EPDs / HPDs

Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) 

At Shaw Contract, our commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility is deeply integrated into our practices. This commitment is reflected in our focus on Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), reducing the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of our products, and providing Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). 

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EcoWorx S Tile with EcoSolution Q, Solution Q or Solution Q Extreme Face Fiber - Shaw Contract EPD
EcoWorx S Tile with EcoSolution Q100 Face Fiber - Shaw Contract EPD
ComfortWorx Tile with EcoSolution Q, Solution Q or Solution Q Extreme Face Fiber - Shaw Contract EPD
ComfortWorx Tile with EcoSolution Q100 Face Fiber - Shaw Contract EPD
TaskWorx Tile with EcoSolution Q, Solution Q and Solution Q Extreme Face Fiber - Shaw Contract EPD
TaskWorx Tile with EcoSolution Q100 Face Fibre - Shaw Contract (Shaw Europe) EPD
TaskWorx Tile with Polyamide 6 (Aquafil) Face Fiber - Shaw Contract EPD
EcoWorx Tile (US Made/UK Market) w_ EcoSolution, Solution Q, Solution Q Extreme - Shaw Contract EPD
EcoWorx Tile (US Made/UK Market) with EcoSolution Q100 Face Fiber - Shaw Contract EPD
Nordic HPD

Understanding Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) 

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LCAs provide a comprehensive evaluation of the environmental impact associated with all stages of a product's life cycle.  
This encompasses everything from raw material extraction, through manufacturing, distribution, use, to end-of-life disposal or recycling. These assessments help us identify the operational and embodied carbon footprint of our products and opportunities for improving their environmental performance. When LCAs are completed on products the findings are presented in a document called an EPD (Environmental Product Declaration). EPDs are then generally third party verified.  

What Are EPDs? 

EPDs are standardised, verified reports detailing a product’s environmental impact, based on the rigorous data from life cycle assessments (LCAs).  They provide transparent and reliable environmental information verified by independent third parties, essential for specifiers and customers to make fact-based decisions when selecting products for use in buildings. Shaw Contract EPDs are third party verified in accordance with EN 15804 +A2 and ISO 14025 standards.   
 
Compliance with EN 15804 +A2 and ISO 14025 

Our commitment to sustainable practice extends to aligning with key international standards. We adhere to the revised European standard EN 15804 +A2 and ISO 14025, which provide essential guidelines for Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) in the construction sector. In the Netherlands, EN 15804 forms the basis for the SBK Bepalingsmethode. 

The new EN15804 + A2 emphasises circularity and covers 19 environmental impact categories, offering deeper insight into our environmental impact. This ensures our EPDs are not just consistent and comparable but also credible, reflecting our dedication to environmental transparency and sustainability best practice. 

Why Are EPDs Important? 

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✓ Transparency: EPDs offer full disclosure of a product's environmental impact, promoting transparency in our industry. 
 
✓ Validate the Global Warming Potential (GWP): With growing expectations for low embodied carbon products, EPDs help designers and specifiers to validate the GWP value of a product.  
 
✓ Regulatory Compliance: They help in complying with environmental regulations and can be critical for participating in green building certification programs like LEED, BREEAM, SKA, QSAS. 
 
✓ Informed Decisions: They enable architects, builders, interior designers, contractors, and consumers to make more informed decisions, aligning with green building practices and sustainable purchasing. 
 
✓ Environmental Benchmarking: EPDs provide a benchmark for measuring and improving the environmental performance of products, facilitating continuous improvement in our manufacturing processes. 

How to Interpret an EPD? 

All EPDs break down data into a table which provides impact values at each stage of a product’s life cycle. These stages include Product, Construction Process, Use, and End-of-Life.  For Shaw Contract, the biggest impact on a product’s carbon footprint is in the Product Stage (Raw Material Supply, Transport, and Manufacturing). This is shown as the A1-A3 values on an EPD and is often referred to as the “cradle to gate” phase of a product. 

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Global Warming Potential (GWP) 

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GWP is an important aspect of and EPD. The global warming potential measure how many kilo grams of embodied carbon a product generates per m2 in its production. A GWP score can also be calculated for the entire lifecycle of a product.   
 
Measuring the carbon impact of a product or activity encompasses the energy consumed and greenhouse gases emitted throughout the product's life cycle, resulting in us understanding our global warming impact.  
 
The lower the GWP value, the lower the carbon impact of a product. In carpet tile product the largest contributors to the carbon score is the extraction and creation of the raw material (yarn) and the material we use for the carpet tile backing. We can reduce the carbon impact of our carpet tile products by using 100%recycled content yarn and different material for backings. 

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