Life cycle assessment of ten insulation products in different types of building walls

Karolien Peeters (VITO), Els Van de moortel (VIBE), Carolin Spirinckx (VITO), Peter Thoelen

(VIBE), Wim Debacker (VITO), Sigrid Vanleemput (VIBE), Frank De Troyer (KULeuven), Wim

Dewulf (KULeuven), Andrew Norton (Renuables) , Jannick H Schmidt (2.0 LCA consultants),

Liesbet Temmerman (CEERA), Dieter De Lathauwer (FPS Health)

Avnir LCA conference

04-05 November 2013 – Lille, France

25/11/2013 2 © 2010, VITO NV

Outline of presentation

» Introduction and goal of the LCA:tim project

» Goal and scope of the LCA

» Results of the 12 specific LCAs for selected impact categories

» Generalizing the information

» Overall conclusions and policy recommendations

25/11/2013 3 © 2010, VITO NV

Outline of presentation

» Introduction and goal of the LCA:tim project

» Goal and scope of the LCA

» Results of the 12 specific LCAs for selected impact categories

» Generalizing the information

» Overall conclusions and policy recommendations

25/11/2013 4 © 2010, VITO NV

Introduction and goal of the LCA:tim project

» Background o Energy Performance of Buildings / Sustainable production and consumption

o Environmental impact > energy related impact

o Material related environmental impact

o Information, insight view, no ranking

» Call for tender o Contracting authority: Federal public service of Health & Environment

o Exhaustive list: Glass wool, rock wool, PUR, EPS, XPS, Sheep wool, paper flakes, flax, wood fibre, hemp.

o Other materials technically possible / budget constraints

o External walls

o Thermal insulation

25/11/2013 5 © 2010, VITO NV

o PCR > specific LCA’s > feedback to PCR > grouping of information per insulation material > policy recommendations

o Methodology: CEN TC 350

o Indicators: CEN TC 350 + ILCD (now PEF)

o Collaboration with manufacturers

o Timing: 470 calendar days

o Budget: 175k EUR (underestimated)

o Stakeholder decision: need for definition of 4 wall elements

o No explicit link with Belgian database for EPD’s / draft Royal Decree

» Next step: o Federal Public Service decides on communication format, target public on

the basis of the scientif findings of the study (ongoing)

o Final report not yet publicly available – accompagnying note to be established

25/11/2013 6 © 2010, VITO NV

Outline of presentation

» Introduction and goal of the LCA:tim project

» Goal and scope of the LCA

» Results of the 12 specific LCAs for selected impact categories

» Generalizing the information

» Overall conclusions and policy recommendations

25/11/2013 7 © 2010, VITO NV

Goal and scope of the LCA

» FU based on primary function of insulation products: thermal performance

» The functional unit has been defined as:

1 m² of a building wall with a U-value of maximum 0,24 (W/m2.K) and as close as possible to, but not higher than, this value (given standard products available on the market) and with a life time of 60 years.

25/11/2013 8 © 2010, VITO NV

Goal and scope of the LCA

» ETICS brickwork + timber cladding

» type A type B1 and B2

25/11/2013 9 © 2010, VITO NV

Goal and scope of the LCA

» Timber frame + brickwork Cavity wall

» type C type D

25/11/2013 10 © 2010, VITO NV

» According to PCR developed in task 1

» framework for development of PCR: EN 15804

» Data collection in close collaboration with several manufacturers of insulation products

» Additional impact categories considered:

» CEN+ indicators

» Critical review by Kuleuven and Renuables

Goal and scope of the LCA

25/11/2013 11 © 2010, VITO NV

Outline of presentation

» Introduction and goal of the LCA:tim project

» Goal and scope of the LCA

» Results of the 12 specific LCAs for selected impact categories

» Generalizing the information

» Overall conclusions and policy recommendations

25/11/2013 12 © 2010, VITO NV

Important:

» Results from one product from one manufacturer

» The results presented in the graphs cannot be generalised to the family of insulation products

» Only a few impact categories are shown in this presentation due to the limited time frame

Results of the 12 specific LCAs

25/11/2013 13 © 2010, VITO NV

» Products which are incinerated (EOL) have a higher contribution

» XPS: blowing agent

Comparison complete wall from cradle-to-grave

Climate change

0,00E+00

5,00E+01

1,00E+02

1,50E+02

2,00E+02

2,50E+02

3,00E+02

kg

CO

2 e

q

Climate change

Operational energy use Wall Insulation material

25/11/2013 14 © 2010, VITO NV

» The impacts of the insulation products are mainly caused during production

» Paper flakes: landfill of the paperflakes

» PUR insulation: raw material and aluminium facing

» Flax and woodfibre: fire retardant

Comparison complete wall from cradle to grave

Eutrophication

0,00E+00

2,00E-02

4,00E-02

6,00E-02

8,00E-02

1,00E-01

1,20E-01

1,40E-01

kg

PO

4--

-eq

Eutrophication

Operational energy use Wall Insulation material

25/11/2013 15 © 2010, VITO NV

» EPS: use of blowing agent pentane

» XPS: VOC emissions

» PUR, XPS, EPS: main raw materials

Comparison complete wall from cradle-to-grave

Photochemical oxidation

0,00E+00

1,00E-02

2,00E-02

3,00E-02

4,00E-02

5,00E-02

6,00E-02

kg C

2H

4 e

q

Photochemical oxidation

Operational energy use Wall Insulation material

25/11/2013 16 © 2010, VITO NV

» Paper flakes: fire retardant

Comparison of complete wall from cradle-to-grave

Abiotic depletion – non fossil

0,00E+00

1,00E-04

2,00E-04

3,00E-04

4,00E-04

5,00E-04

6,00E-04

kg S

b e

q

Abiotic depletion non-fossil

Operational energy use Wall Insulation material

25/11/2013 17 © 2010, VITO NV

» Flax and woodfibre: fire retardant

Comparison complete wall from cradle-to-grave

Transformation tropical rain forest

0,00E+00

2,00E-09

4,00E-09

6,00E-09

8,00E-09

1,00E-08

1,20E-08

sp

ecie

s.y

r

Transformation tropical rain forest

Operational energy use Wall Insulation material

25/11/2013 18 © 2010, VITO NV

Outline of presentation

» Introduction and goal of the LCA:tim project

» Goal and scope of the LCA

» Results of the 12 specific LCAs for selected impact categories

» Generalizing the information

» Overall conclusions and policy recommendations

25/11/2013 19 © 2010, VITO NV

» Are results obtained in task 2 also valid for the complete family of insulation products?

» LCA results of the same product family can differ substantially: » Database and software

» System boundaries

» LCA practitioner

» Some impacts are due to specific additives which are not the same for a family of insulation products (fe blowing agent for XPS insulation).

» It is not possible to generalise the results obtained for the 12 specific LCAs

Generalising the information

25/11/2013 20 © 2010, VITO NV

Outline of presentation

» Introduction and goal of the LCA:tim project

» Goal and scope of the LCA

» Results of the 12 specific LCAs for selected impact categories

» Generalizing the information

» Overall conclusions and policy recommendations

25/11/2013 21 © 2010, VITO NV

» More information/research needed on

» End-of-life scenarios and data of the different insulation products

» Life span of the insulation products

» CO2 sequestration during use: to be considered?

» Impacts related to replacement and maintenance

» Possible impacts during use phase

Overall conclusions and policy recommendations

25/11/2013 22 © 2010, VITO NV

» Communication of results:

» Generalising the information on basis of literature was not possible

» Communication on secondary performance parameters is also important

» Production processes change continuously

Overall conclusions and policy recommendations