by Brianna Crandall — December 7, 2015—80-year building product manufacturer CertainTeed, a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, recently announced it is the first company in the gypsum manufacturing industry to offer Health Product Declarations (HPDs) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for drywall products, confirming their impact on indoor energy use, air quality and acoustics.
The newly published HPDs and EPDs provide scientifically robust and transparent information about environmental performance and third-party verification to confirm the true sustainability of a product. The declarations also allow products to contribute towards points in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building projects.
A full 42 HPDs have been published to cover all CertainTeed gypsum board product categories, including Standard and Specialty drywall; Type X fire-resistant and M2Tech moisture- and mold-resistant drywall products; GlasRoc exterior sheathing; AirRenew Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) drywall; SilentFX noise-reducing drywall; and Easi-Lite lightweight gypsum boards.
Six EPDs (grouped by manufacturing plant location) are also now available for two popular products — Easi-Lite and 5/8-inch Type X fire resistant gypsum board.
HPDs
The HPDs were issued in alliance with the HPD Collaborative, a customer-led organization committed to the continuous improvement of the building industry’s environmental and health performance, through transparency and innovation in the building product supply chain.
CertainTeed was one of the first Pilot Manufacturers adopting the HPD Open Standard in 2012. The Standard establishes a common language for disclosing information about the ingredients used to construct a building product and associated health information. HPDs can be used to obtain points under the Material and Resources credit in LEED version 4.
EPDs
CertainTeed partnered with UL Environment to develop the EPDs for Easi-Lite and 5/8-inch Type X gypsum boards. The EPD evaluates the products on critical environmental issues such as production process impact, usage of raw materials and recycled content, packaging, health aspects and end-of-life impact. UL Environment provides independent verification of the data in accordance with ISO 14025.
EPDs provide a valuable tool in understanding the likely environmental performance of a building. Additionally, the use of EPDs greatly reduces confusion about technical information by providing a standardized format for communication of all impacts of a product or service — economic, environmental, human health, mechanical, safety and other attributes of the product type.
EPDs are also useful in providing details required in specification documents as well as product information required in applications for certification in global green building systems.
To download the new gypsum HPDs and EPDs and to learn more about sustainable building materials’ impact on occupant well-being, visit CertainTeed’s new “Information is Power” product transparency resource Web page.
