Owens Corning Announces First Environmental Product Declarations for Fiberglass Insulation in North America at 2012 Greenbuild

Asserting its leadership in the sustainable building industry, Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) today announced receipt of UL-certified ISO compliant Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for its Unfaced and Kraft-Faced EcoTouch® PINK®FIBERGLAS™ Insulation with PureFiber® Technology and its Unbonded LooseFill Insulation. An EPD is an internationally recognized, standardized tool that reports the environmental impact of goods or services.

An industry first for fiberglass building insulation in North America, the EPDs describe the environmental impact of the insulation products based upon an established set of product category rules and independently verified life cycle assessment (LCA) data from cradle-to-grave. Through the LCA process, products are evaluated on several parameters including raw materials production and transportation, product manufacturing and plant operations, product packaging, transportation and distribution of the insulation products, and end of life impact.

"The UL-certified EPDs for our EcoTouch® Unfaced and Kraft-Faced Batts and Unbonded LooseFill Insulation reflect our commitment to sustainability and our pledge to be transparent about our products´ environmental performance through certification by credible third parties," said Gale Tedhams, director of sustainability for Owens Corning. "The EPDs are a valuable tool, providing the next-level of product information for architects, builders and specifiers to help them meet certain criteria for green building and make sustainable purchasing decisions."

The Owens Corning EPDs confirm how insulation is a key contributor to a building´s overall energy-efficiency, helping to reduce the energy required to maintain a comfortable living or work environment. Typically, a pound of insulation saves 12 times as much energy in its first year in place as the energy used to produce it. That means the energy consumed during manufacturing is saved during the first four to five weeks of product use.

The Owens Corning EPDs confirm those energy efficiencies by calculating the environmental impact of the different ingredients and life cycle stages of the insulation products, including the energy consumed and greenhouse gas emissions associated with each stage.

For example, the EPD for EcoTouch® Unfaced Insulation confirms that the energy saved for a properly insulated home in Chicago over a non-insulated home results in a 25.4-day payback, and a home in Arizona has a 41.4-day payback for the energy burden associated with not only the manufacturing of the product, but also the harvest of raw materials, transport and disposal. The insulation continues to save that amount of energy throughout the life of the home or building in which it is installed.

In addition to energy impact and global warming potential, other information reported in the EPD includes the effects on air quality through ozone depletion or smog creation; water use and the impact on waterways via eutrophication and acidification; and a description of the process and materials in the manufacturing of fiberglass insulation.  

"EPDs help architects, designers, specifiers, and other purchasers make more informed purchasing decisions by providing them with the full extent of a product´s environmental impacts," said Paul Firth, EPD product manager at UL Environment. "We applaud Owens Corning for demonstrating their commitment to transparency and disclosure."