EPD for particleboard available

The German Federation of the Wood-Based Panels Industry (VHI) commissioned the Institute for Construction and Environment (IBU) to develop an environmental product declaration (EPD) for raw and laminated as well as tubular particleboard in the past few months. The EPD, developed in accordance with international standard ISO 14025, was issued by the IBU on 10 May under declaration number EPD-VHI-2012111-D; the VHI is the holder of the declaration. In the next phase, the VHI also intends to have an EPD drawn up for the association under the new European standard EN 15804. The IBU, a body created by a number of building products manufacturers, reported that EPDs based on ISO standards that are coordinated internationally provide underlying data for evaluating a building’s environmental properties. According to the VHI, building contractors are increasingly seeking these types of product declarations in order to meet building certification requirements, such as the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system developed by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) or the scheme adopted by the German Society for Sustainable Construction (DGNB).