Environmental Product Declaration for structural precast concrete hollowcore flooring system
QUINN Precast have become the first company in Ireland to attain an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for a structural precast concrete product under the Irish EPD system.
This latest EPD for Quinn – for their precast hollowcore flooring system – follows on from EPDs for their Quinn Lite thermal blocks, Quinn Therm PIR insulation, Quinn Lite Pac EPS insulation, Quinn Rooftiles and Quinn Packaging products.
In 2018, Quinn were one of the first three companies to get an EPD under the Irish system, for their Quinn Lite thermal block – the first block product on the Irish market to have one.
Speaking of the company’s decision to develop further EPDs, Quinn’s product development and specification manager, Jason Martin, said: ‘Our key objective is to benchmark where we are as a company in terms of our carbon footprint.
‘These EPDs will allow us to identify materials and processes that have a significant impact on our carbon footprint and, therefore, set targets for future improvement, to reduce the environmental impact of our products and ensure we are a sustainable manufacturer.’
EPDs are a standardized way of providing data about the environmental impact of materials. They measure environmental impact across a range of different parameters, including global warming potential, acidification, eutrophication (over-enrichment of aquatic ecosystems) and ozone depletion. In Europe, construction products are assessed according to EN 15804.
Peter Seymour of life-cycle assessment experts EcoReview, who produced the EPD for Quinn, said: ‘Quinn are the first Irish concrete manufacturer to obtain an EPD for structural precast concrete.
‘They are first-movers in the concrete industry and are to be commended for their commitment to providing fully transparent and objective data to the market on their environmental footprint.’
A register of EPDs for construction products on the Irish market, EPD Ireland, is operated by the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC).
