The MRPI®-EPD certificate of #GREENGRIDZ has been verified by Pieter Stadhouders, EcoReview. The LCA study was performed by Martijn van Hovell, SGS Search. The certificate is based on an LCA dossier according to ISO14025 and EN15804+A1. It has been verified according to the 'MRPI®-EPD verification protocol November 2020.v4.0'.

What is an SPD certificate?

EPD is the abbreviation for Environmental Product Declaration. A manufacturer or industry can use an EPD to declare the environmental data for a material or product. An EPD is drawn up according to the EN15804 standard which describes exactly what the EPD should contain and how the EPD should be drawn up.

In outline, an SPD contains:

- Tables with the environmental data for the material or product;

- Environmental data is declared with so-called environmental indicators. The best known environmental indicator is GWP (=Greenhouse Warming Potential) but in total there are about 20 divided into three to four tables on environmental burden, resource use and waste and output streams.

- Texts describing the principles for the data in the SPD.

- It involves a detailed description of the product, its application and e.g. a waste scenario.

Why an SPD certificate?

The EU Green Deal and the related Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) are the main spearheads of the EU in the coming years. The NL government will also set ambitious targets towards 2030 for CO2 reduction and a circular economy with the Climate and Raw Materials Agreements. The construction industry must do its part and there will be concrete requirements for the environmental footprint of a building and the building products in that building. The time of superficial green "eco" labels is over and quantifying the environmental performance of a (building) product is now the norm. This quantification and subsequent declaration can be done with an independently verified Environmental Product Declaration (=EPD). This is drawn up using the EN15804 standard.

Working method SPD certificate

The basis for each EPD is an LCA report where LCA stands for Life Cycle Analysis. The EPD is a certificate that results from and is drawn up with data from the LCA report. It is important that the content of an EPD is independently reviewed; the MRPI Foundation does not do the review itself but has 7 accredited reviewers who are all certified LCA specialists. After the assessment, the EPD is published as a PDF on www.mrpi.nl and on the ECO Portal. The ECO Portal now contains more than 3000 EPDs that are valid throughout Europe but are also widely used outside Europe. The ECO Portal was developed by the European ECO Platform and the MRPI® Foundation is the official program operator of the ECO Platform within the Netherlands. Once every few years, the MRPI Foundation is fully audited in order to guarantee the quality and independence of the system.

Inclusion in National Environmental Database (NMD)

The MRPI®-EPD certificate is published as standard on the MRPI® Foundation website and on the ECO Portal. In addition, many MRPI®-EPD certificates are included as product cards in the National Environmental Database (NMD). Specifically for inclusion in the NMD, the EPD must meet a number of requirements. The most important are that the LCA study must use Ecoinvent as the background database and more indicators must be declared. In fact, the NMD asks to provide not only the indicators according to Annex A2 of EN15804 but also the indicators according to Annex A1 of EN15804. In addition, there are a number of smaller issues that need to be looked at by the assessor. To avoid the need for double review of SPD and product card, MRPI® Foundation and NMD are working together.

What is the National Environmental Database (NMD)

The National Environmental Database was created to provide an unambiguous calculation of the environmental performance of buildings in the Dutch context. This database is managed by the National Environmental Database Foundation (Stichting NMD). The determination method is used in the public domain, but also by private organizations for classification of sustainable real estate, for example through BREEAM, GPR, etc. The method is explicitly used for assessment at building or project level, and not for comparison of products.

What is the Eco-portal

The ECO Portal is the latest development that takes communicating LCA data to an even higher digital level. The ECO Portal was developed in close collaboration with the InData working group and is based on the International Open Database Network. With the ECO Portal, the ECO Platform provides one central point where users can find all digital EPD data. Each program operator uploads their EPD data directly to the ECO Portal or to their own "node" which is integrated into the ECO Portal and offers more functionality. The MRPI® Foundation has therefore chosen to have its own node which allows for a better communication of the EPD data.

The LCA data of the EPD can be viewed fully online and in detail on the ECO Portal. Furthermore, the EPD data is not only available in PDF form but also in so called "machine readable" formats like .csv and .xml which makes it easy for LCA tools to read and use the data. Therefore, the MRPI® EPD is not just a static document but the data can actually be used by LCA tools.

MRPI platform for independently verified environmental data

The MRPI Foundation is the platform for reliable and independently verified environmental data for building products that is published in MRPI®-EPD certificates. In doing so, MRPI® supports the transition to a sustainable and circular construction.

About MRPI

MRPI® is a widely supported, unambiguous, and tested, internationally recognized way to declare environmental aspects of building products. MRPI is the passport for the Dutch NMD, the Belgian Environmental Database and the basis for the European Environmental Product Declaration, the EPD. With MRPI® the producer or supplier of building products can distinguish themselves from suppliers with unsubstantiated or dubious environmental claims.

Environmentally relevant Product information MRPI®

Stands for verified information on the environmental aspects of a building material, construction product or construction element prepared at the initiative of the manufacturer or its representative (e.g. industry association) through an environmentally focused life cycle assessment.

The EPD of #GREENGRIDZ can be requested from TRIBOO or viewed at www.mrpi.nl and or the ECO Portal.

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