In November 2015, CertainTeed became the first manufacturer to launch product specific Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for drywall in North America. Today, the company announced six new EPDs for its gypsum drywall products for a total of 12.
The company offers offers 12 product-specific Type III EPDs in four different product categories. For green builders, the new declarations could make meeting LEED requirements easier. Under LEED v4 guidelines, projects must use a minimum of 20 permanently-installed products from five different manufacturers with EPDs or Health Product Declarations (HPDs), of which CertainTeed offers seven, to achieve the Building Product Disclosure and Optimization credits for Environmental Product Declarations (MR Credit 2) and Material Ingredients (MR Credit 4). CertainTeed’s Type X, AirRenew, M2Tech or Easi-Lite drywall EPDs count as one full product each, and specifying CertainTeed’s EPDs across Gypsum, Ceilings and Insulation also count for three manufacturers out of the five needed for LEED v4, giving building professionals more product options to help achieve LEED status.
EPDs provide transparency into the environmental impact of a product, including impact of raw material acquisition, energy use and efficiency, content of materials and chemical substances, emissions to air, soil and water and waste generation. CertainTeed Gypsum claims to be the only manufacturer to offer “Cradle-to-Grave” EPD transparency, meaning the declaration takes the entire process of the product’s life cycle into account, from downstream material extraction and selections, transportation and logistics, to installation and finishing, in-use and durability performance and final end-of-life impacts. The CertainTeed Gypsum EPDs include information on global warming potential, embodied energy and other impacts that occur as a result of manufacturing.
The six new EPDs are available for the following four product groups: ½” (12.7mm) AirRenew Essential, 5/8” (15.9mm) AirRenew Essential Type X, ½” (12.7mm) M2Tech Mold and Moisture Board, 5/8” (15.9mm) M2Tech M2Tech Mold and Moisture Board, ½” (12.7mm) Easi-Lite Lightweight Board, 5/8” (15.9 mm) CertainTeed Type X.
