Environmental Profiles
Claims about the environmental performance of building products are easy to make but difficult to substantiate without a transparent measuring system. Certificated Environmental Profiles provide that measurement and enable manufacturers to independently demonstrate the environmental performance of their products, as well as helping clients, designers and specifiers to identify products that will best fulfil a sustainability brief.
As well as underpinning claims of environmental performance, certificated Environmental Profiles enable manufacturers to compare their products against others, demonstrate improvements that have been made, and help raise general awareness of life cycle issues. Environmental Profiles measure environmental performance throughout a product's life:
- in manufacture (including impacts from virgin and recycled inputs)
- in use in a building (taken over a typical building life and including maintenance and replacement)
- in demolition (the waste produced, allowing for recycling and reuse)
Environmental Profiles provide key indicators of environmental sustainability for:
- Climate change - from CO2 and other greenhouse gases especially associated with energy use
- Ozone depletion - from gases affecting the ozone layer
- Acidification - from acid gases reacting with rain (acid rain) or water in the soil
- Consumption of minerals and water
- Emission of pollutants to air and water - including toxicity to humans and ecosystems
- Quantity of waste sent to disposal
How to apply for Environmental Profiles Certification
