NRMCA recently verified a system-level Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) program for CalPortland Company, a Glendora, CA-based Producer member. Mix designs from eight plants in its California division were verified as the company continues to build on its effort to disclose the environmental impacts of ready mixed concrete.
The EPD was developed in consultation with and based on a software tool by Athena Sustainable Materials Institute. Athena’s Ready Mixed Concrete EPD Calculator is a web-based tool for instant, custom environmental footprint data on ready mixed concrete products. The software tool integrates LCA impacts with mix design criteria to generate EPDs when desired. The software's underlying life cycle data for each plant and EPD was reviewed and verified by Sustainable Solutions Corporation, a verifier in NRMCA’s EPD program. CalPortland can generate EPDs on-demand using the Athena tool. Its EPD public listing can be found here, which also includes other CalPortland verified EPDs for ready mix plants and cement products.
To date, the North American ready mixed concrete industry, including material suppliers, have verified almost 60 EPDs with more than 25,000 products/mixes and is the leading material industry that reports environmental impacts. 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.
For more information, contact James Bogdan at jbogdan@nrmca.org or 412-420-4138.
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association