Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)
Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) are documents that describe the total life-cycle environmental impact of our products. EPDs are verified by an accredited third party. They enable us to produce reliable information on the way our products affect the environment. Each EPD is drawn up according to the ISO 14025 and EN ISO 15804 standards and product category rules (PCR). As a result, the figures presented in the EPD are comparable to other EPD documents that have been prepared according to the same rules. Once completed, an EPD has a five-year period of validity and is always published through an official channel. Vallox’s EPDs are published by EPD International.
Our EPDs are available on both the Environdec website and our product webpages under the “downloadable files” tab.
EPD Collections in the page of Environdec
Every Vallox HR unit now has an Environmental Product Declaration
We launched our EPD work by preparing EPDs for Vallox’s heat recovery (HR) units. Vallox is a forerunner in this regard, as only a few ventilation unit brands in Finland publish information about the environmental impact of their units. Furthermore, Vallox is the first company to provide a separate EPD for each unit type instead of an overall EPD for the entire product category.
When we prepared our EPDs, we took into account the manufacturing of each HR unit starting from raw materials and procurement; an estimated two replacement filters per year during the unit’s 25-year life cycle; and its end-of-life dismantling, recycling of materials and disposal. As a manufacturer, Vallox cannot control how the electricity consumed by the unit is generated. For this reason, the EPDs of our HR units are calculated on the basis of the average composition of energy sources used in the EU and their environmental impact.
The resulting EPD provides a comprehensive overview of the product’s environmental impact throughout its life cycle, including details, for example, on its climate-warming emissions. However, it should be noted that our EPD calculations overlook the fact that our heat recovery units save energy by simply existing – they are, after all, heat recovery units.
How do EPDs benefit our customers?
For developers, designers and construction companies, an Environmental Product Declaration is a reliable source of information on a product’s impact on the environment. EPDs make it possible to compare products from the viewpoints of the environment and sustainable development. They help our clients to make sustainable choices and communicate them to their customers and building users. Our customers can also use EPDs to earn extra points when obtaining green construction certifications (e.g. LEED and BREEAM).
As the environmental impacts of different energy sources are compared in EPDs, they make it easier to understand the effects of sustainable choices. We based our calculations on the average composition of energy sources used in the EU. However, as the image below demonstrates, choosing renewable energy will result in significantly lower emissions. For this reason, Vallox recommends that clients use energy sources with the smallest impact on the environment, if possible.
EPDs support our business development
Through Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), we, at Vallox, gain a lot of information about the environmental impacts of different materials and manufacturing methods. This knowledge enables us to continually improve our operations and make choices that are more sustainable when it comes to raw materials, packing materials and energy consumption, for example.