Product Category Rule for Concrete Published by NSF

After nearly two years of industry development, NSF International (NSF) recently published the product category rule (PCR) for concrete. Product transparency and disclosure are becoming discussion topics in the construction market primarily due to green building standards, market initiatives and, in some cases, state laws. The PCR is a set of industry rules to develop disclosure reports, specifically environmental product declarations (EPD). The PCR has a life span of five years. This PCR builds on the inaugural version (2013) to align with evolving standards such as ISO 21930:2017 and rating systems such as LEED.

The inaugural PCR has expired and verification to that PCR has ceased. For producers that have EPDs published to the inaugural PCR, your EPDs are still good until the expiration date. However, as EPDs are published to the new PCR there may be less market value of those EPDs over time, and you may want to consider a strategy to renew your EPDs or the tools supporting your EPD development. For ready mixed concrete producers pursuing EPDs, you may now use the new PCR.

As LEED v4 and its promotion of EPDs is being discovered in project specifications, it is important to consider your company’s EPD strategy. To date, the North American ready mixed concrete industry, including material suppliers, has 41 verified EPDs with a total of 18,275 products/mixes from 2,968 plants. The growth of EPD activity doubled since 2017 when LEED v4 became in effect and is expected to continue.

As part of the Build With Strength campaign, NRMCA promotes Strength Through Transparency for member and industry competitiveness in the green building marketplace and the trends toward product and company transparency.

If you wish to learn more about the disclosure in the green building construction industry, contact James Bogdan at jbogdan@nrmca.org or 412-420-4138.