pu_europe_factsh
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http://www.excellence-in-insulation.eu/site/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/library/facts/PU_Europe_Factsheet_13_Environmental_Product_Declaration_tool__vFeb12_.pdfTRANSCRIPT
What is PU?
PU insulation stands for a group of insulation
materials based on PUR (polyurethane) or PIR
(polyisocyanurate). Their closed cell structure and
high cross-linking density give them the
characteristics of good heat stability, high
compressive strength and excellent insulation
properties. PU insulation has a very low thermal
conductivity, starting from as low as 0.022 W/mK,
making it one of the most effective insulants available
today for a wide range of applications.
Factsheet n° 13
Environmental product declaration (EPD) (Version December 2010)
EPD FOR POLYURETHANE
INSULATION BOARDS AND ENERGY
SAVING POTENTIAL
What is an Environmental
Product Declaration? An environmental product declaration, EPD, is a
communication tool that provides quantified
information of the potential environmental impacts of
a product or process based on information from a life
cycle assessment (LCA) over its entire lifetime or a
part of it. EPDs are not providing an evaluation of the
environmental performance but are a comprehensive
and transparent set of environmental information
covering a predefined set of life cycle stages. An
important advantage of using EPD is the possibility
to add LCA-based information in the supply chain.
This feature makes EPDs particularly valuable for the
building sector where the final building is based on a
large number of materials, construction products,
semi-manufactured products and processes.
PU Europe calculation tool Given the increasing number of national schemes
and the ongoing development of a European
standard for the establishment of EPDs (prEN
15804), PU Europe1 decided to develop an industry-
based calculation programme based on the future
pan-European standardised approach prepared by
CEN/TC 350.
The PU Europe tool is a third party verified system
to produce cradle-to-gate construction product
EPDs. A sensitivity analysis has demonstrated that
modifications in the composition of the foam and the
energy consumption of the foam production stage
have no significant impact on the EPD results and
therefore industry average data can be
recommended for use in building assessments.
However, the calculation tool allows PU Europe
member companies to produce their own EPD and
share them in their business-to-business
communication channel where relevant. It must be
made clear, throughout the communication chain,
that EPDs cannot be compared with each other and
that only an assessment at the building level, in a
given end-use application, is relevant. Furthermore,
LCA practitioners generally use the rule of thumb
that the error margins for primary energy use and
global warming potential can be estimated at around
10 %, whereas a 20 % error margin usually applies
for all other impact categories. This means that any
differences between these margins should be
considered as insignificant.
1 PU EUROPE excellence in insulation - Factsheet n° 13
Factsheet n° 13
The PU Europe EPD tool has been jointly developed
by PE International (Germany) and the UK-based
Building Research Establishment (BRE). It is linked
to the Gabi software tool and database. Details on
the background information and model can be
obtained by contacting PU Europe office. The
results apply for both PUR and PIR insulation
boards. The PU Europe tool will be adapted when
required to reflect modifications in the draft
European standard.
Updating of the EPDs for polyurethane (PU) insulation boards PU manufacturers and raw material suppliers are
committed to continuously improve the
Reduction of the environmental impact of 1 kg naked foam thanks to lower burdens from the polyols (without energy recovery)
environmental performance of PU insulation and
provide relevant environmental data.
Since no industry data were available for the first
version of factsheet 13, the environmental impact
of the polyester polyols, which account for about
20-30 % of all PU, was based on surrogate data
developed by PE International. This first revision
takes account of a recent industry average life cycle
inventory study for polyester polyols2. With these
new and more representative figures, the overall
environmental impact of PU insulation boards is
lower in all impact categories than calculated in
version 1 of factsheet 13. As a matter of example,
the global warming potential of polyols was reduced
by as much as 43 % leading to a 14.6 % lower GWP
for insulation boards without facings (naked foam). A
revision of the eco-profile for MDI (55-65 % of raw
materials) is under way leading to a second revision
of this factsheet planned in 2011.
PU EUROPE excellence in insulation - Factsheet n° 13 2 2
* can be rounded to zero
Average European cradle-to-gate EPDs for polyurethane (PU) insulation boards Polyurethane insulation boards have the
particularity to be supplied with various types of
facings depending on the type of application and
the required insulation performance3.
This factsheet provides several sets of EPDs: a set
for the naked polyurethane foam at two basic
reference units: 1 kg foam and 1 m2 at a thermal
Reference units: 1 kg and thermal resistance R = 1 m2K/W
Factsheet n° 13
resistance value of R=1. Another set of four EPDs
for insulation boards with a thermal resistance of
R=5 and with different facings is also provided.
With a view to further increasing the value of our
EPD, this updated factsheet distinguishes between a
cradle-to-gate scenario and a scenario including
end-of-life (energy recovery). The inclusion of
energy recovery in the EPD leads to a significantly
lower total primary energy use (68.6 MJ instead of
85.5 MJ per kg of naked foam), but increases the
global warming potential from 3.8 kg CO2 to 5.8 kg
CO2.
* can be rounded to zero
GWP EP
Global warming potential Eutrophication potential
ODP POCP
Ozone depletion potential Photochemical ozone creation potential
AP
Acidification potential
PU EUROPE excellence in insulation - Factsheet n° 13 3 2
Reference unit: thermal resistance of R = 5 Wm2K
The importance of the functional or reference units
It is important to take into account the density and
thickness of any insulation material used in a
particular end-use application. These two
parameters will determine the overall quantity of a
specific insulant required for that application as
well as its related environmental impacts.
Comparative assertion at the building or
component levels have also to consider the
required performance and the possible need to add
ancillary materials to achieve comparable building
component performance. For insulation products,
there are two useful types of functional or
reference units:
Those based on the thermal resistance
performance, e.g. 1 m2 of a wall element at a
Factsheet n° 13
* can be rounded to zero
PU EUROPE excellence in insulation - Factsheet n° 13 4 2
fixed R-value (or U-value). In this case, the use
phase impacts related to energy consumption
could be considered equivalent for the different
solutions studied.
Those based on the thickness of the insulant, e.g,
1 m2 of a wall element with 5 cm of insulation.
This reference unit is especially relevant in
renovation projects, where the difference in
insulation thickness may result in different
thermal performance levels of the building
element and therefore a different use phase
energy consumption and related environmental
impacts.
For additional support as to how to use EPD data
please contact PU Europe.
Insulation and energy saving potential calculation EPDs provide a series of relevant information for
use at different levels of the performance
assessment. This chapter offers an assessment of
the potential savings that polyurethane insulation
can achieve over its life cycle. The graph shows
that with only 120 mm of PU insulation, which is
equivalent to an R-value of 5, annual energy
savings of 217 kWh of primary energy per m2
insulated surface can be achieved. Over a 50 years
lifetime, the savings will sum up to 10,850 kWh
per m2, while only 107 kWh (or 384 MJ as
calculated by the EPD tool) will be used to produce
the 1 m2 of board in the first place, a 1 to 100
ratio. If energy recovery as end-of-life scenario is
credited for in the calculation, then the primary
energy use for 1 m2 of board would be reduced to
88 kWh (314 MJ). Under this scenario, the PU
insulation would save 124 times the energy used
for its production.
Factsheet n° 13
DISCLAIMER While all the information and recommendations in
this publication are to the best of our knowledge,
information and belief accurate at the date of
publication, nothing herein is to be construed as a
warranty, express or otherwise.
This also means that the amount of energy used to
produce PU insulation is subsequently recovered in
about half a year thanks to the energy saved in use
phase.
Notes
[1] PU Europe is the European association of PU insulation manufacturers (www.pu-europe.eu)
[2] See http://www.pu-europe.eu/site/fileadmin/Reports_public/PU_10-204_PU_Europe_project_-_Eco-
Profile_of_Aromatic_Polyester_Polyols__APP_.pdf
[3] For more details see website www.excellence-in-insulation.eu
PU EUROPE excellence in insulation - Factsheet n° 13 5 2