Life-Cycle Assessment
As part of our ongoing commitment to providing accurate, transparent information about our products, Lubrizol recently completed a life cycle assessment for FlowGuard piping systems globally, including FlowGuard Gold pipe and fittings, and Corzan piping systems for commercial plumbing applications in North America. The result is a baseline report the assesses the cradle-to-grave environmental impacts of the system, including the raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, use and end of life stages. The evaluation was conducted by third-party agency ERM and peer reviewed by Dr. Walter Klöppfer, Editor-In-Chief of the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.
Based on the FlowGuard LCA, ERM wrote a report comparing FlowGuard environmental impacts to those of copper. The comparison, which was limited to only a cradle-to-gate analysis through the production of pipe, showed a significant benefit by choosing FlowGuard Gold products.
To view the full results and comparisons, download Environmental Product Reports below:
- FlowGuard Gold Vs. Copper
- SDR-11 0.5 Inch
- SDR-11 0.75 Inch
- SDR-11 1 inch
- SDR-11 1.25 inch
- SDR-11 1.5 inch
- SDR-11 2 inch
Using LCAs for LEED Credits
With the completion of the LCA, FlowGuard products now contribute to credits under “Materials & Resources: Building Product Disclosure and Optimization, Environmental Product Declarations” under LEED v4: BD+C. Specifiers can earn 1 point for including at least 20 products from five different manufacturers with disclosure material consisting of a product-specific declaration, an EPD, or a USGBC-approved program.
To learn more about how to make LCAs work for you, download our white paper.