EPD certification

EPD: a first definition

EPD is a voluntary certification scheme, created in Sweden but of international value, which is part of EU environmental policies.
The EPD Declaration is developed in application of the UNI EN ISO 14025:2006 standard (Environmental Labels and Declarations — Type III Environmental Declarations) and represents a tool for communicating objective, comparable and credible information relating to the environmental performance of products and services.
This statement allows, on the one hand, manufacturers to demonstrate their attention to environmental issues by analyzing and describing their product from the point of view of environmental impacts, and on the other hand, it allows customers, designers and clients to have detailed information regarding the environmental characteristics of the product itself.
The EPD of the FITT Agix^® semi-rigid ducts therefore provides relevant, verified and comparable information related to the environmental impact of the semi-rigid piping system for air distribution in mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (HRV) and HVAC applications.

How are the environmental performance of the FITT Agix^® range calculated

The environmental performance of FITT Agix^® reported in the EPD Declaration is based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in accordance with the standards of the ISO 14040 series, the methodological basis from which the objectivity of the information provided derives, taking into account the calculation rules specific to the product category (PCR) of construction materials according to the European standard 15804:2012 +A 2:2019 /AC:2021. The FITT Agix^® EPD adopts the “cradle to gate” approach, i.e. it quantifies the impacts from the extraction of raw materials to the finished product ready to be sold. In the EPD, the results are separated into the following phases:

A1: Supply of raw materials;

A2: transportation of raw materials;

A3: production process at the FITT plants;

A4: Transportation of the pipe to the installation site;

C1: Removal of the pipe from the installation site;

C2: Transportation of materials to the disposal and/or recovery center;

C3: Waste treatment processes;

C4: Waste disposal;

D: Potential for reuse - recovery - recycling.

Environmental performance and resource use

In order to present a clear and complete overview of the environmental impacts associated with FITT Agix^®, these are divided into modules for all the categories of impact considered:

Climate Change (KgCO2eq.): quantifies the contribution of the process to the release of greenhouse gases, based on the model developed by the IPCC.
Ozone depletion (Kgcfc11eq.): refers to the degradation of the stratospheric ozone layer, which reduces its ability to prevent UV rays from penetrating the Earth's atmosphere.
Acidification (mol H+eq): quantifies the impact of the release of nitrogen and sulfur oxides into the atmosphere, soil and water, where acidity can be modified, affecting flora and fauna, as well as human health and construction materials.
Eutrophication (EP): refers to the enrichment of nutrients that causes an imbalance in ecosystems causing negative effects on flora and fauna.
Photochemical ozone formation (kg NMVOC eq.): potential for the formation of tropospheric ozone (POCP), harmful to both plants and humans, causing irritation, respiratory problems and damage to the respiratory system.
Abiotic resource depletion (ADP): assesses the impact of the activity on various non-renewable natural resources, such as metal-containing minerals, oil, mineral raw materials, etc.
Water consumption (m3 eq. private world): evaluates the potential for deprivation of water resources, both for human beings and for ecosystems, starting from the assumption that the lower the availability of water, the greater the probability that another user, human or ecosystem, will be deprived of it.