on its percent of the total amount(100%) for that category.ASTM C578 TYPE I EPS INSULATIONIMPACT CATEGORY/ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORUNITSTOTALTotal EnergyMJ71.4Non-Renewable EnergyMJ69.7Renewable EnergyMJ1.74Total Solid Wastekg0.75Water ConsumptionL9.94Global Warmingkg CO2 eq2.79Eutrophicationkg N eq3.6E-04Smog Formationkg O3 eq0.20Ozone Depletionkg CFC-11 eq1.6E-08Acidificati

and 50-year thermal resistance (RSI/R-values) for EPS insulation are the same as the initial RSI/R-values since the closed cell structure of EPS contains atmospheric air. The minimum RSI/R-value of EPS insulation provided for each product type may be used as a design value without any adjustment for age. Whether used as a stand-alone