WAYNERR® Acoustic Sand Panel

Assumptions

The environmental impacts considered for the product stage (A1-A3) cover the manufacturing of raw materials used in the production as well as packaging materials and other ancillary materials. Also, fuels used by machines, and handling of waste formed in the production processes at the manufacturing facilities are included in this stage. The study also considers the material losses occurring during the manufacturing processes as well as losses during electricity transmission.

Within the product stage (A1-A3) accurate data has been used, with the exception of leather cut-offs due to its absence in the database. In this case, it was modelled as close to reality as possible using proxy, representative datapoint for secondary raw material. Additives which represent less than 5% of the total input by mass were neglected. Life cycle stages A2 & C2: Vehicle capacity utilization volume factor is assumed to be 1 which means full load. It may vary but as the role of transportation emission in total results is small and so the variety in load assumed to be negligible. Empty returns are not taken into account as it is assumed that return trip is used by transportation companies to serve the needs of other clients.

Module A5: The results from this module reflect the impacts generated from packaging waste only. Module C1: The impacts of the disassembly stage are assumed zero, since the consumption of energy and natural resources for disassembling the end-of-life product is negligible. The product is removed from walls manually.

Module C2: Transportation distance to the closest disposal area is estimated as 50 km and the transportation method is assumed as lorry which is the most common. Transportation of product back to manufacturing site is taken as the conservative 100 km based on the estimate provided manufacturer (see A2 transportation distance).

Module C3: 3% of the product returns to the factory at its end of life where is crushed using a woodchipper before being used as powder in the next production cycle replacing sand.

Module C4:97% of the product ends at a landfill without prior treatment.

D: After use, the panel is crushed into a fine powder, which is then reused as a substitute for virgin sand in the production of new panels. The benefit of sand substitution is included in Module D as well as packaging.

Cut-off Criteria

The study does not exclude any modules or processes which are stated mandatory in the EN 15804:2012+A2:2019 and the applied PCR. The study does not exclude any hazardous materials or substances. The study includes all major raw material and energy consumption. All inputs and outputs of the unit processes, for which data is available for, are included in the calculation. There is no neglected unit process more than 1% of total mass or energy flows. The module specific total neglected input and output flows also do not exceed 5% of energy usage or mass. Additives are not included in this study as their mass is less than 5% of total inputs. The production of capital equipment, construction activities, and infrastructure, maintenance and operation of capital equipment, personnel-related activities, energy and water use related to company management and sales activities are excluded.

In accordance with EN 15804+A2 cut-off criteria, additives used in the manufacturing process, which account for 1% of the total mass input, have been excluded from the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The justification for this exclusion is as follows:

Mass Contribution: The total mass of additives is below the 5% threshold defined in EN 15804+A2, which allows for the omission of inputs that contribute less than 5% to the total mass of the system.

Environmental Relevance: The environmental impact of these additives is expected to be negligible compared to the primary raw materials (sand, chrome shavings, water) and energy consumption. Their exclusion is unlikely to significantly influence the overall LCA results or conclusions.

Data Availability and Effort Justification: Given their minor contribution, the effort required to collect detailed data on the production and environmental impact of these additives would be disproportionate to their expected effect on the results.

Compliance with EN 15804+A2: The exclusion follows the cut-off rules of EN 15804+A2, which state that omitted inputs must not exceed 5% of energy use, mass, or environmental impact and should not alter the overall conclusions of the LCA.

Thus, the decision to exclude the additives from the study is in line with the standard’s methodological principles and does not compromise the representativeness or accuracy of the LCA.

Allocation

As a general allocation rule the production of 1 m2 of product was chosen. Allocation of materials, electricity, natural gas and waste is based on the mass of products produced within one year in the production plant. This LCA study is conducted in accordance with all methodological considerations, such as performance, system boundaries, data quality, allocation procedures, and decision rules to evaluate inputs and outputs. All estimations and assumptions are given below. The study was performed according to PCR: Construction products, 2019:14, version 1.3.4 and c-PCR: Acoustical ceiling and wall solutions 2019:14-c-PCR-014, version 2024-04-30. The EPD is of type b that is Cradle to gate with options, module C1-C4, module D and optional modules (A5 included only for the impacts of waste generated from packaging). The allocations in the Ecoinvent 3.10.1 datasets used in this study follow the Ecoinvent system model ‘Allocation, cut-off, EN15804’.

Electricity mix

The core process is within the Swiss territory, therefore the data relating to energy aspects refer to the energy mix of the Swiss supplier. Eelectricity consumed was based on the Swiss residual electricity grid mix. GWP-GHG indicator of the used residual electricity grid mix is 0,0244 kg CO2eq./kWh. The electricity calculation is based on data from the AIB (Association of Issuing Bodies) available through One Click LCA software, which tracks the renewable and non-renewable energy mix used for electricity generation. This ensures that the 3.82 kWh of electricity consumed during production is accurately represented with the appropriate environmental impacts.

Characterisation factors

Characterisation factors are based on Environmental Footprint 3.1. (EF 3.1).

Primary Energy Use indicators

Among the indicators describing resource use, there are six indicators on the use of primary energy resources (in MJ, net calorific value). Three of the indicators are on the use of renewable energy resource, separated into energy used as raw materials (PERM), energy used as energy carriers (PERE), and the total renewable energy used as raw materials and energy carriers (PERT). The other three indicators are on the use of non-renewable energy use, separated into energy used as raw materials (PENRM), energy used as energy carriers (PENRE), and the total non-renewable energy used as raw materials and energy carriers (PENRT). Based on different interpretations of EN 15804, there are three options for how to separate the use of primary energy into energy used as raw material and energy used as energy carrier: options A, B and C as described in PCR Annex 3. Option A is used is in this EPD.

Conversion factor 

To determine the results in kg, a conversion factor of 3.96 must be used. This means that the results should be divided by the conversion factor.

See the PCR and sections 5.4, 7.3 and 7.4 in EN 15804.

General Programme Instructions of the International EPD® System. Version 4.0.

PCR 2019:14, Construction products. 1.3.4 

c-PCR: Acoustical ceiling and wall solutions 2019:14-c-PCR-014, version 2024-04-30

ISO 14025:2010 Environmental labels and declarations – Type III environmental declarations. rinciples and procedures. 

ISO 14040:2006 Environmental management. Life cycle assessment. Principles and frameworks. 

ISO 14044:2006 Environmental management. Life cycle assessment. Requirements and guidelines. 

EN 15804:2012+A2:2019 Sustainability in construction works – Environmental product declarations – Core rules for the product category of construction products. 

Ecoinvent database v3.10.1 (2024) and One Click LCA database.

Eriksson, O. & Finnveden, G. Energy Recovery from Waste Incineration - The Importance of Technology Data and System Boundaries on CO2 Emissions. Energies, 2017

Klotz, M., Haupt, M., & Hellweg, S. (2022). Limited utilization options for secondary plastics may restrict their circularity. Waste Management, 141, 251–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2022.05.022

Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU). (2022). Sonderabfallstatistik 2021: Im Inland behandelte Abfälle aus der Schweiz. Abteilung Abfall und Rohstoffe. November 2022.