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EPDs
Environmental Product Declarations
What are EPDs?
An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a comprehensive document that quantifies the environmental impact of a product or range over its entire life cycle.
Measuring its carbon content, it encompasses the extraction of raw materials, manufacturing processes, transportation, use, and end-of-life disposal or recycling. It includes key information such as energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and water usage in a standardised way allowing architects and specifiers to draw fair comparisons between different manufacturers’ products.
Learn more about the importance of EPDs in the construction industry.
Top Tip:
EPDs contain a myriad of information but the most important figure to look for is Global Warming Potential total (GWP-total) measured in kg CO2e.
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(767.49 KB)Woodward Brick vs Clay Brick
Our Woodward Smooth Brick Range features nearly 46% less embodied carbon per square meter, than the industry norm, clay brick. With the average home using 8,000 facing bricks, that’s a saving of 1,968Kgs of CO2 per home when comparing AG Woodward Brick to Clay.
Based on this – if every brick manufactured and imported into the UK (based on 2022 Office of National Statistics reports) of 1.9bn locally manufactured bricks in the UK, as well as importing 570m bricks – was an AG Woodward Low Carbon Masonry Facing brick – it would save 713,830 T CO2 per year. The same as the following:
Taking 169,893 cars
off the road
for a full year.
Driving around
the world
73,000 times.
Equivalent energy
emissions from powering
93,000 homes for a year.
NB. Figures are based on CO2e per metre squared (60 bricks per metre). Comparison clay brick carbon data taken from Brick Development Association’s verified EPDs based on cradle to gate figures. Clay Brick – 32.1kg CO2e per square meter. Woodward Smooth – 17.34kg CO2e per square meter.
Top Tip
Make sure you’re comparing like-for-like data. For example in our EPDs we list our products’ GWP total in cubic meters, some manufacturers list their products in meter squared. NBS Source and our data sheets will reference GWP total in meter squared for your convenience, taking into consideration the depth of each product.
Plaza vs Granite
Lowest Carbon Premium Paving Block on the Market (based on available and verified EPD information).
Plaza, one of AG’s bestselling commercial ranges is just one example of this sustainably led product development. We’ve updated Plaza’s product mix to include new aggregates as well as replacing a percentage of the cement normally used with Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs). The addition of SCM has not only helped to strengthen the final product but has also resulted in a 25% reduction in the embodied carbon of all Plaza products when compared to their predecessor.
Have any questions?
Contact our Technical Specification Dept. for more information on +44 (0) 121 747 0202 or email: specifications@ag.uk.com
More Information
Carbon Transparency: The Importance of EPDs in the Construction Industry
The construction industry in the 21st century faces major challenges, none more pressing than the need to decarbonise.
Sustainability
We have one of the lowest carbon footprints in the industry and have made responsible sourcing, carbon emissions reductions, and repurposing central to our operations.
Corporate Social Responsibility Overview
This document summarises some of the fantastic work completed by the team over the last few years across our main CSR pillars of People, Planet and Performance.