Owens Corning Expands Product Life Cycle Assessments, Announces New EPDs

by Jonathan McGaha | November 16, 2015 12:00 am

Owens Corning has expanded product transparency across core commercial and residential product offerings to help architects, builders, mechanical engineers and specifiers meet the growing criteria of green building certifications, including the U.S. Green Building Council[1] (USGBC) LEEDv4 credit that rewards the selection of products with EPDs.

The introduction of six additional registered material health certificates (mhcs) through the Cradle to Cradle Certified[2] program and five new Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) summarizing product life-cycle assessment (lca) reflects Owens Corning’s industry-leading commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship.

“Owens Corning now offers EPDs and registered mhcs across each of our commercial and residential core product offerings to help architects, designers and specifiers have access to life cycle assessment information that will help inform product selection and meet the heightened criteria for green building certifications,” said Todd Fister, vice president of strategic marketing – Insulation at Owens Corning. “As a company, we are committed to providing today’s building professionals with the products, building science and transparency needed to help design and build more sustainable commercial and residential structures.”

 

Environmental Product Declarations

Five additional EPDs have been issued across nine of Owens Corning’s core commercial and residential product offerings. Architects and specifiers now have access to EPDs for several mechanical and HVAC products including:

• EcoTouch Insulation for MBI Plus with PureFiber Technology,
• Fiberglas Pipe Insulation (ASJ Max, VaporWick),
• SOFTR Duct Wrap and
• QuietR Duct Board.

Owens Corning is achieving yet another industry first as the first roofing manufacturer to offer EPDs on roofing shingles, including Supreme Three-Tab Shingles, Oakridge Shingles and Duration® Series Shingles.

These new EPDs underscore Owens Corning’s commitment to meeting the growing demand for transparency in products. The company issued the first EPD for North America fiberglass insulation in November 2012 followed by the first North American extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam insulation EPD in November 2013.

 

Material Health Certificates

Owens Corning is also among the first companies to have products assessed against the material health requirements of the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard to obtain material health certificates. Through the Material Health Registry, architects can now specify products that have been assessed against the v3.1 Material Health Certification Standard that is governed by the Institute’s Certification Standards Board.

Owens Corning has registered MHCs for the following products:

• EcoTouch Insulation Products Unfaced
• EcoTouch Insulation Products – Faced
• 700 Series Fibergla Insulation – Faced (ASJ Max, FRK, ASJ)
• 
  700 Series Fiberglas Insulation Unfaced
• Fiberglas Pipe Insulation (ASJ Max, VaporWick®)
• No Wrap Fiberglas Pipe Insulation
• Owens Corning Air Handling Insulation
• Thermafiber Mineral Wool Insulation Unfaced
• Thermafiber Mineral Wool Insulation – Face

For more information or to download Owens Corning’s full portfolio of EPDs and MHCs, visit www.OCBuildingSpec.com[3].

 

Sustainability Expertise in Action

To help continue the sustainability conversation, Owens Corning is hosting eight unique educational sessions addressing a wide range of sustainable building and green development topics available to all Greenbuild 2015 attendees on Wednesday, Nov. 18 and Thursday, Nov. 19 from 10:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. in booth #2827.

A wide range of experts will present the latest findings, research and insights across a commercial and residential building topics through the following eight sessions:

• Durable Design, presented by Dr. Achilles Karagiozis Director, Global Building Science, Owens Corning
• Upcoming codes and policy, presented by Bill Fay, Executive Director, Energy Efficient Codes Coalition
• Roadmap to Sustainability, presented by Gale Tedhams, Director, Products and Supply Chain Sustainability, Owens Corning
• Comfort Standard – There is one! Presented by Dr. Achilles Karagiozis, Director, Global Building Science Owens Corning
• Material Health Certifications, LEED v4, presented by Stacy Glass, VP, Cradle-to-Cradle Products Innovation Institute
• UL/USGBC pilot harmonize PCR and EPD’s, presented by Anna Nicholson, Project Manager, Environment Product Declarations UL Environment
• Handprinting and Net Positive, presented by Greg Norris, Adjunct Lecturer, Harvard School of Public Health
• Living Building Challenge, presented by James Connelly, LFA, LEED AP Director, Living Product Challenge International Living Future Institute
• Commercial Builders Guide, presented by Clarke Berdan, Ph.D., Sr. Technical Services Leader, Insulation Director of the Air Barrier Association of America Owens Corning

To learn about Owens Corning’s 2014 Sustainability Report or to access a downloadable summary progress report, visit:
http://sustainability.owenscorning.com.

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